New Super Mario Bros. Wii

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Originally Posted by JaredThaJa888

I kinda liked the High Pitched voice frankly, it's Iconic.

I won't say I liked it, but it is iconic and I am used to it, and so therefore prefer it.

Originally Posted by PK FIRE!

Naw he just got over his Heilium addiction, no prepubessent could grow a stash that badass.

That's the coolest reasoning for this voice change phenomenon we or anyone else will ever hear.

[Valigarmander]

New Super Mario Bros Review for the Wii from 1UP.com

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is precisely the game that, back in 1991, I figured we'd be playing 20 years down the road. That is to say, it's a direct evolution of the classic Mario games, specifically Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. Of course, I didn't have the first clue about polygons back then, and I could never have guessed that in just a few short years Mario himself would be laying down the rules of 3D gaming. Mario soon left traditional side-scrolling excursions behind as lesser material for the likes of Yoshi, Wario, and even Princess Peach, and we never saw another game in the classic Mario vein until 2006's New Super Mario Bros. for DS. And now, here's its sequel. NSMB Wii is what modern gaming would be like if the 3D revolution had never happened.

The funny thing is that back in 1991, I found my vision of the future to be decidedly uninspiring. I figured Mario would be running and jumping and tossing fireballs in a left-to-right direction until the end of time, and my friends and I wrote off Mario World for being uninspired. And yet here I am, 18 years later, far more jaded than I was as a kid, and I'm completely in love with NSMB Wii -- the truest sequel Mario World has yet seen. You could argue that it's just nostalgia and desperation speaking, since great 2D platformers have been few and far between since Mario World launched alongside the Super NES. But in fact, there's much more than mere nostalgia working in NSMB Wii's favor.

What makes the game great is the way it recaptures the sense of effortless creativity that the best Mario games have always possessed -- something sorely lacking in the first NSMB -- and the way in which that breezy spirit of invention is presented so accessibly. Here's the final proof that cutting-edge technology isn't necessary to create a fresh and interesting game. Here you see greatness is really all about the ideas, the personality, the playability... and NSMB Wii is an exceptional game that anyone can play. In fact, that's the whole point.

The real strength of NSMB Wii isn't that it incorporates every great idea from 20 years of Mario games into a satisfying whole; it's that it does so in a way that's designed to entice gamers of every skill level. On top of that, it lets that full gamut of gamers join in and play together all at once and have a great time doing it. Nintendo's been peddling the concept of "bridge games" that appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers for years, but NSMB Wii is the first time they've really and truly delivered on that idea. Here is a game that offers something for every kind of gamer, without compromise.

Of course, long-time Mario fans will appreciate the way so many familiar elements of the franchise are thrown into a blender and mixed up into new configurations. NSMB Wii throws together everything you've ever loved about Mario -- from airships to Koopa Kids to hidden exits -- in ways never before seen. These elements stand alongside new ideas, like darkened caverns that can only be navigated with light sources controlled by tilting the Wii remote, or running along the backs of huge soaring beasts in the sky, or dodging giant caterpillars who crawl through narrow caverns as if they were navigating a Möbius strip. The way in which the game smoothly scales to accommodate any number of players without actually changing the content of a given level is especially impressive, making NSMB Wii a flexible cooperative experience on par with Gears of War 2 or Halo 3: ODST -- but one suitable for all ages.

In the face of such success, the game's few shortcomings seem almost beneath mention. Both the third and fourth players in a four-person playthrough control Toads, two characters that are completely identical but for their colors. In a perfect world, the playable roster would resemble that of Super Mario Bros. 2, with players opting to play Mario, Luigi, Peach, and a Toad, but since Peach's abduction is the crux of the plot, we have to make do without her. Fine, but surely somewhere in Mario's expansive pantheon of characters, Nintendo could have found a better P4 character than a duplicate of P3 -- especially since the game's power-ups change the characters' color scheme, which makes it irritatingly difficult to keep tabs on which Toad is which. It's a strange design oversight in an otherwise sublime game.

Ultimately, though, the greatest compliment you can pay NSMB Wii is that it feels like the perfect expression of the classic Mario style: It's the true sequel to Super Mario World we've been clamoring for all these years.

See, the funny thing about Mario World is that, despite my callow dismissal of the game back in the day, I played it. I beat the game, and then I completed the Star Road, and then I unlocked all 96 exits, and then I beat it again in the remixed mode. As the years go by, I appreciate more and more just how great a game Mario World truly was... and NSMB Wii improves on it in every way. For every developer or publisher who's ever dreamed of pushing beyond the demographic limitations of "hardcore" or "casual" gamers, here is how you do it. And were that universal appeal NSMB Wii's sole achievement, it would be one of the most important games in recent memory. But, no: It's also ridiculously fun.

