New Super Mario Bros. Wii

[SWVA-Football]

Thankfully, the title of this game says everything you need to know about it:
- It's a new Super Mario Bros. game
- It's based on the "New Super Mario Bros." series (2D-sidescroller)
- It's for the Wii

Well, almost.

The selling point for this one is its co-op play, which is heavily emphasized and shown in many gameplay videos. You can play with up to four people at once, all on the same screen. As players separate from one another, the camera zooms out to allow you to keep an eye on everything that's going on even if someone is lagging behind or speeding ahead of the group. There are also some other things going on with this type of gameplay. Some suits, such as the propeller suit, allow you to fly and teammates to latch onto your feet so that you can ferry them across great distances and/or over difficult obstacles and enemies. You can also bounce off other players' heads and even pick them up and throw them. (This is going to be great for ticking off friends by pretending to toss them across a large gap, only to purposely misjudge the throw, sending them into a fiery pit below.)

Less-skillful players can also opt out of playing temporarily by suspending themselves in a bubble until others come along and pop it, putting them back into play. If you have someone who is not particularly good at certain segments (such as, say, dodging projectiles), they can use this feature to allow their teammates to complete those segments, then pop right back in and start playing again following the troublesome spots. The same thing happens when a fellow player dies. If your buddy bites the dust, you'll have to pop his bubble to free him so he can hop back into the fray.

Another feature that is very unique, if controversial, is a "Super Guide" mode that is activated once players die a certain number of times. If death occurs too often, upon restarting the stage you'll be able to jump up and hit a green box that allows you to then watch a computer-controlled Luigi run through the entire stage. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard you can resume play at any time during this demonstration, or opt to restart from the checkpoint, or opt to proceed to the next level. Because fans of the old Mario titles were fond of those games' difficulty levels, this feature has sparked some heated debates among those supporters. A game can hold your hand all the way through is never an inviting challenge, after all. Thankfully, you should know that it's completely optional. Just don't die too often and don't hit the green block if you do, and you'll never have to let Luigi complete the stage and/or show you how to proceed past certain tough spots. Simple-enough guidelines, I suppose.

Notice I've been speaking often of dying and tough segments. Most if not all of the reviews to date have repeated similar sentiments: This is one challenging game. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is supposedly one of the toughest Super Mario games in recent years and, though not brutally difficult, is far more challenging than New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS and Super Mario Galaxy on the Nintendo Wii. Death will come often to those who haven't brushed up on their platforming skills, so getting in some playing time with Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 would probably not hurt before trying to blast through this one!

As if I haven't said enough already, something else that makes this game stand out is its redness. Yes, literally. The box, manual, and even disc are completely red as opposed to the mostly-white contents found in most other Wii games. This has been revealed as a bold statement by Nintendo to make one of their greatest titles of the year stand out from the crowd and to serve as something they're very proud of. It's just shameful Super Mario Galaxy didn't receive this same treatment. I totally dig the red theme and this will no doubt make the game stand out from others on store shelves. I mean, come on. When it comes to colors, who is going to favor white over blood red? It's a no-brainer!

Finally, I'll finish this personal advertisement with some quotes from the New Super Mario Bros. Wii Wiki page:

It is the first game in the Mario main series since Mario Bros. to feature simultaneous multiplayer gameplay,[9] as well as being the first side-scrolling console platformer starring Mario since Super Mario World on the SNES, and the first title to feature Nintendo's new 'Super Guide' feature.[10]

Unlike in Super Mario Bros. 2, all characters have the same abilities and stats. Players are able to pick up, carry, and throw each other. If a player's character dies, he will re-emerge encased inside a bubble, and can resume play once another player frees him by touching the bubble (the player can also shake the Wii Remote to move his/her bubble closer to a living player, but cannot free himself).[7] Players can also encase themselves inside a bubble to be popped by another playing during difficult segments.[12] The level ends if all players run out of lives, or if all players die at the same time, leaving no one to free them. The level is completed by getting at least one player to touch the flag at the end, though a bonus is awarded if all players manage to grab hold of the flag within three seconds of the first player grabbing it.

The game is the first on the Wii to feature "Super Guide", in which players are able to hit a green block at the beginning of a level, let the game traverse the level for them, and resume play at any time by pausing and selecting that option.[19] This is only available in single player when a player has failed to complete a level at least eight times.[20]

New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be available in retail stores beginning November 15.

[burton2019]

Plan on getting it. Hoping its as good as advertised.

[SBG]

I'm downloading this one right now. Barring any download or repair (par files) problems I should be playing this on my external hard drive sometime tonight.

[SWVA-Football]

I'm downloading this one right now. Barring any download or repair (par files) problems I should be playing this on my external hard drive sometime tonight.

Piracy ain't cool.

[SBG]

I never said it was. Do you download mp3s?

[SWVA-Football]

I dropped by Wal-Mart earlier today and saw that they already have the game in stock. They also have the strategy guide and even though most of today's strategy guides are useless thanks to the Internet, I sometimes enjoy getting those just for collector's items and to help get you out of tricky areas without having to Google your way out of them. I did not purchase the game yet, though. I may hold off and get this one as a Christmas present since it's one I've been hyped for and would really be excited to receive as a gift.

Have any of you guys played it yet? And if so, what do you think about it?

Seems like this one has been overshadowed a lot by Modern Warfare 2. For Wii owners, though, this one is a must-have and probably Game of the Year.

[burton2019]

Should be getting it this week sometime. I'll let ya know.

[SBG]

I've been playing it and I love it. There's a lot going on like having to save some Toads as you go along. You can jump higher with the propeller suit. In addition to the fire flower there is an ice flower. Yoshi is in it, as well. Haven't run into the Super Guide yet. I'm not too far in yet and it's just amazing. If you liked all of the other Super Mario games you'll like this one, too.

[Biggin]

****it this is Wii-exclusive, right??

i love me some mario.

i even liked the mario 64 game, it was the hardest one ever haha but it was fun

[SBG]

Yeah, it's only on the Wii.

I never played M64 but I think this one would give it a run for it's money on difficulty.