Actually plays like old SMB.
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Wii | 8.80 |
| Overall | 8.80 |
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It's Mario. I should have just ended the review there but I decided to write some more. NSMB Wii is the first 2D Mario Bros game on a console since Super Mario World. SMB3 and SMW are both considered to be some of the best games of all time. This game is not. Call it a nostalgia bias, call it whatever you want I don't feel like NSMB Wii is in the same ballpark as those two ultimate masterpieces, nor does it need to be. What I wanted from this game is something more inspired than NSMB DS and that is what I got. NSMB Wii plays a lot more like SMB3/SMW than NSMB DS ever did. There are new costumes to use, the levels are varied with all sorts great new gameplay ideas. For example darkness is handled totally different from any Mario game before as sometimes you must light your way through a level. It plays on the nostalgia factor enough to make fans grin but not so much that it feels like a ripoff. It is a massive game with 80 levels to play, all with secrets to uncover. To top it off it has 4 player multiplayer. Sadly Nintendo still lives in the stone age when people had to physically be next to each other to play, so no online play here. But if you have a family this is probably the perfect game to play with the kids. The genius of it all is that the game is designed so that single player is the focus and yet multiplayer still fits. I played it alone and I could never tell it was a 4 player game. The gameplay you expect from a SMB game is there. The precision jumping and the amazing level design. The only issue is that we have done this before. Yes there are a few new ideas sprinkled about but NSMB Wii never leaves it's comfort zone, it is a by the book Mario game. SMB3 and SMW where breaking new ground, when those games hit there was nothing like them. NSMB Wii never seems to let loose, Galaxy is a perfect example of that wild level design and spirit of the old Mario games, NSMB Wii does not have that. Luckily it has everything else that makes this series the best platforming series bar none. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:49:00
I broke it open today and I can say this. It is true to the original, and I know this because I suck completely at it.
I though tthat the weight of Mario was a little heavier though -- he seemed to be a bit more leaden -- am I crazy on this point?
I watched a Shigeru interview on the game, he said he thought the difficulty was between SMB3 and SMBW. Thoughts?
SMW is not that hard. The only hard level is the second one in the special world where you have to use the balloon power up. The rest is quite easy.
NSMBWii is up there with SMB3. I would say Miyamoto is right until I have a chance to play SMB3 again. (I will wait for the All Stars version of SMB3.)