Toronto Thumbs

REVIEW
New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Although I didn’t necessarily grow up with Mario as many gamers my age did, I have always had a great fondness for him and the characters of the Mushroom Kingdom. Having grown up with a Sega Master System, however, I couldn’t help but feel the bitter tinge of envy any time I would be visiting a friend who had a Nintendo Entertainment System and a Super Mario Bros. game. I’d sit and just be happy to watch them play. In fact, I’d watch a cousin of mine play through Super Mario Bros. 2 from start to finish in a single setting and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.

I grew tired of not having enough cool game options available to me in the 8-bit era and opted to cross over to Nintendo for the 16-bit era. I made this decision after playing Super Nintendo only once, when Adam first got his. Super Mario World was unlike any game I had experienced before. The world map alone was huge, with worlds of different terrain all traversable if one had the patience to do so. Wandering around this map was fun on its own; its small animations of enemy characters and the herky-jerky trot of Mario only gave it more appeal. The squeaky beep of moving from stage to stage in this respect is a sound I’ll never forget, along with the feeling of utter glee I have even thinking about this game.

I had landed in Super Mario’s world, and I didn’t want it to end. After finishing the game with a 96+star rating (completing the game 100 percent, in other words) on all three of the game’s save slots, I moved on to other Super Nintendo titles. Super Mario World would remain my favourite Mario game, from the franchise’s evolution to 3D and then back again to 2D side-scrolling fun with New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS (though that game hit pretty damn close).

With the recently-released New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo has rekindled my love for the little plumber simply by putting him back in a side-scrolling adventure that I can play on a television. It has definitely been far too long. Mario and Co. has had their 3D incarnations transplanted into a world of 2D movement and the result is sheer brilliance.

Even before the title screen welcomed me with its bouncy music, colourful visuals, and Mario, Luigi, and Toad friends jaunting along, I was already in the mood for retro gaming fun because the previous screen commanded that the Wii Remote be held sideways. The game begins with Princess Peach being kidnapped from her castle by the no-good yet charmingly adorable Koopa Kids. From there, it’s up to Mario (along with up to three friends, if available and willing) to go off and save her.

All the magic that makes a Mario game so fantastic is present, and then some. The environments are sharp and bright and are far more polished that those found in previous side-scrolling Mario titles. As with just about every platform game, there are different environments to traverse, including normal, desert, snow-covered, and underwater stages, to name a few.

The music is very similar to the compositions found in New Super Mario Bros. But since that was a DS game the sound limitations of that system didn’t provide a good medium to have grander thematic pieces going. While certain motifs are seemingly taken directly from its DS predecessor, listening to them on a proper speaker setup allows for a greater depth of sound, with fatter, bassy thuds complementing the higher-frequency plucks. Several classic Mario motifs make appearances throughout the game, and this adds to the title’s retro appeal.

Character movements are smoother than ever and their animations have subtle touches that add to their personalities – not that you’d actually notice this when running around frantically, especially with three friends all vying for the same special items as well trying to stay alive.

Speaking of power-ups, there are a few great additions this time around. Series staples such as the mushroom, fire flower, 1-up mushroom, and star are obviously in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Rounding out the power-ups are the ice flower, the propeller suit, the penguin suit, and the mini mushroom (as seen in New Super Mario Bros. for the DS). The propeller suit is not only a good item for reaching hard-to-find areas above the screen’s immediate field of vision, but also helpful when trying to get over larger chasms or trickier areas with smaller platforms. Plus, it looks hilarious.

The characters with this power-up wear jumpsuits and big helmets with propellers mounted on top of them. Initiating the propeller is as simple and rewarding as giving the Wii Remote a quick shake. The ice flower works similarly to the fire flower only it allows players to freeze foes, possibly using the hapless enemies as platforms or as weapons to dispatch other bad guys. The penguin suit expands upon the ice flower by reducing slippage on icy terrain, allowing for tremendous fun belly sliding along sloped ground, and giving characters donning the outfit a greater swimming ability. To put it simply: The penguin suit rocks.

Another favourite from Super Mario World makes an appearance in New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Yoshi! The cute sidekick helps out in certain stages and is just as fun as ever. In multiplayer mode, with multiple Yoshis onscreen, things can get very crazy very quickly.

The stages in New Super Mario Bros. Wii are a good combination of fun and frustrating, just as they should be. The levels offer a fair bit of exploration, particularly in later worlds where it’s harder to find the secret coins and in fortresses, castles, and ghost houses (where the Boos appear to be more aggressive than I remember them being). Still, despite some frustration when trying to clear of the trickier parts of harder levels, the game is very relaxing when played solo.

While the single-player adventure proves itself as a solid Mario title on its own, the multiplayer takes the game and turns it into a new beast altogether. With the worlds and stages being the same (save for there being more power-ups in blocks, to be shared among all players or horded by a few), the game dynamics are drastically changed by the inclusion of just one extra player, let alone up to four.

Now, instead of just trying to make it to the end of the level and possibly finding all the special coins, players are instead forced to co-operate or work against each other to meet that goal. The Toronto Thumbs staff played New Super Mario Bros. Wii in a four-player game that saw us clear an entire world together. At first, we were trying to all get along and share the screen space. Yet things were complicated by the fact that we were all actually obstacles to each other. We could push each other into enemies, down pits, or off screen. So instead of trying to get along, we discovered it was equally as fun to try to do each other in. Someone would hit a block and out would pop three mushrooms and a propeller suit. We’d all jump like mad for the propeller suit, ignoring the mushrooms. Of course by the time someone actually grabbed the suit, everyone else would go after the mushrooms, and these too would often be unattainable thanks to pits or hoarding by other players.

The multiplayer experience is where the game really shines. Given the fact that Mario multiplayer usually includes taking turns at clearing stages, it’s amazing that having four players on screen at the same time even works, let alone works so well. The multiplayer option does not include Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support, but that’s just fine by me. After all, the best social gaming fun I’ve had has always been with friends in the same room, where our collective laughter and shouts compete with the sound coming from the game.

If New Super Mario Bros. Wii doesn’t put a smile on your face, it’s either because you’re incapable of feeling joy or because you don’t like videogames. It has all the fun of a classic Mario title combined with the hectic party fun you’d find in a Mario Party title.

Posted in Awesome, Features, Nintendo, Reviews, Wii |