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Super Mario Quadruplets
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
(maker: Nintendo)
For years, Nintendo's favorite plumber should've been dressed as a delivery man. Every time he showed up, he brought something new to video games: the rebirth of the industry in 1985's Super Mario Bros. ; the first functional 3D adventure in 1996's Super Mario 64; even the trippy, planet-hopping madness of 2007's Super Mario Galaxy.
Strangely, the "New" Super Mario series comes with no such airs. Three years ago, this spin-off debuted as an old-school throwback on the Nintendo DS. While fun and polished, the game made no qualms about intentionally aping Mario games of the '80s.
Nintendo has appropriated the capitalized "New" once more for this week's romp through the Mushroom Kingdom, and, again, there's nothing new on the surface. No 3D gimmicks, no complicated controls, and no Wii Sports-style motion junk (though you do shake your Wii controller for a few tricks). You still run left-to-right through fantasy worlds to save a damsel in distress.
The catch here—and a first for the series—is that four folks can play NSMBW at the same time. The four-player action proves to be the series' biggest boon in years, and it fulfills the potential that last year's four-player LittleBigPlanet only hinted to.
It'd be simple enough to throw four people into a Mario level and tell them to go. The game's special touch comes from its bouncy collision system: You frequently bump into and bounce off your friends, adding a tactility that Mario games had never known before. For example, a foursome may need to make careful jumps to clear a tough patch. Will the group jump in tandem, careful not to knock their friends off at every stepping stone? Maybe a leader will pick up his lamer teammate and throw the loser across the chasm.
Heck, a less capable player can tap a button to get into a floating bubble, waiting for the better players to finish before getting popped back into the action. This neat trick helps newer players keep up, and even if someone dies, the other players can easily bring him back into the action.
In battle modes, that tactility morphs the play into something satisfyingly wicked. Pick up your friend and throw her to her doom. Use someone's head as a stepping stone to reach a big bonus. Steal every item before the other players can use 'em. Every group session I've played has exploded with loud, smack-talking pandemonium between novices and experts. Sadly, while Nintendo included a mother load of battle levels, the designers locked down the mode's ruleset, making repeat play a bit lukewarm (especially since expert players can't be balanced by handicaps).
NSMBW plays fine as a solo romp, too, assuming you've got the spine for it. This is the toughest Mario game I've seen, yet through my playthrough, tough stretches always proved attainable, and I reveled in the eventual satisfaction of clearing those clever puzzles. Of course, Nintendo knows not everybody plays like I do, so the game can play itself on your behalf if you ever get stuck.
Hardest Mario game ever. Most accessible Mario game ever. I'm not sure how they pulled that paradox off, but boy, is it a fun one. Recommended and then some.
(maker: Nintendo)
For years, Nintendo's favorite plumber should've been dressed as a delivery man. Every time he showed up, he brought something new to video games: the rebirth of the industry in 1985's Super Mario Bros. ; the first functional 3D adventure in 1996's Super Mario 64; even the trippy, planet-hopping madness of 2007's Super Mario Galaxy.
Strangely, the "New" Super Mario series comes with no such airs. Three years ago, this spin-off debuted as an old-school throwback on the Nintendo DS. While fun and polished, the game made no qualms about intentionally aping Mario games of the '80s.
Nintendo has appropriated the capitalized "New" once more for this week's romp through the Mushroom Kingdom, and, again, there's nothing new on the surface. No 3D gimmicks, no complicated controls, and no Wii Sports-style motion junk (though you do shake your Wii controller for a few tricks). You still run left-to-right through fantasy worlds to save a damsel in distress.
The catch here—and a first for the series—is that four folks can play NSMBW at the same time. The four-player action proves to be the series' biggest boon in years, and it fulfills the potential that last year's four-player LittleBigPlanet only hinted to.
It'd be simple enough to throw four people into a Mario level and tell them to go. The game's special touch comes from its bouncy collision system: You frequently bump into and bounce off your friends, adding a tactility that Mario games had never known before. For example, a foursome may need to make careful jumps to clear a tough patch. Will the group jump in tandem, careful not to knock their friends off at every stepping stone? Maybe a leader will pick up his lamer teammate and throw the loser across the chasm.
Heck, a less capable player can tap a button to get into a floating bubble, waiting for the better players to finish before getting popped back into the action. This neat trick helps newer players keep up, and even if someone dies, the other players can easily bring him back into the action.
In battle modes, that tactility morphs the play into something satisfyingly wicked. Pick up your friend and throw her to her doom. Use someone's head as a stepping stone to reach a big bonus. Steal every item before the other players can use 'em. Every group session I've played has exploded with loud, smack-talking pandemonium between novices and experts. Sadly, while Nintendo included a mother load of battle levels, the designers locked down the mode's ruleset, making repeat play a bit lukewarm (especially since expert players can't be balanced by handicaps).
NSMBW plays fine as a solo romp, too, assuming you've got the spine for it. This is the toughest Mario game I've seen, yet through my playthrough, tough stretches always proved attainable, and I reveled in the eventual satisfaction of clearing those clever puzzles. Of course, Nintendo knows not everybody plays like I do, so the game can play itself on your behalf if you ever get stuck.
Hardest Mario game ever. Most accessible Mario game ever. I'm not sure how they pulled that paradox off, but boy, is it a fun one. Recommended and then some.
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