Tech Blog

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This weekend sees the release of what is certainly the most hotly anticipated Nintendo Wii title of the holiday season, New Super Mario Bros. Wii. As the first 2D Super Mario title to feature multiplayer (the non-super arcade title Mario Bros. doesn't count!) there's a lot to live up to.

Thanks to its appearance at trade shows and press events I've had a lot of time to get to grips with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and one of the hardest thing about the game is how difficult it is to explain the appeal of the title. After all, 2D Mario games are as old as the hills, and the last New Super Mario Bros.--the Nintendo DS version--was, in my opinion, awful, with some utterly boring level design that robbed the game of any fun at all.

But the appeal of New Super Mario Bros. Wii is not, really, what traditionally makes a Super Mario game appealing. It's got "New" in the title for a reason (this time, a good reason)--four-player multiplayer changes everything. Just take a look at this video.

A little dry, you might think! But it establishes just how much of a game changer multiplayer is. Played single player--and I've spent some time doing so--New Super Mario Bros. Wii isn't very much of a leap forward from the DS version. Played multiplayer, there are now tens of different ways to deal with every situation, and depending on the group you're playing with, it's either a serious and disciplined acrobatic event or an utterly chaotic, silly battle for supremacy.

And it is fun. Want an example of the kind of fun you can get up to? Check out this video, in which one poor luigi player is taken advantage of by his incredibly skillful teammates!

Of course, it's not all gravy. Many have commented this, but it would have been nice to have more characters than just Mario, Luigi and a pair of Toads (C'mon, Princess Peach really doesn't get to take part? How sexist!) and although the game isn't too hard, I'm sure there might be the odd bit of argument if you reach a sticky point! 

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an odd duck, a combination of very traditional design (after all, what is more classic than Super Mario Bros.?) with the potential-ripe, often funny and regularly crazy, four-player multiplayer. It's a perfect example of a family title, as four people can crowd around and (usually) play quite happily all at their own skill level--it already sounds great for those family gatherings where Wii Bowling has long become tired (though honestly, you should mostly still be enjoying Wii Sports Resort). It's not going to be considered the game of the year to the "hardcore" but it's a perfect fit for the Nintendo Wii.