New Super Mario Bros. U Review

New Super Mario Bros. U

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Platform: Wii U Players 1-4 (Story), 1 (Challenge Mode) Release: 2012 Genre: 2D Platformer Rating: 9.2 \ 10.0: Excellent

Above is Squirrel Mario and Squirrel Luigi gliding through a secret room
 

Ever since Minecraft became mega-popular last year, I almost lost my love of the Super Mario series. But after playing this, I know Minecraft will never exceed this amazing franchise. Even after owning this game for months, I never played it enough to review it, but now I have, and New Super Mario Bros. U is one of the first and finest Wii U games available. The plot has, not at all surprisingly, Bowser capture Peach from her castle, but this time in a clever way that looks amazing in HD. Bowser and his Koopalings (whom Bowser Jr. has rejoined, thankfully) fly airships over to the Mushroom Castle while Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the Yellow and Blue Toads are eating together when suddenly a giant arm extends from Bowser's ship and snatches the Mario Bros. The arm hurls them away into a tree full of acorns, which are scattered across the land. Bowser seizes the castle, and the Bros. rush to save the princess. These acorns are the game's new power-up-- the Super Acorn. This nut is similar to the Super Leaf from Super Mario Bros. 3 and New Super Mario Bros. 2 (it was also featured in Super Mario 3D Land, but it functions differently). It grants you the suit of a flying squirrel, allowing you to glide and burst upwards when you shake the Wii Remote (or Wii U GamePad, depending on which one you're using). Like SMB3's P-Wing, which gives you infinite flight for the duration of one stage, there is a P-Acorn. I have a small quip about the control features-- you can play with the Wii Remote and control the game just as you would in NSMB Wii, but the Nunchuck in no longer compatible. I've gotten accustomed to holding the Wii Remote sideways, but it still bothers me a little. Also, when playing solo, Boost Mode is activated on the GamePad. This allows a friend to jump in and tap the GamePad's touchscreen to create colorful platforms. When you jump on these platforms while a symbol is on them, coins will pop up, and a fraction of a star-shaped meter will appear on the GamePad screen. When filled, a large magenta star will appear on the touchscreen. Touch it, and it will temporarily allow you to dispatch enemies by touching them, which somehow encourages my friends to also create a bunch of useless platforms when I play. Furthermore, this game marks the return of the baby Yoshis, which haven't been seen since the 16-bit classic Super Mario World, which was the Super NES's launch title, as this is for the Wii U. In that game, as well as this one, you must hold down a button to carry the reptilian infant, and it will eat any small enemy you dash into. But this time around,  there are three types of baby Yoshis, and they cannot grow into adults by eating foes. They can be found on the world map, and each have a special ability that is triggered by shaking the Wii Remote. The first type is the blue baby Yoshi, which can burp bubbles that transform enemies into coins. The second type is pink, which inflates and lets you momentarily take to the skies. And the third type is yellow, which glows and can illuminate the whole screen for several seconds. Additionally, baby Yoshis add amusing humming to  the music. In a nostalgic twist, all the worlds named after deserts and are connected by a trail (ring a bell, Super Mario World players?), and stages once again have names. As I just mentioned, the worlds, amusingly, are all named after various foods-- Acorn Plains and Layer Cake Dessert, for example. When you want to take a break from story mode, you can head on down to Challenge mode. Here, you can race through levels as your Mii and play fun mini-missions, such as clearing a level in the Squirrel Suit without touching the ground, acquiring a many coins as you can in a small amount of time, racking up 1-Ups by jumping on enemies without touching the ground, and more. There's also a Boost Rush mode, in which you have a short amount of time to clear a stage with Boost Mode is activated. The screen automatically scrolls, and it is sped up when you collect coins. Improving upon the Coin Battle mode from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, you can now customize the coin placement in the stages you play in that mode. However, the game can be difficult at times, causing frustration, up to the point where I can keep my dignity even when I allow an AI Luigi flawlessly complete a level for me. Even so, New Super Mario Bros. U is another outstanding Mario title, and I can't wait for the next New Super Mario Bros. game.

Ups
New power-up
Super Mario World references
Return of baby Yoshis
GamePad-based Boost Mode
Fun extra modes

Downs
Frustrating at times

ESRB: E Content: Comic Mischief Price: $29.99 (Retail)