Post by THE DERP MASTER on Aug 26, 2012 1:23:21 GMT -5
Sooooooo... dance party?
Uh... *ba-DING* (that's all I can think of)
Uh... *ba-DING* (that's all I can think of)
New Super Mario Bros. was a great success. The reaction from fans and critics alike was immensely positive, and it went on to become the Nintendo DS' best selling game, having sold 29.09 million copies as of March 31, 2012. But then, many people had asked a simple question... "Where will they go from here?" Clearly, Nintendo had a superb game which they could easily make a sequel for, but how would it turn out? Would it suck compared to the masterpiece that Nintendo had created? Well, On May 30, 2009 an online Japanese newspaper had reported that two new sequels would be released for the Wii: Wii Fit Plus (not that you really care about that one) and a new Mario game tentatively called New Super Mario Bros. Wii (which was an unconfirmed name at the time). Everyone in Japan (and then everyone else once the newspaper was leaked) had then simultaneously shat their pants. But then, when the dust had settled, people started going back to worrying if this would suck or not... until E3 '09 came, where Nintendo revealed that the game would support 4 player local multi-player, making everyone, once again, $#@! their pants. The game was being created because Shigeru Miyamoto, the Jesus of gaming, desired to recreate the Mario series's single-player gameplay experience for multiple players, as he was unable to bring these ideas to fruition in previous instalments due to the hardware's inferiority back then. It was a dream come true; classic Mario gameplay mixed in with multiplayer. With even bigger hype then the last New Super Mario Bros. game, could it rise above it's predecessor as the superior game? Let's find out, right now...
"I told you we should've turned left at Albuquerque!"
The story begins with... oh, right. This is a Mario game. There is no story to speak of. Seriously, why did I even start this paragraph? You probably already know what happens. Peach gets kidnapped. AGAIN. And the plan to snatch her is even more insane then in New Super Mario Bros. It's even more situational, even harder to pull off, and far more easily foiled had it not been for Mario and Luigi's stupidity. Bowser's 8 kids (how he has kids, I have no idea) are hiding in a cake, then they jump out of the cake, throw the cake on Peach, which somehow traps her inside it, and then they escape on an airship. What. The. HELL?! They seriously never suspected that the toppings on the cake looked suspiciously like their heads?! How the hell did they get into that cake anyway? Were the castle's chefs making the cake, then the Koopalings sneaked into it? If that were the case, when they put the cake into the oven, how did none of them die or suffer serious burns? Bowser falling into lava proves that he isn't, nor would his own children, be fireproof. The only other way they could've sneaked into the castle via cake would be putting it at the front gate, where's the guards would take a look at it, say it's a legit cake, and not a horribly flawed plan to kidnap the Princess. Again, why would nobody in the castle be the least bit suspicious? It's a gigantic cake. Have they never heard the tale of the Trojan Horse? Because this is the exact same scenario, only with a god damn cake. Is the Royal Guard that incompetent? Are they overpaid? Are they even being paid to begin with? If they all got massive pay rises, I'm sure they'd get of their lazy asses and actually start taking their jobs seri...
Uh... perhaps I've said too much...
"Happy Birthday, Peach!" - Mario, who was most likely the Koopalings' spy.
The leap from DS to Wii is obviously going to show some serious improvements, one of which is that almost everything is now rendered in 3D graphics, a massive change that works for the better, since the low resolution of the DS no longer exists. (meaning that Mario's no longer missing his eyes at most angles) The backgrounds and foregrounds have shown the most improvement, being far more detailed in comparison then the first game, as you can clearly see with the first screenshot. They're far more complex as well, with far more going on at once, and some backgrounds aren't even static pictures, with stuff like waterfalls and clouds there, too. Even the little things, like levels with lava in them will have a slight mirage like effect in most of the level, or the physics for liquid, like lava or water, swaying realistically just like real water (though I'm not so sure about the lava...) should. New enemies are featured, and they're certainly just as weird looking as the new enemies in the last game, such as the Bramball, which is a ball with thorns for legs and suction cups for feet. (I'll let you think of that, rather then put up a picture. It's funnier that way) The characters all look stunning, especially the playable ones, with more animations then before, so you'll definitely not get sick of staring at Mario doing the same jump over and over again like in the last game. The world maps also look a lot better, crafted with just as much detail as the backgrounds. The designs for some of the new power ups though are a little... weird. (more on those later) The game, overall, looks far more cheerful and less bland then the original game.
