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3DS

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New Super Mario Bros. 2

by Andrew Brown - October 29, 2012, 3:12 pm EDT
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Two more Coin Rush packs are up for grabs—here's what's inside.

New Super Mario Bros 2. has received its second DLC Coin Rush upgrade, and we've given the stages a thorough playthrough. Here's the score.

Gold Mushroom Pack: Difficulty 2/5 - Goal 30,000 coins

This pack rains Gold Mushrooms down onto the player at just about every opportunity, and while not quite as generous as the Gold Rush Pack, it's a fast way to make some easy money towards your million-coin goal. Remember that a Gold Mushroom is worth 50 coins in Coin Rush; if you happen to be Gold Mario, you'll get a cool 100 coins for each!

The first stage is kind of an odd hybrid between the sky and jungle stages. The stage has plenty of bottomless pits and giant mushroom platforms, broken up between jungle trees and swinging vines. The sky is littered with flying question mark blocks, almost all containing Gold Mushrooms. Time is particularly strict in this level, so be sure to search out all the stopwatches you can.

Wigglers are the most prevalent enemies here, and will often provide strategic jumping boards to bounce yourself up to some of the goodies just out of reach. The level also has plenty of secrets in this level, with flying blocks often placed in such a way as to make a staircase to some nice hidden bonuses above the action, including a little mini-game bonus area where you can quickly rake in some big bucks. If you've reached the end with some time to spare, you could double back and search for the hidden exit to add a few more coins to your total.

The second stage is an icy mountain level teeming with Microgoombas and Gold Rings to turn all your enemies into money making machines. The level is broken up between the surface and an underground cave running beneath it, requiring you to search both the high and low roads in order to clean out all the coins. Take the springboard found at the start of the stage along for the ride, you'll need it a few times to reach all the areas.

If you haven't yet used your Gold Flower reserve, it'd be a waste not to activate it at the start of this level as there's another Gold Flower in a block near the start, which you can then keep in reserve for the third stage.

The third and final stage in this pack is an underground cave full of those quirky mushroom platforms that react when you step on them. There's an interesting mechanic in this cave—you will continually come across Piranha Plants guarding yellow pipes, and plucking the ravenous weeds will cause a Gold Mushroom to pop out. The more yellow pipes there are together, the more Gold Mushrooms you'll grab if you can defeat the plants! This is my favorite level of the pack.

Coin Challenge Pack B: Difficulty 3/5 - Goal 10,000 coins

This pack, like the Coin Challenge Pack A, has an online leaderboard on Nintendo's website.

The first stage is a haunted house level full of alternating platforms that appear and disappear, requiring fast reflexes to safely navigate your way to the end. The maze-like level features some sneaky tricks to confuse you and some cunning hidden areas, as well as a harrowingly strict time limit.

The next stage is made up of a series of tightropes suspended between cliffs, with a constant barrage of Bullet Bills and Banzai Bills streaming across the stage. Plenty of Gold Rings around this stage will turn the projectile enemies into streaming coin-comets, and summon waves of Gold Bullet Bills to stream across the screen in formation, allowing you to bounce off them one by one like a staircase to reach new heights.

The final new stage is an outdoor castle area with an endless hail of volcanic rocks set to destroy everything between you and the goal flag. Amid the burning death chaos, large coins worth 10 and 100 flitter about overhead, tempting you to jump to your doom. This level is a true test of your jumping, dodging, and mid-air maneuver skills, especially if you have any hope of finding the secret rooms, collecting all the treasure and making it safely to the goal with the coin total target.

While not particularly challenging, these two new level packs are certainly not a cake-walk either, and provide just enough of a twist on the established formula to make things still feel fresh and new. I actually like these ones more than the first three DLC packs, and they're just enough to tide me over until the release of the Wii U next month. Who knows what the third set of downloadable level packs will bring? Whatever it is, you can count on us to give you the details when we know more.

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3DS

Game Profile

New Super Mario Bros. 2 Box Art

Genre Action
Developer Nintendo
Players1 - 2

Worldwide Releases

na: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Release Aug 19, 2012
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Release Jul 28, 2012
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Release Aug 17, 2012
PublisherNintendo
Rating3+
aus: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Release Aug 18, 2012
PublisherNintendo
RatingGeneral
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