New Super Mario Bros. Wii Review Page 2

27 Nov 2009 at 14:40:59 by Tim McDonald
Systems used to review this title: (WII)

As with New Super Mario Bros. on the DS, each level contains three Star Coins. Some are obvious and simply require taking a slightly different path through the level; others are deviously hidden, requiring the clever use of suits and powers like – say – using the Ice Flower to freeze Bullet Bills, hopping upwards from one to the next just as the first is about to shatter. Challenging and diverting as this is in single-player, there's a whole new level of hilarity in multiplayer, and I'm starting to believe that it's impossible to not smile when you're playing with at least two others.

I promise that's the last time I'll accidentally segue into talking about how good the multiplayer is, because there are other bits that need to be addressed – not least that the game falls down a little in single-player. Some levels are clearly balanced for the multiplayer experience, with incredibly frustrating jumps and plenty of environmental hazards, to the extent that I will track down the person behind World 3-4 and I will beat him or her to death with a haddock.

It's also worth mentioning that a side-on Wiimote is not the most comfortable way to play a game. The Wiimote might be ergonomic when you're pointing it at the screen but holding it with the D-pad on the left and the 1 and 2 buttons on the right isn't comfortable unless you have hands formed from generations of inbreeding, and having Wiimote-shaking act as a surrogate jump button (depending on what power-ups) you have can cause serious problems on levels requiring perfect precision. Thankfully, none of them are exactly Star Road in terms of nerve-shattering difficulty spikes.

That said, the way the game using Wiimote controls outside of direct character control are marvellous. One puts you in a raft in a dark area, with Wiimote tilting controlling the direction the raft's spotlights point. Another has you racing along rails, with your mobile girder (don't ask) controlled by tilting it left or right to move in that direction – which, indeed, tilts the girder. Trying to keep your overall movement under control while still having Mario dodge falling Spinies and rising fireballs is like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time, but is enormously gratifying.

There is one rather large elephant left in the room, though, and that's the shadow cast by the franchise's previous side-scrolling titles. Super Mario Bros. 3 showed absolute mastery of the art, and only Super Mario World on the SNES has since come close. In single-player, New Super Mario Bros. Wii just doesn't stack up to either of them. While there are a few levels which are incredibly creative through Nintendo's clever playing with the formula, too many just make you feel like you've seen it all before. There's nothing to rival the continual sense of amazement when you first wandered into the Forest of Illusion or Vanilla Dome, and even the ghost houses are unlikely to provide too much trouble if you've played any before. It doesn't help that the graphical style, while bright and colourful, isn't anywhere near as charming as you'd want a Mario game to be.

In single-player, New Super Mario Bros. Wii isn't as good as the rest of the side-scrolling series. The worlds and levels are often cookie-cutter, the game balance feels a little off in places, and it's all a little rote, making it a solid but inessential Mario experience. In multiplayer, however, it's fabulously chaotic. If you've got a Wii, a bunch of controllers, and a group of people, it's an absolute must – and if you've got the people but not the Wii, it's almost a killer app for the system.

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