Mario time
I was not one of the biggest fans of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t keeping company with this douchebag, but I didn’t love it. I found the controls often frustrating, with Mario wall-jumping constantly whether I wanted him to or not, and the goofy Wiimote-shake spin jump firing any time I so much as tilted the remote, and dumping me in pits all the damn time. My overall opinion of the game was that, principally due to the control issues, it was only pretty good.
New Super Mario Bros. U, on the other hand, is not pretty good. In point of fact, it is goddamn phenomenal. What I honestly expected to be a decent but unremarkable launch title turns out to be one of the best games I’ve played in a long time. The game follows the usual visual and audio aesthetic of the New SMB series, and is full of bright primary colours and lively landscapes and catchy background tracks that the mobs (and some environment details) move in time to, and that’s a good thing; the look-and-feel has always been a great strength of the New SMB series, since, frankly, after a while one gets tired of looking at drab, dark, pseudo-futuristic brownscapes, as I believe I’ve mentioned once or twice over the past few years. But New SMB U goes beyond just making things bright and pretty; every level I’ve played so far (and I’m on world 3, so it’s a fair few) contains some new thing you haven’t seen before, and almost all of them are interesting or exciting. I don’t think I’ve said "wow" so many times playing a video game since… ever, pretty much. There’s always something new and surprising popping up here.
The gameplay is probably more balanced than it’s ever been in a Mario game. For once, there isn’t one powerup that’s just better than the others; remember how you haven’t really ever wanted a fire flower since, like, the original Super Mario Bros. since there’s always something better? The raccoon tail in SMB3, the cape in Super Mario World, so forth. They all have the same problem: they give Mario an attack that’s maybe not quite as good as the fire flower, but then they also let you fly and fall slowly and deflect incoming projectiles and hit blocks form the side and on and on. Well, not this time; the glider suit Mario gets from the acorn powerup has no attacks built in, and doesn’t add nearly so many movement buffs; all Mario can do with it is double-jump and slow-fall, which means there are actually times you’ll want something else. On top of the powerup balance, this is the only Mario game I’ve ever played (and I think I’ve played all of them, including the arcade version of Super Mario Bros. and Wario Land on the Virtual Boy) in which the timer actually matters. You have to haul ass to get through the levels on time, even in 1-1.
Playing the game with the Wii U gamepad removes the control issues that dogged New SMB Wii; the game is also playable with a Wiimote (and you have to use a Wiimote for multiplayer), but at this time I’m unable to say if the spin controls have maybe been sensitived down somewhat or if it still throws you in pits constantly. Mario’s wall-jumping reflexes are a bit more on-target this time, though, and it’s not so common that you’ll be trying to make a bunch of rapid jumps and end up bouncing in weird directions you don’t want.
In addition to the campaign and the multiplayer modes, New SMB U also adds a bunch of challenges, which is good stuff. It’ll give you a level to beat in a certain amount of time, or a target number of coins to collect, or something totally oddball — one of the first special challenges has you seeing how long you can survive while dodging fireballs from a pair of Fire Bros. None of this stuff is necessary to play the game, so if it’s not your bag, you can completely ignore it; it’s just a fun little extra from the main menu. There’s also Miiverse integration, which means you can post comments on levels and look for suggestions and such on a spot you’re stuck on without leaving the game at all; I’m not sold on this, but it’s also easy to turn it off, so I really can’t complain. It’s there for people who want it and not there for people who don’t.
If you have a Wii U, there’s no excuse for not getting this game. It’s brilliant. I just hope they have some brilliance left over to use on the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy game.
