Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009

NEW Super Mario Bros. for the Wii the best yet

For those of you waiting nearly 20 years for a remake of the Super Nintendo classic Super Mario Bros., the wait is over.

While playing the original is still as much fun as it was when it debuted in 1990, the facelift on Takashi Tezuka's gem is a welcomed look.

Similar to the original, Princess Peach (whom you've got to wonder by now, is she REALLY in distress?) is kidnapped by Bowser and his underlings. Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad take off on yet another quest to rescue Mario's by now common law wife.

First off, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad?? While cute and adorable, Nintendo could have done with one of the spastic servants. While up to four people can play the game at a time, making two of the characters exactly the same is kind of a cop-out. They could have at least made one Toadette. And maybe, just maybe, they could have given the Toads a real voice. Instead, they sound like my neighbor's rooster my dog ate last year. Or even bring in Princess Daisy, though that might get weird, since we all know that her and Mario had a thing - even though she was Luigi's girl...

The game-play is similar to the original: Simple commands for two buttons. However, with the Wii remote, players can shake the controller to shift platforms and make the player either lift heavy objects, do a spin jump, or do a powerful butt-stomp that breaks weak objects.

Level-wise, the difficulty is not high. Those using single-player mode will be able to breeze through the revamped levels. However, what truly shines is the co-op mode. You will never laugh so hard with your friends when you accidentally jump off one of their heads to avoid danger, sending them flying into a pit.

The game is like the offspring of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World - it gets the best genes from both parents.

However, a disturbing change is the lack of the Feather Cape and infamous Tanooki Suit. Someone at Nintendo decided to take something that wasn't broken and fusion-hybrid it into something new.

In New Super Mario Bros., the characters can don a Propeller Suit, allowing players to safely and slowly float to the ground. This is undoubtedly a replacement for the Feather Cape/Super Leaf which allowed Mario to soar for a few good seconds.

The Penguin Suit is a replacement for the Tanooki Suit AND Frog Suit. While in the Penguin Suit, you have access to the Ice Flower, another new feature, which freezes enemies instead of burning them up.

By far, my biggest disappointment was not seeing the Boot Suit, where the player gets to hop around in a giant green boot.

Not quite a suit, but definitely my favorite accessory, was Yoshi - who can be ridden in select levels. Unlike SMW, various colored Yoshi's are available at an earlier stage, instead of having to complete the Star Road in order to unlock Yoshi's colorful brethren.

There's pretty much unlimited continues, ensuring that even if you do suck at a game like Mario, you won't have to start completely over.

Some critics may complain about the repetitiveness of the game - but if you've loved Mario throughout the past two decades - this game is not going to disappoint.