Nintendo’s E3 press conference didn’t have a whole lot of shining moments. There was the announcement of Super Mario Galaxy 2, which made everyone cheer, and Metroid: Other M, which shocked most of us. Then there was New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii, a spiritual successor to the DS game of the same name that incorporates four-player action into the title. As soon as that game was announced, I knew I had to get my hands on it on the E3 show floor. I don’t know about anyone else, but I loved New Super Mario Bros. on the DS. It was a near-perfect 2D Mario platformer, which I had been wanting ever since Super Mario World on the SNES. I’ve played through that game multiple times, and will probably do so again. Taking that same formula and moving it to the Wii with brand new levels sounds like an awesome idea to me, and being able to play with three other people makes it even more fun.

If you have played New Super Mario Bros. on the DS, you already know what to expect. The game sports the same graphical style, although it does look a bit more refined on the Wii. Mario and Luigi are playable characters, obviously, as are two Toads. There are also some new power-ups to accompany the standard mushrooms and fire flowers. A helicopter hat and penguin suit were two of the new utilities I saw, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a whole lot more. Also, all four players can now ride different-color Yoshis, which is one of the things that made Super Mario World so great. I know a lot of people felt that this game shouldn’t be a $50 title (which it likely will be), but to me it seems like Nintendo has added enough content to make it worth the $15 in price from the DS version.



New Super Mario Bros. uses the remote turned sideways as a controller, so you don’t have to worry about any crazy waggle controls. Playing with three other players is a blast, although it can make the game harder at times. It really depends on whether or not the other characters are working with you or against you. If you lose a life, you will reappear in a bubble; shaking the Wii remote will move you closer to the other players, but you cannot get free until one of them breaks the bubble. In addition, if you’re at the far left side of the screen, you can actually get pushed out of the game (temporarily) if everyone else is too far ahead of you. It’s a bit chaotic, but so is multiplayer LittleBigPlanet, and that’s why I love it. One thing I’m not sure about it the fact that the game pauses for about a second whenever someone dies, or gets a power-up; it seems like it might break up the action a bit too much. It’s not off-putting enough to make me not want to play it again, though.

I got pretty much everything I wanted out of playing a few levels of New Super Mario Bros. It didn’t surprise me, but it didn’t disappoint, either. It may not be as exciting as Super Mario Galaxy 2, but in the long wait between this holiday season and next, this game will more than tide me over.