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This year I made out like a bandit for X-mas. I guess the gift I got that is most pertinent to the Star Clipper blog was New Super Mario Bros. Wii. See, because I manage Star Clipper, few friends or family members risk getting me comics or graphic novels, not chancing that I might already have them. So I can’t really write about comics I got for X-Mas, though I did get R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis which I’ve previously blogged about, and also the first BPRD trade from Star Clipper’s Aidan (though I haven’t had a chance to read it yet). However, last year I got a Nintendo Wii from Ben and AJ (thanks again) for X-mas, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a great addition to my gaming collection. Here is my quick review.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a classic 2D Mario side-scroller. The gameplay steals many of the best elements from all the iconic mario games, going all the way back to the prototype 8-bit Super Mario Bros. up to the groundbreaking 3D platform Super Mario 64. These famous repetitions of previous successes makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii familiar to veteran gamers and an instant classic to newcomers, mesmerized by the masterful gameplay incapsulating over 20 years of Mario history. Who could forget sliding down the flagpole to end a level in Super Mario Bros.? This games got it. Or, how about picking items up and carrying them in vertical platforms like in Super Mario Bros. 2.? It’s got it too. Even better, what about the first time Yoshi cracked out of an egg and you could ride the hungry dinosaur in Super Mario World. New Super Mario Bros. Wii has got Yoshi in 4 colorful varieties. All this video game history is essential to New Super Mario Bros. Wii and the game dose a fantastic job at exemplifying the best Mario moments all at once. The Wii remote is also used well and continues to be impressive and innovative, even when presented with a simply side-scroller. Yet, for all it’s strengths New Super Mario Bros. Wii is not a perfect game.

The most talked about element of New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the 4 player cooperative mode. The game allows you to play as either Mario, brother Luigi, or a blue or yellow Toad. Unfortunately, it would have been a much better choice to have the playable characters be Mario, Luigi, classic Toad, and Princess Peach like in Super Mario Bros. 2, and also have the characters have their own individual style of movement and gameplay. By no means am I a programing expert, but if they could create Mario 2 gameplay in 1988, the game designers could make the extra effort for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This isn’t the only place the game cuts corners. For example, none of the levels are named but referred to as level 1-1 and so on. How much extra time and effort would it really take to have a writer throw out names like “Dusty Dunes” or “Hop ‘n Bop Hilltop” to give the game the extra personality it deserves. Most disappointing is that though the cooperative mode is interesting, it is not well defined (and causes arguments among friends quickly), and the game really works better as a single player quest and not what it is being toted for.

Even if New Super Mario Bros. Wii isn’t as mind-blowing as Wii’s other Mario outlet Super Mario Galaxy, it is still absolutely a must have for anyone who has a Wii. For all it’s potential though, the cut corners really stand out and make for a valid criticism. What could have been a perfect game remains on the cusp of perfection, because Nintendo knew they would make a fortune on New Super Mario Bros. Wii either way.

-Jon

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