I will make a confession: I have never finished Super Mario Bros. 3. Yes, what many consider to be the greatest game of all time, I cannot vouch for. I blame World 8 for being, both literally and figuratively, hell. With that said, I ignore that black spot of my past and move on to greener pastures such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the successor to 2006’s New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS. Both games return to the roots of the series in glorious 2D sidescrolling, platforming bliss. If you’ve played any of the classic Mario games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertinament System, you should feel right at home. For one thing, the story hasn’t changed: Princess Peach has been kidnapped and Mario must set out on a journey to rescue her… AGAIN!

Mario’s travels will take him across eight different worlds that consist of environmental archetypes such as grass, desert, ice, lava, etc. Each world includes several different levels as well as boss fortresses and castles. The game essentially combines elements from Super Mario Bros. 1-3, Super Mario World and Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario World 2. If you’ve played the DS version, then you’ll be aware that in addition to Mario’s traditional move set of running, jumping and stomping on Goombas, some of his actions from his 3D adventures make appearances as well. These “newer” moves include the triple jump, wall jump and butt-slam.



It wouldn’t be a Mario game without a wide selection of power-ups like mushrooms, fire flowers and stars. Two new additions to the series are the propeller suit and the penguin suit. The propeller suit is this iteration’s form of the raccoon suit or cape, which allow Mario to fly in the air briefly to reach new heights. Wiggling the Wii remote sends Mario flying straight up and he’ll slowly descend back to the ground. There’s not as much horizontal movement as previous flying power-ups, but it still helps in skipping some of the trickier areas of levels. The penguin suit allows Mario to perform the same actions as penguins: sliding on his belly, swimming faster, and throwing snowballs to freeze enemies.

The game plays like the older Mario games with the Wii Remote turned on its side, using the d-pad to move, the 2 button to jump and the 1 button to shoot fireballs and run. There are some minor “waggle” movements to control the propeller suit. Wiggling the remote will also perform a spin jump, and holding down on the 1 button while shaking the remote will allow you to lift certain objects.

The most common object you’ll be picking up is other players when playing in multiplayer. Up to four players can play through the game’s main adventure as Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad and Blue Toad in a quasi-cooperative-competitive fashion. Because while you are “working together” to complete levels, more often than not you’ll end up stealing all four power-ups that emerge from item blocks, picking up and throwing other players into pools of lava or “accidentally” bouncing on another player’s head so that they fall to their death. The game becomes much harder when other players are playing because the screen scrolls forward when just one player moves ahead, causing straggling players to be pushed ahead and crushed against walls and other obstacles. When a player dies, they return a few seconds later in a bubble that must be popped by a player who is still alive. If all four players die, they will have to restart the level from the last checkpoint.



There are two competitive modes: head-to-head and coin battle. Depending on how you play the cooperative mode, the former will probably seem no different from that, other than you’re given a selection of levels to choose from rather than traveling from world to world. Coin battle keeps track of how many coins each player gets in a level and tallies up their scores at the end. I definitely found the multiplayer component to be the game’s highlight, as I don’t think I’ve had this much fun in years.

I found the game to be somewhat harder than the DS game, but not too hard overall. If you’re a veteran Mario player, you should feel right at home with the game. However, should you die in the same level eight times in a row, a green box will appear that asks if you would like the game to play through the level for you if it’s simply too hard. If you accept, the level will be played through and you can stop at anytime to take control. In most cases, only the most inexperienced players will ever have to use this feature.

The game also has some replay value by having you collect three large star coins that are hidden within each level. These coins allow you to unlock videos that will show you various tricks such as acquiring infinite 1-Ups and finding secret exits to levels. I’m not much of a completionist, so I chose not to go after every star coin.

If you’ve played the DS game, then you’ll know what the visuals are like for this game. The characters and backgrounds are all 3D polygons, but you’ll travel along a 2D space. I’ll say the visuals are better than the DS version due to the hardware that this game is running on, but it’s not quite at the same level as Super Mario Galaxy.



The music consists of synchronized melodies from various Mario games, including New Super Mario Bros. for the DS, Super Mario Bros. 3 and more. The enemies will also dance to certain parts of the overworld music, which also happened in the DS game. Other classic sound effects include the power-up/power-down noises, coin chimes and the voices of Mario, Luigi and the two toads.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the most fun gaming experience I’ve had all year. It contains a solid single player mode and enough challenge and nostalgia to please veterans of the series. The game also appeals to such a broad audience that even those who don’t play games that much will be able to enjoy it. If you don’t already own this game, get it! If you do, get it for someone who doesn’t!

Score: 5/5