New Super Mario Bros. Wii | Cheerful Ghost

Continuing On With New Super Mario Bros Wii!

After completing New Super Mario Bros. on the DS I've been wanting to try the next installment on the Wii aptly titled New Super Mario Bros. Wii. At this years Portland Retro Gamine Expo I picked New Super Mario Bros. Wii for $13 along with a raft of other old games and just recently put it in my Wii and have been playing it for the last week. Like Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an improvement over it's former DS predecessor. It contains the same basic gameplay and the Wii version stacks on the DS version with better graphics, extra mechanics and the inclusion of 4 player split-screen co-op. One thing I noticed right away is that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is... Read All After completing New Super Mario Bros. on the DS I've been wanting to try the next installment on the Wii aptly titled New Super Mario Bros. Wii. At this years Portland Retro Gamine Expo I picked New Super Mario Bros. Wii for $13 along with a raft of other old games and just recently put it in my Wii and have been playing it for the last week. Like Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an improvement over it's former DS predecessor. It contains the same basic gameplay and the Wii version stacks on the DS version with better graphics, extra mechanics and the inclusion of 4 player split-screen co-op. One thing I noticed right away is that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is more difficult than the DS version, which is a welcome improvement in that's it doesn't feel too punishing.

To add more replayability to the levels occasionally Bowsers minions will capture a Mushroom Kingdom Toad and you can head back to a level you completed to save it. If you do this you can get a shot at a Toad House giving you a crack and collecting items that you can use in the overworld to help you start out better in certain levels. This overworld item mechanic first showed up in Super Mario Brothers 3 and it feels really great to have it come back here. This really makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii feel like a proper sequel to the old NES Mario games and it seems like that's what this series is trying to do. Mario Galaxy and now Mario Odyssey seem like sequels to Mario 64 while the New Super Mario Bros. franchise is keeping the old 2D Mario platforming alive. I hope New Super Mario Bros. continues on to the Switch as it has had a few installments on each system including the Wii U and 3DS that I heard were really good that I plan on picking up at some point.

So far i've completed World 1 and if you've played a World 1 in a Mario game it's pretty similar to that. In fact New Super Mario Bros. Wii sticks to a very similar level format to the DS version in that the first and second worlds are themed similarly. From there the themes verge but if you are expecting a radical departure from past games like Mario 3 or NSMB DS you will be disappointed. There is plenty of level creativity on display here and many times in World 1 I was in awe at what Nintendo was able to accomplish with it's level design. But the bread and butter of a good Mario game is gameplay and enough challenge to be interesting and New Super Mario Bros. Wii has that in spades.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii so far, is a great platformer and if you have a Wii kicking around and want to play a good Mario game you can get this used at any game store or Amazon.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/16/2017 at 04:15am

It makes me sad that you call NSMB Wii an old game. I mean you're right, but that feels like just two or three years ago.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2017 at 05:47am

8 years ago isn't quite retro but it's not new either. I think all the Wii games hold up though and this isn't an exception.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2017 at 05:48am

I imagine you played NSMB Wii?

Travis Admin wrote on 11/16/2017 at 03:44pm

Oh yeah, it’s one of my faves on the Wii. Actually all my favorites on the Wii are Mario games!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2017 at 06:10pm

I liked Twilight Princess but never completed it. It's on my list of games to come back to. Funny enough I stopped at the water temple.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/16/2017 at 06:47pm

Heh, the water temple, your nemesis

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/17/2017 at 03:17am

Heh. I don't really mess around with them anymore I just use a map now. The others are fine but I think I am way to hyped about a Water Temple. Zelda can stop doing those too if they want. I'd be fine.

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