There are curmudgeons out there who will skip this game because of the liberal Mario throwbacks, but they're missing the forest for the trees. Inventive level design, loads of content, and the shockingly profound boost mode make this one of the best 2D platformers out there.
Mario doesn't want to change what works. The GamePad gets an episode that continues all, also the fun. High Definition to support the color and the design, with many challenges ahead for up to 5 players.
Nintendo rediscovers fun for the core gamer: New Super Mario Bros. U is hardly surprising, but delivers quite a challenge with its classic jump & run roots.
While it seems that all the games, even the most forgivable ones, feel the need to have a twist in them to break or turn upside down an established code, how can one with "retro" and a certain "opposition to change" both carved into its DNA surprise? In New Super Mario Bros. U, the princess doesn't get kidnapped, it's the hero that gets booted outside the castle to the far end of the realm. But it doesn't change anything: the game is a clear declaration that one does not need to change what already works perfectly.
Everything about New Super Mario Bros. U is pretty exciting, except the game itself. Is it possible that this is the best game in the "New" series to date--not to mention one of the best exclusive Wii U games on the market, by default--and at the same time kind of flatly uninteresting? Apparently so. The game is perfectly well made for what it is, and I had plenty of fun playing it in short bursts here and there, but at this point the series' by-the-numbers design philosophy is starting to lend the name "New Super Mario Bros." a degree of unintentional irony.
A good game, but in retrospect, a terrible launch title for the Wii U. It did a poor job demonstrating the console's capabilities, both in terms of HD graphics and utilizing the GamePad in a compelling way. Not to mention the fact that it released the same year as NSMB2, cannibalizing sales between both games. This was never going to be a system seller, (which a first-party launch title should be) considering there were three cheaper, practically identical alternatives available on other consoles.
If this game has anything going for it, it's the challenge mode. I sunk 15+ hours into finishing that alone, and I enjoyed it considerably more than the main campaign. However, there's really not much else notable about it in comparison to the other games in the series, which appears to be a running theme. The NSMB series is so overdone at this point (and was 11 years ago) and this isn't the big refresh 2D Mario needed and the Wii U deserved, which we seem to be finally getting with Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
New Super Mario Bros U came out in the same year as New Super Mario Bros. 2. As a Wii U launch game, it got more copies bought that it would have if it was not a launch game. Right now, you’re probably saying,”Say that again?” It sold better then it should’ve. Does it hold up today?
The story is a little bit different. Instead, PEACH’s castle was taken over. Well, story never defines a platforming game (Much less a Mario game). The gameplay is the same as it always was, and they added a minimal amount of new gimmicks, which really brought the game down. I’m starting to feel like this is just New Super Mario Bros. Wii. There is one new power up and an “infinite” version of that same power up. The Nabbit chases were probably the only original part.
The overall presentation is good, just not memorable. The locations are the same as in Wii and 2. There’s nothing that really stood out to me. The soundtrack is bah-bah-boring, and most of the songs are old, and the new ones are bah remixes of the original Super Mario Bros. soundtrack.
There is quite a bit of content. 3 stars in every level, and if you get a world, you get an extra level. There are some other challenge modes which are a lot of fun, but they are limited and they’re nothing you can’t make in Mario Maker. There are also battle modes against your friends, which I never played because I will never play a 2d platformer with friends.
This game is so similar to Wii, it should be called New Super Mario Bros: Wiihash. If you don’t own any other 2d Mario game or Mario Maker, then maybe you should get this. Not on the Switch though…
SummaryIt was just another dinner at the castle with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Peach... Until suddenly the vicious Koopa fleet invades Mushroom kingdom airspace and launches a full-scale assault! With Bowser at the helm and his Koopalings each in their own custom airships, the castle is under attack with the Princess trapped inside—and t...