New Super Mario Bros. Wii was release towards the end of 2009 for the Nintendo Wii. It is a sequel to the Nintendo DS game, New Super Mario Bros., and features gameplay elements similar to that game. It is also the first 2D Mario Platformer to appear on a home console since the SNES era. Even though this game is very similar to previous 2D Mario games, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is still a great game and has some new and improved features to offer.
The story for New Super Mario Bros. Wii is very similar to the other New Super Mario Bros. game for the Nintendo DS and similar to other games in the Mario series. It starts off with a party at Princess Peach’s Castle to celebrate Peach’s Birthday. However, things turn for the worst when a cake is delivered to the castle that contained Bowser Jr. and the rest of the Koopalings. They capture Peach and they make their escape with Mario, Luigi, and two Toads in pursuit to rescue the Princess. This is the kind of story you come to expect from most Mario games. Although like most Mario games, the story is not the major factor.
The graphics used in New Super Mario Bros. Wii have been improved on from the last New Super Mario Bros. game. The graphics look a lot smoother than the previous game and looks more like one of the Mario Galaxy games. All of the level designs look amazing, as do the character designs. Although, the level environments are similar to the levels environments that were used in previous games (Super Mario Bros. 3 and New Super Mario Bros.). The soundtrack for this game gets a small upgrade from the Nintendo DS game but the overall soundtrack has not changed much. Most of the music tracks that were used in the Nintendo DS game are used in this game and have been remade to have some variation in sound. However, this soundtrack does sound a lot better than the music tracks used in the Nintendo DS game, so I do not see this as a major issue.
The gameplay for New Super Mario Bros. Wii is what you would expect from any 2D Mario Platformer. This game brings back many gameplay mechanics that were used in the Nintendo DS game and past 2D Mario games and adds some new features as well. The core gameplay has not changed much from the last game and the overall game plays in a similar way to the DS game. Mario still has all of the abilities he had in the Nintendo DS game and has access to many of his traditional power-ups. However, the Mega Mushroom and the Blue Koopa Shell have been taken out of this game, which are the only gameplay elements from the previous game that are not brought over to this game. Although, the way the gameplay works in this game (The Multiplayer), the Mega Mushroom would not have worked well in this game and the Blue Koopa Shell was not really needed since there is another power-up that has been added to this game that works in a similar way. There are three new power-ups that were added to this game (along with some of the traditional power-ups), which are the Ice Flower, Penguin Suit, and the Propeller Mushroom. The Ice Flower and the Penguin Suit are pretty much the same power-up. They both allow Mario to use Ice Balls to freezes enemies, which can be picked up and thrown around. The main difference between the power-ups is the Penguin Suit allows Mario to slide across water and ice in a similar way the Blue Koopa Shell did in the Nintendo DS game. Although, the main power-up for this game, along with the normal Mushroom and the Fire Flower, is the Propeller Mushroom. The Propeller Mushroom gives Mario a helicopter suit, which allows him to spin jump to high places and float slowly towards the ground after the spin jump. This can be done by flicking the Wii Remote while jumping. In addition to the new power-ups, another addition to this game is Yoshi. Players can now use Yoshi in different levels and his mechanics have not changed much from previous games (such as Super Mario World). Yoshi appears often throughout the game but you cannot keep him after completing a level, which is a small disappointment. One last addition to New Super Mario Bros. Wii and one of the main focuses of this game is the new multiplayer system. Unlike the previous Nintendo DS game, New Super Mario Bros. Wii has multiplayer that can support up to four players, which is a first for any 2D Mario Platformer, and they can play at that same time unlike past 2D Mario Platformers. In addition to Mario, the other players can play as Luigi, a Blue Toad, and a Yellow Toad and they all play very similar to each other. The new multiplayer system in this game is great, but I am disappointed that there is no online mode of any kind for this game. It would really have made this game amazing if it had an online multiplayer to play other players (similar to the online multiplayer of LittleBigPlanet). Although, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is still a great game that has great gameplay, which is similar to previous 2D Mario games and brings some nice new features to the series.
All in all, New Super Mario Bros. Wii has not changed all that much when it comes to the core gameplay from previous 2D Mario games. It plays in a similar way to most 2D Mario games would and has many of the gameplay elements that are used in those games. It even shares a similar soundtrack and story to the Nintendo DS game. However, New Super Mario Bros. Wii has improved graphics that are similar to the Mario Galaxy games and does add some new features as well, such as the improved multiplayer mode. In comparison to other 2D Mario Platformers, I would not say that this game was better than Super Mario World, which I view as the best 2D Mario Platformer. I would say that New Super Mario Bros. Wii would be the third best game in terms of those types of Mario games, behind Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3. Overall, I would give New Super Mario Bros. Wii a 9 out of 10.
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