Game Review: "Super Mario Bros. Wii"

The Christmas video game release binge is full on and Nintendo always places it's bet on one title as the title to own for the holidays. They usually do every year, and last year's bet was on Wii Music. Yeaaaah. But hey, we all make mistakes, right? But is Nintendo going to repeat the same mistake this year? With an actual Super Mario Bros. entry? What, are you on mushrooms? The kind that doesn't make you bigger?

First off, this is not a port of the DS version, as there are all new levels with some new power ups to use and we also see the return of the Koopa Kids. There's a couple of control schemes to use, holding the Wiimote sideways for the classic way that was used for the Super Mario Bros. games on the NES, or the Wiimote with the nunchuck configuration. It would've been nice, though, to have the option of using the classic controller as well. But like all Super Mario Bros. games, controlling the characters is easy, simple, and tight.

With the old and new power-ups to use, they all feel like they each have a meaningful function and purpose in the game. They weren't treated like how, on the DS version for example, the Mini Mushroom was just there to grab an extra few coins. The difficulty feels like it's very easy for the first levels of the game. But as you progress, it has a nice balance of a ramped up difficulty, instead of a sprinkled easy level in the middle of World 4 and a damn difficult level in World 2. Going through the game as a whole, it does trigger some similarities in game play style of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. The art style is very similar to that of the DS version, which some people like and others don't. Music is also in the same style of the DS version, to which I'm not really fond of.

But let's get to the main selling point, the multiple player simultaneous play in the main game. This changes the whole dynamic of the Super Mario Bros. game play entirely. It can be competitive or cooperative in many ways that can be deliberate or not.

Let's take my situation for example. To start, there's three of us playing with a wide range of expertise. Player one is my son, who's very inexperienced and still has a hard time to grasp the idea that holding down on the 1 button and then the jump button produces higher and longer jumps. Player two is my wife, who's played previous Super Mario Bros. games and has some experience. Player three is me, played all the Mario games multiple times and knows all the secret exits, hidden blocks...in other words, is a damn nerd. So we start off, player one hits a block and out comes a mushroom and two fire flowers. Everyone is gunning for the fire flowers. Then, player one and three get them and that leaves player two to scramble for the mushroom that is running away. Later on, due to player one's inexperience, he can't jump up to the upper levels in one of the castle levels. Player three goes next to him, picks him up and throws him up and everyone can continue on. Later on, player three is trying to reach the second star coin, but can't quite reach it. As player three jumps up, player two gets under player three, jumps up and hits player two from underneath and propels player three to get the star coin.

So what I'm trying to get across is that, no matter how you play or who you're playing with and what their experience is, it doesn't get frustrating, isn't messy or feels broken and is just damn fun to play. Playing with others feels like a whole different game versus when playing alone. Got a Wii? Then get this game. Play alone or with others, it doesn't matter. It's good.

Posted in: reviews,super mario bros. wii,video games,videogame reviews