Chain Chomps have been known to blow bubbles when you're not looking.
Most music from New Super Mario Bros. has been remixed in this game with far better quality then before. The default aboveground theme from the last game, for example, sounds better then it ever has, having an almost orchestrated feel to it. (I actually don't know whether it's orchestrated or not) Of course, there are plenty of new songs to go along with the old, most of which is made specifically for different worlds, some of which even have their own specific versions of the various songs found in the game. (now that's commitment) World 4, and various beach themed levels, has upbeat tropical inspired music that you'd probably hear on a commercial for holidays to Hawaii. World 3, the snow world, has an atmosphere that's just like Christmas, thanks to the music. Although these are just a few examples, they're definitely the most significant. Music for often repeated levels, such as Boo Houses, Towers, and Castles all have completely different, far better songs. Boo Houses sound much spookier then they did before, the Towers sound intimidating with their echo like instruments, giving you a sense of scale, and Castles, with the organs dominating most of the song, sounds almost like the 8 bit tunes you heard on the old Super Mario Bros. games. Voice acting returns from the last game, and it's much better then the old game. Mario has more then just one voice over for just about everything he does, making the game feel much less repetitive. Also, like in the last game, various stuff will do things in time with the music, with one very important difference: grounded Koopa Troopers will now dance.
Those things have been eating too much mints.
Despite all the improvements made to the presentation, the game plays roughly the same as the DS version. Still, there are some changes, though they aren't as notable or significant as the ones made to graphics and sound. Making use of the Wii Remote's motion controls, you're able to manipulate some background objects like wire fences to hang on to, platforms to get you places, and a whole lot more. It certainly adds to the gameplay experience, but the feature is hardly ever used. The new power ups, the Ice Flower, the Propeller Mushroom, and the Penguin Suit, are all great additions to the game. The Ice Flower allows you to throw iceballs at baddies, which freezes them solid. They then can either be picked up to throw at other baddies, or killed by groundpounding them. The Propeller Mushroom allows Mario to do a double jump, the second jump being insanely huge. It also slows down his falls. The Penguin Suit has all the functions of the Ice Flower, but also gives traction on the ice, and allows Mario to slide at great speeds. Unfortunately, Mario looks like a complete idiot in the suit, especially when he walks. The game is certainly a lot harder then the first game, with later levels often punishing you for your slowness by lava slowly rising until you either fall in it, or make it out alive. Thankfully, the game is also noob friendly, as the game features the Super Guide feature, an auto pilot of sorts that completes the level for you. You can also stop the Super Guide at any time, and you'll continue where it left off. Co-op, a first for 2D Mario games, allows up to 4 players to play the entire single player experience, where players can drop in and drop out at any time on the world map. For the earlier levels, having multiple players at the same time can be really good fun. But later on, when the levels are at their hardest, just makes the other players a hindrance to you, as you can't run through other players, and jumping on them means that although you get a big jumping boost, the other player is sent crashing into the ground below. (or, in most cases, a pool of lava) If another player dies, they soon come back on the screen in a bubble. Popping it will put them back in the game. You can also manually enter the bubble, allowing you to cheat death, or let the more skilled players tackle the road ahead. Star Coins also make a return, and since you can get multiple players who can go into indestructible bubbles at will, or bounce off their heads, Star Coin hunting is certainly a lot easier then it once was. Yoshi also makes his appearance, functioning exactly like how he did in Super Mario World. However, he's extremely rare, only found in a select few levels. Speaking of Super Mario World, the Spin Jump also returns. It doesn't serve much purpose, but it's petty damn cool.
Remain calm.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is perhaps one of the greatest multiplayer games of this generation. Sure, it's as chaotic as a FTW vs. FTL hacker match in Mario Kart Wii, maybe even more so, but it's hard to deny the sort of charm it has. I have no idea how, but Nintendo somehow makes this insane co-op mode work, and it certainly shows. The single player experience, for some reason, is nowhere near as fun.
However, there seems to be something that this game is lacking...
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Lasting appeal: 9/10
Overall: 9/10