…………………………………………………

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Game Review

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a 2009 platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was an improvement upon its predecessor.

………………………………………………….

“Oh, yeah! Mario time!“

…………………………………………………..

‘New Super Mario Bros.’ came out in 2006 and it was very well received, but I personally found it overly easy and forgettable overall. This sequel came out three years later and it received better reviews deservedly so. It improves upon the original in almost every way, resulting in a very good sequel.

The plot is once again barely serviceable, though better than before. It was nice seeing the prolonged use of Toads as they are also playable here. Luigi is here too. The storyline is okay, but seeing so many of these famous characters showcased was great and it made the game more varied.

This is the first Mario game to have significant multiplayer options. I did not play that myself, but having a co-op option was great and that is a better way to go for these platformers than the competitive mode. Overall, the menus within the game worked well and were quite intuitive.

This is a 2.5D side-scroller with the characters being polygonal, but everything else is basically fully 2D rendered. Mario can once again run, jump and do various wall kicks and different jumping maneuvers. Every single gameplay mechanic returns from the first game with some variations and refinement. There is the addition of picking up objects, which is actually very well utilized and reminiscent of ‘Super Mario Bros. 2’. You can also do a twirl in mid-air. These are all done while shaking the original controller, so playing it on the Dolphin emulator was difficult as I had to properly map those controls to emulate the Wii controller effectively.

…………………………………………………..

When it comes to the power-ups, you get the standard Super Mushroom and Fire Flower. There is also the Ice Flower and the Mini Mushroom that makes Mario super small. All of these are very important, but crucial are the two new additions to the roster. Penguin Suit is similar to the ice power-up, but with the added ability to slide along both ice and water. It also gives you extra maneuverability while swimming. But the best power-up is the Propeller Suit, which allows Mario to basically fly, thus effectively moving through levels faster and easier. It can be problematic when landing, making you vulnerable in that spot, but overall this power-up was incredibly important and powerful, especially in the levels where you had to go up, particularly in the towers.

The branching paths in maps were great and the mini-game that gives you extra lives was also a lot of fun. I’ve had a blast playing on the world map and the mini-bosses on the map giving you extra mushrooms was another terrific mechanic. A Toad is trapped in certain levels and rescuing him gives you additional rewards. The alternative exits within levels were intriguing, the mid-point save worked great, and the fact that you can get multiple lives throughout was wonderful and it made the game easier to play. Every 100 coins collected gives you an extra life, which was the highlight here.

…………………………………………………..

I did not use the guide that was added for those slower players, but the game is very well designed for both newcomers and hardcore gamers. Every level contains three Star Coins to collect and once again this was an absolute blast to play. My favorite part of these games is collecting these coins and here again they were hidden in such hard to reach, marvelous spots that enriched playing each level significantly.

Each world contains two boss levels with the occasional fight with Bowser Jr. too. This is where the game saw the most improvement over the original. While before the bosses were all the same and quite repetitive, here they get a lot of much needed variety and those in the second half can also get quite difficult. Fighting the bosses was, thus, a lot of fun.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii has eight worlds and an additional ninth world if you get every single Star Coin in the game. The worlds are been there, done that, though they are colorful and well designed. The first couple of worlds are forgettable and standard, but the water world is much less frustrating than your usual aquatic platforming level while the sky world and the forest world are both dazzling. The highlights are the gorgeous ice world and the strikingly difficult and well designed final fire world that was very classical in style and execution.

…………………………………………………..

The game looks terrific owing to the Wii being more powerful than the NDS, thus this sequel is much more dazzling than the original. The level design is strong, the colors are eye-popping and the game has just the right length too. The voice acting was terrific too and so was the sound. The soundtrack is uninspired and pretty much repeated from previous entries and I can say the same for the overall feel of the game. This is very much a familiar entry in the Super Mario series with no truly original or unique additions, thus it feels stale in its every moment. But at least it’s wildly entertaining to play.