New Super Mario Game: Finally!

atx 6speed — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:36:00 GMT

I've been an avid gamer for many years. I have owned many game consoles, including the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32X, Game Bo y, Game Gear, Nintendo 64, Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360. To say that I have dedicated far too many hours of my life (and too much money) would be an understatement. I have always been a fan of the Mario series of games, but as of late it seemed as though Nintendo had run out of ideas and the Wii wasn't offering Nintendo enough ways to innovate the series. The answer? Don't innovate at all...well, maybe.

Nintendo's latest offering, New Super Mario Bros., is a throwback to the side-scrolling platformers that made Nintendo well-known for simple, entertaining (and money making) games. The side-scrolling levels are back. Yoshi as a rideable character is back. A simple method of control (Wiimote held horizontally) is back. It seems like Nintendo has finally gone back to its roots and that is definitely a good thing. There are a few suprises thrown into the mix, but these aren't necessarily "bad" surprises.

The first is the ability for 4 players to play at once. This style of gameplay, much like Ninja Turtles 4: Lost In Time, is representative of an arcade-type game and is definitely at home on the family/group oriented Wii. If a player dies at any point in the level they can be recovered by "popping" them out of a bubble that appears at some point during the level.

The game will include new items and power-ups available throughout the level, including a propeller-suit and a penguin suit. Aside from making Mario look kitchy and cute they give him the ability to fly and freeze objects, respectively. Pretty self-explanatory. Players will also be able to compete with one another throughout the level for accolades, such as most coins collected, points earned, etc.

A third new feature in the game is the use of "super guide," a Wii-exclusive feature that lets a player pause the game, complete the level, and come back to it at any time. The feature is available to those playing solo who have failed to pass the level 8 or more times. I am not quite sure if I like the idea of this feature, as it doesn't offer the same old-school challenge of having to replay the entire level, plus I personally don't see how or why this is different from the standard pause function. Regardless, it doesn't seem to be a requirement to use the feature, so more adventurous users can skip it altogether (although they'd just probably pass the level to begin with).

The game is Shigeru Miyamoto's (creator of all things amazing at Nintendo) attempt at bringing single-player gameplay to a multi-player environment. While this isn't something new (Ninja Turtles: Lost in Time, The Simpsons Arcade Game, and Little Big Planet have done this) it certainly is a new and welcome addition to the Mario line of games, which seem to have run dry of ideas lately.

The game is available on November 15th and will definitely be a welcome addition to any gamer's collection, including mine :)

Video Games : SNES, Toadstool, Game Boy, Nintendo DS, Virtual Boy

New Super Mario Game: Finally!