They gave it an A+.

New Super Mario Bros. Neighborhood Fun TV Ads Video from GameVideos

Tomorrow's going to be like Christmas Eve for me.

[Luigiman7]

Oh dear god. I can't wait. I'm so excited, i'm typing in italics.

[Gabriel]

^This, since I've run out of original ways to say it.

[Metal Mario]

So if it's shipping on Sunday, does that mean I can pick up my pre-order on that day, or will I have to wait until Monday?

[X-3]

I heard that was the day it'd be able to picked up, but I could be wrong.

[Valigarmander]

You may be able to get it Sunday. It depends on how soon it arrives at the store.

I got my copy of MPT on the release date.

[Dr. Furball]

Only 24 hours to go now...

[Valigarmander]

Yep, my order came in. I can pick it up Sunday.

[Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds]

No Toadette, and you do have a few other bosses to deal with.

The best level, and I mean absolute best, is a secret level in World 8. I can't believe how much it wins. XD

Spoiler Below

After you beat the game, there's a World 9, too.

[Robotazy]

...

I want this game now.

[Kargath]

How is the game in 3-4 player, SD?
How accessible is it to learn for casuals?

(Extended family christmas is coming up, need a game for the Wii by then...)

[the Octopus]

SD isn't exactly the most patient of gamers. She dies a few times and shoves the controller in my hand. On our game, we've been taking turns with single player. The difficulty scales up towards the end of the game in the same way that might be considered unfriendly to casuals, but the coop mode means an unskilled player can play alongside a skilled player and on occasion, go into a bubble to let the skilled player do their thing, uninterrupted. More often than not, though, I think the game's elements of difficulty will have you cursing and laughing at the same time - it doesn't penalize you for losing a life in coop by ending the level, as long as at least one remaining player is still on-screen and in control of himself.

The game itself doesn't start off exceptionally impressive - it's very similar to NSMB DS at first, but it drew me in with its exciting and unique level design at first. They really took everything that NSMB DS did and said "what couldn't we do or what didn't we do with that system that would make the game better?" - and they did it. You might think that they game could use a wider variety of items, but eventually like myself I think you'll come to find that simply maneuvering yourself through all of the insane platforming schemes is variety enough. Emphasis on variety.

And Mario's voice hasn't dropped drastically, but it still seems somehow less obnoxious and squeaky at some parts. He's kind of back to an enjoyable character, IMO, and it's a relief that Nintendo didn't just play for par like I thought they did in the first NSMB. As the game goes on, it just gets better and better.

My favorite worlds are 6 and 8, I think. The lava effects and color schemes are fantastic, in 8.

[Antisocial]

Here are a few things I didn't expect from this game:

Spoiler Below

- When a harmful projectile such as rolling spiked balls hit walls and fall offscreen, they're not rendered "dead"--they will still hurt you as they fall.

- Standard enemies do not "pop" from Yoshi's stomps as they did from SMW. But you can still bounce off spiked or otherwise harmful enemies without harm.

- A new swimming move has been added: the flutter kick. Hold the swim button while underwater to slow your descent.

- You can KO a shelled enemy instantly with a ground pound. In NSMB, they just slid off if you did this.

- The spinning drill stomp from NSMB is cancelable; release the down button to stop yourself. On a side note, the ground pound is also cancelable; press up while you're dropping to return to normal gravity.

- The Lakitu still leaves behind its cloud when you stomp it; in previous games, stomping KO'd the Lakitu but dissolved the cloud.

- Fuzzies (the black ones) are vulnerable to fireballs.

- Giant Goombas split into two normal ones when you stomp them.

- Lemmy Koopa's circus balls are harmless to the touch. The only danger they pose is bouncing you into other dangerous things.

[1-up Salesman]

Can't wait to play it tomorrow...

[JaredThaJa888]

Can you play the Single Player mode as Luigi or one of the Toads?

[DJ Blue J]

I'm really excited for this game, but I'm not gonna get it until Christmas. Which makes me sad, but the wait will make it all that much better.

[Metal Mario]

Yup, I called Gamestop and asked them about it, and they told me my copy will be ready for pick up tomorrow.

Sweetness.

[PK FIRE!]

Wish me luck as tomorrow I try to nab a copy from either Wal*Mart, K-Mart, or Target.

- You stupid dog.

[Antisocial]

Originally Posted by JaredThaJa888

Can you play the Single Player mode as Luigi or one of the Toads?

Still unconfirmed. So far, no one has really found out if this is feasible.