We first saw New Super Mario Bros for Wii at Nintendo’s E3 keynote, but we’ve had a chance to play the 2D platformer for ourselves. Is it the manic multiplayer mayhem we were promised? Read on and see!
It’s hard to believe it’s been two decades since the last Super Mario Bros on a home console, but from our first play, New Super Mario Bros for Wii more than makes up for the long, long wait.
Anyone who’s ever owned a NES or Super Mario All-Stars on the SNES will be right at home here. Turning the WiiMote on its side, the controls are simple, and premise even more so: stomp some goombas, fill up on coins and make it to the flag. The only thing that’s difficult? Timing your movements so you don’t die, and you don’t need to tell us that becomes much more tricky as you play on.
Visual differences aside, there’s obviously much more scope for moving platforms in Super Mario Bros for Wii, with whole levels shifting around on screen now making timing incredibly tough, as you’d expect – probably why the game is quite forgiving when it comes to falling down gaps, often letting you scrabble back up to safety by hammering jump.
Single player is fun enough, but it’s the multiplayer that stands out. Up to four players can join in the fun, with the aim of the game being to get to the end of the level first, racking up the most points along the way. You can die if your character falls off the screen, like Micro Machines, and you can lob shells and bounce off each other, but you’ll still want to help other players who’ve died, as the game ends if you all cop it at once. It’s as fast, frantic and fun as you’d hope: think old school Nintendo mixed with Dreamcast classic Power Stone 2 and you’re not far off.
New Super Mario Bros for Wii is out at Christmas, but check out the video below for a taster of what you’ll be spending the whole of December 25th playing.
Out Winter | £TBC | Nintendo
