My kids have united this year to solicit Santa for a Wii and on the assumption the jolly old elf will come through, I picked up a copy of this game to accompany it.
There appeared to be plenty of them in the store and the cashier confided to me that they have been flying off the shelves already. In fact, they had plenty of shiny, white "Wii stuff". Maybe they are getting it? we've had fits over Fit and road rage trying to get Mario Kart steering wheels so hopefully parents won't be running and jumping off cliffs for this title.
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| New Super Mario Bros. (Wii) |
| Written by neildittmar |
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 11:15 |
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If you haven't quite noticed yet, we're currently in the thick of the 2009 Christmas shopping season! Go to any mall, department store, or even local corner shop and you'll see that the festivities have fully begun, perhaps a little earlier this year than last. Retailers know that this is going to be a tough Christmas season, with overall sales likely lower and competition incredibly higher. In few areas is the situation more prominent than in the console game industry, where you have three very strong competitors in Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony... all vying for your gaming dollar. The latter two companies have made big news already this season with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Heralded as the biggest opening in entertainment history, the game has already gone on to sell over 5 million copies. Due to its technical limitations, the Wii simply can't share in that sales success by getting a version of its own. That's really a shame, since Nintendo has commented twice in the press that it has hit a wall of sorts regarding sales of Wii hardware. Despite it being cross-platform, a big title like COD:MW2 would've done much to remedy this problem. To be sure, last Christmas wasn't a pretty one either with lackluster titles like Wii Music and Animal Crossing: City Folk forced to hold the banner of the big N during the holiday season. For all these reasons and more, Nintendo needed a big title to get people interested in the Wii again and moreover, to avoid them flocking to the competition. So what is Nintendo to do? What they do best of course... drag out Mario and company for one more go, in hopes of capturing the magic one more time. Fortunately New Super Mario Bros. Wii turns out to be a great game, especially if you're an old-school, hardcore platforming fan from the series earlier years. At its core, New Super Mario Bros. (NSMB) for Wii is a reformulation and expansion of the same game released on the Nintendo DS a few years back. NSMB represents a "return to roots" for Mario and friends, with a focus on 2D gameplay despite the 3D visual presentation. Not only is the formula nostalgic, but it also shows that platformer mechanics can still be appropriate two decades after their prominence. It's not all a retread though, as new power-ups like the ice flower, propeller costume, and penguin outfit have been added and the levels have been expanded in general. The core gameplay however is strikingly similar to the DS title and by proxy, the original NES Super Mario Bros. games. Left to Right side scrolling progression is the order of the day here and many of the same enemies from Mario's past 2D history have returned to torture and frusturate him all over again. And make no mistake about it, Mario (and the player) will be tortured and frusturated many times throughout the single player portion of the game. Having played all of the previous Mario offerings over the years, NSMB on Wii is definitely one of the most difficult. In fact, the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 is probably the only game in the franchise that contains a higher degree of difficulty. Case in point, the first world in nearly every Mario game is a warm-up of sorts introducing the player to the standard game mechanics, enemies, etc. That certainly doesn't apply here! Even some of the opening levels require precise timing and exact jumps that can rival the final levels in other Mario titles. None of the bosses (mid-world or otherwise) are really push overs, and you'll savor every extra life or special bonus item you receive. Though the game leans more towards the challenging end of the spectrum, the difficulty should not be described as cheap. When you die, you'll know exactly how you died and smart players will figure out alternative tactics for overcoming the obstacles that lead to their demise. That's not to say that you won't want to throw your controller through the screen sometimes, but all of the challenges presented to the player are certainly do-able. They just require some more thought and a bit more patience than in most other Mario titles. Extra lives are fairly easy to obtain and I had nearly fourty of them by the end of World 4. This is a good thing, since even seasoned 2D Mario players will probably need them. The game also offers tip videos that you can buy (with earned in-game star coins, not real money thankfully) featuring methods to obtain infinite lives, special power-ups, level shortcuts, and more. One of the major features Nintendo is touting with NSMB on Wii is that the game can be played with 4 players simultaneously. Luigi is back of course, plus blue and yellow versions of Toad are also along for the ride. Given the games difficulty, you'd think that getting all the help you can would be a benefit. This is only partially true though, as an increase in numbers doesn't necessarily equate to an increased success rate in the games various challenges. It's not uncommon to bump other players into enemies, inadvertantly push them into pits, or otherwise cause their downfall or demise without intentionally doing so. Once again, smart players will figure out ways to work together and avoid causing each other undo harm. However, it's very difficult to constantly watch out for one another given the amount of mayhem on-screen at any one time. Coupled with the higher than expected level of difficulty, I can see where that controller thrown in frustration might actually be aimed at another player in the vicinty, causing the often cited "Wii related injury." Most unfortunately, playing with friends and family in the same room is the only way you'll experience multiplayer action with NSMB as there is NO online component. I like Nintendo, I really do but this has got to be one of the dumbest moves the company has ever made. This game literally screams to be played with other people online, even if it was relegated to the often bashed Wii "Friends List" with its connection codes that rival PC software product keys. But no, Nintendo has decided to take their biggest release of the year and make it local multiplayer only for reasons only Miyamoto truly knows. This decision certainly couldn't have been due to technical limitations, as much more "network demanding" games like Mario Kart Wii and many of the FPS's have received the online treatment. To be sure, this is merely Nintendo deciding what's best for its players strictly from an artistic/social point of view. For folks who bashed Nintendo for its decidedly "anti-online" stance in prior years, they now have a brand new (and entirely valid) reason to complain. The fact that Nintendo games don't really get patches kills all hope of this feature being added in at a later date. Shame on you Nintendo for choosing perceived form over technical function. Looking on the bright side though, the glaring omission of online multiplayer is really the worst thing that can be said about the game. Graphics and sounds in NSMB are classic Super Mario fare, borrowing much from the prior DS version this release was no doubt based upon. The gameplay is traditional 2D platforming despite the 3D graphics rendering. Motion controls are included, but limited to special moves and powers that do not represent the core "run and jump" gameplay. Overall this is a good thing, with much of the play consisting of holding the Wii remote on its side, providing a similar look and feel as the original NES experience. And to sum things up, that's really what New Super Mario Bros. for Wii is... a throwback game to the golden age of traditional 2D run and jump, NES platform style gameplay. It's certainly prettier and it sounds a lot better than the blips and bleeps of yesteryear, however NSMB remains a revisiting of Mario's past greatness. Fortunately, the classic gameplay, timeless characters, and all-too-familiar "kidnapped princess" story still hold up today, making the latest Mario installment also one of the best.
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