The best Mario platformer in 21 years.
Not since Super Mario World in 1991 has a 2D Mario game been quite this good. New Super Mario Bros. U is the fourth and latest game in the revival series of Mario platformers, and while the others have their merits, this latest instalment is the first that seems to just get it all right.
From the moment you find yourself looking at the open, seamless game world on the map screen, memories of classic Mario platforming nostalgia come flooding in. This game was clearly designed to showcase the best of the best from Mario's rich history, while finding inventive new ways to mix up old gameplay elements. For example, chubby little Baby Yoshis appear in the game, but unlike their first appearance in Super Mario World, these ones don't grow into full-sized Yoshis, and they'll instead harbour unique abilities such as blowing enemy-trapping bubbles or temporarily inflating like a parachute to help Mario progress through the levels.
Many familiar enemies make their return including some surprise cameos from years ago, but Nintendo has thrown in a reasonable handful of new baddies to mix things up and make things fresh. Even the Koopalings, criticised for unoriginal battle sequences in New Super Mario Bros. 2, each feature unique weapons this time around. You'll see some of the most creative boss battles in a Mario game yet!
Being the first true high definition Mario game, NSMBU looks gorgeous. The levels are vibrant, colorful and exciting, with plenty going on in each stage. Occasionally the backdrops get particularly creative, with stunning cartoon renderings of cobwebs in the haunted house stages, glittering gemstones embedded in the walls of the caverns or stone slabs and pillars in the castles. Each Koopaling's airship cockpit has a different décor to suit their particular personalities and tastes. Easily the most visually impressive stage is The Painted Swampland, an eerie toxic lake littered with precarious, tilting pipes that Mario must carefully navigate while Boos attack from all sides. In this level, every piece of scenery is presented as an oil painting inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night, with a particularly awesome Mario-themed surprise in the background as you draw close to the goal. Really, it's a shame art such as this wasn't used in more stages!
As in the Wii predecessor, portions of the stage will often move and shift around unexpectedly. This feature is also taken in new directions as entire levels revolve around caves with giant chunks of crystal that slide around or ghost houses that inexplicably (and creepily) sway back and forth like a pendulum.
The game is all about exploration and discovery, and just like its Super NES inspiration, the map will blossom and unfold with secret paths leading to hidden levels and mysterious new areas. Many times it appears that there must be a hidden path at a certain point on the map, but finding all the level exits and uncovering every last Star Coin is a challenge greater than ever before.
For those who still want more, there are special Nabbit stages where you must chase down a nimble foe to retrieve Toad's stolen items, or an entirely new series of challenges in which you have to complete a level within a certain time limit or bounce off enemies to earn as many 1-ups as possible without touching the floor. These challenge stages quickly become very difficult, and perfectionists will have their work cut out for them to earn every gold medal in the game.
With absolute sincerity, this may just be the best 2D game in the entire Super Mario series, and thus it’s no wonder that the game is on our top ten list for 2012. If you have a Wii U, picking up New Super Mario Bros. U is simply a no-brainer.
