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Every console has its “star”: Sega has Sonic, Xbox has Master Chief and Nintendo have the world’s favourite plumber, Mario. This game franchise is officially the best-selling franchise in history, selling over 200m copies, over 30 years incorporating over 200 titles.. Is Nintendo just using New Super Mario Brothers Wii as a bit of a cash cow, or is there really still life in the old plumber?
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The graphics in NSMBW are what you would expect from a side scrolling Mario game: Cartoony but not to the point of too cartoony. Although it’s a 2D game, 3D shapes in the 2D background give it a 2.5D style of graphics and this seems to be becoming a common practice (Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros and some others) but that’s not a bad thing The levels are well designed and you know instantly you are playing a Mario game the second you see the green flower pots, the goomba’s, the piranha plants and it instantly takes your mind back to the original Super Mario game! Overall it’s a good job.
In terms of sound, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Mario game, from the moment you hear the music kick in, on the first level it’s the classic Mario theme with a bit of a tune up. The voices of the characters are good, but on the whole it’s a decent sounding game!
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New Super Mario Brothers Wii features multiplayer this time around, both co-op and versus (versus modes consist of 2 styles – whoever collects the most coins on a level wins, and also free for all where you are ranked on enemy kills, score and coins collected) and the multiplayer is for 2-4 players (Mario, Luigi and 2 toads (Yellow and Blue) which is a nice touch and is a good laugh if you have a few friends round. Single player features up to 9 worlds and 88 levels and has the map feature that is found in Super Mario Bros on the DS and first seen in Super Mario Bros 3 many many years ago, and I think is a good way of progressing the levels, as although its linear, it gives players the feeling that they are in control. There’s nothing really more you can add into this in terms of game modes so it’s got all it can have, but there is plenty to keep you going!
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So now we come to the important bit: Gameplay. I’ll be totally honest and say that in my opinion it doesn’t really bring too much new innovation to the table.. It’s the standard side scrolling fare, where you jump on enemies, go down pipes (some of them are on rotating mounds of earth etc.), smash blocks to collect power-ups, which although it is done in a really good way here, it just feels like the same old Mario but updated for the latest generation. There are some changes to the style however, where you have vertical scrolling levels where you have to keep away from the bottom of the screen, and new power ups (Such as Propeller mushrooms that grant you the ability to jump higher, and float using a flick of the Wii-mote, and penguin suits that enable you to glide like a penguin on icy levels, and fire ice balls at your enemies) which does add a bit of novelty but I don’t think it’s really essential stuff. On each world there are 3 star coins, and these star coins help open up the final 9th world, and you can also spend them on secret item videos to help you learn locations of secrets, and also how to earn unlimited 1-ups. There are also a big number of fans around the internet calling this one of the hardest Mario games to date, which I agree with and often found myself struggling to get through a level which could put off some of the younger games that this game is most likely intended for. The one good new feature here is the Super guide where if you die on a level 8 times in a row, an AI controlled Luigi will guide you through the level to safety, or once it has got past a tricky bit, you can then jump back in. If you complete the level with the super guide, you can either carry on or try the level again. Although there are a few minus points, I think the gameplay is extremely polished for what it is.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
For children under the age of 15, this will be a great title to own, and for those who can make use of the multiplayer functions with their friends it is also a must own title, but for anyone over the age of 20, who isn’t a hard-core fan of Mario, then I would say you won’t be missing out on a gaming masterpiece as I can’t help feeling it’s more of the same old Mario formula.
Rating 7 out of 10
