cursed-mountain-150When a new Mario game is announced people expect things. Why? Because Mario games are titles that redefine the way people think about games, make games and play games. When New Super Mario Bros. Wii was announced things were no different. Once again, people expected Nintendo’s latest Mario title to revolutionise the way we play. So the question I’ll be answering is whether NSMB Wii has, or has not, revolutionised the way games are played, and in particular, if it has somehow redefined the 2D platforming genre.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is just like all of the previous Mario games. Princess Peach is chilling out doing princess things, and then all of a sudden Bowser, Baby Bowser and some other Bowser-like enemy comes along and kidnaps her. You would think after all these years she would have installed some sort of high-tech security system in her castle by now, but of course, she hasn’t. So once again it is up to Mario, and this time company, to go out and rescue her.

Speaking of company, up to 3 friends can join in on the Mario action this time round. In a Mario Bros. first, Nintendo has decided to include simultaneous multiplayer. This means that Mario, Luigi, Toad and Toad (two Toads, how creative of you, Nintendo) can all be running, jumping and sliding alongside one another. This is good and bad news for Mario fans worldwide. It’s good because players can work together to reach secret locations, grab high- up Star Coins and defeat bosses more easily, but it is bad news because players can throw shells at each other, disrupt each other and just make life living hell for each other by doing random, annoying and stupid things. The sad thing is, people prefer to be jerks about the whole multiplayer situation. And frankly, I couldn’t resist from sabotaging my friend’s perfect jump. Stupidity aside, if players can learn to work together, then they will find that the multiplayer section of the game has plenty of advantages over single player.

Another firm reminder that Yoshi has one hell of a tongue.

The only real negative aspect of the multiplayer is that it makes the game considerably easier. For starters, players taking part in a multiplayer game of NSMB Wii are technically given an unlimited amount of lives. Provided that all the players do not lose every single one of their lives at the same time as each other, they can keep repeating difficult levels. The other thing that really kills any kind of challenge within the multiplayer side of NSMB Wii is the bubble. The bubble can be called on anytime during a multiplayer session with a simple press of the A button. This bubble then surrounds a player’s character and floats them around aimlessly. The bubble’s real purpose in the game is to help those who can’t keep up with more experienced players, and mainly to allow characters to respawn whenever they fall down a cliff or are hit by an enemy. The problem is that this bubble is very easy to abuse. The bubble can save lives wherever and whenever. If a character is about to get hit by an enemy or fall off a ledge, then the player can activate the safety bubble and get another player to set them back down in a safe zone. As previously mentioned, these two negative aspects (the unlimited lives and bubble) of the game completely remove any sort of challenge from the multiplayer section of NSMB Wii. Luckily, the bubble does not exist within the single player mode, making the amount of lives a genuine concern to the lone player.

Not pictured: Princess Peach. Why? Because she was kidnapped. Again.

Besides the multiplayer section, probably the biggest feature that was publicised prior to NSMB Wii’s release was the Super Guide System. The new Super Guide System was apparently going to dumb down video games and wipe out play guides. People internet-wide were outraged, old school Nintendo fans were crying out for justice, and the rest of the video game community were pissed off that other game developers may begin adding similar things to their games. Well, how silly all these people were. I played the game from start to finish and not once did I encounter the help system. So, I just want to clarify that the Super Guide System within NSMB Wii is in no way intrusive if you are a reasonably good player. And if Nintendo do decide to put the Super Guide System in their future titles, I won’t mind at all because I didn’t see it once during my time with NSMB Wii. So if anyone was put off NSMB Wii due to the Super Guide, don’t be, because you won’t see it unless you absolutely suck at the game, and if you do manage to witness it, then you obviously deserve the assistance. And just for the record, I actually had to go looking for the Super Guide System because it was that hard to find, and I still didn’t manage to locate it. Apparently dying eight times in row is sufficient to warrant Super Guide intervention (refer to instruction manual for further information on the Super Guide System).

This part of Bowser

Bubbles and Super Guide aside, NSMB Wii is basically a polished version of NSMB on the DS, with a few extra features thrown in for good measure. Apart from this, NSMB Wii is the same old 2D Mario platformer that we’ve all been experiencing for the past 22 years. So it hasn’t really redefined the way games are played, or 2D platformers at that matter. Then again, the multiplayer in NSMB Wii has mixed things up slightly, so surely this may attract some new players or long-time haters of the fat Italian plumber. And you know what? Maybe that is Nintendo’s idea of expanding their audience, by getting all of the Nintendo gamers out there to invite over their Playstation and Microsoft friends for a few levels of NSMB Wii so that they’ll be hooked in no time.

By Liam Doolan

Graphics: B+

Good looking, but not much of an advancement on the graphics in NSMB DS.

Sound: B+

The sounds are also good. Nowhere near as annoying as the sounds in the DS version, but nowhere near as good as the sounds in the old school Mario games.

Gameplay: B+

The single player mode is a solid game as usual, but the multiplayer needs a lot more work. The bubbles can be abused and players are basically given an unlimited amount of lives.

Overall: B+

A fun game overall, but the multiplayer could’ve been much better. There are way too many loopholes within it, which removes any sort of challenge within the game. Also, more Yoshi would have been nice.