Wii U

New Super Mario Bros. U

New Super Mario Bros. U makes a fine Wii U debut for Nintendo's dungaree-clad superstar. It offers plenty of classic 2D side-scrolling action for players who just want more of what they've always loved in old-school Mario games. Then it sweetens the pot by offering groups of gamers something completely new in Boost mode, which can be used by parents to help struggling kids work through tricky areas or veterans to improve their scores and find hidden treasures. Some friends may even make up their own challenges in Boost mode by attempting to, say, see whether they can use the platforms they conjure to stymie rather than help each other.

Overall, New Super Mario Bros. U is everything I thought it would be. Yeah - it's that good!

New Super Mario Bros. U is close to the ideal 2D Mario game hinted at by the debut of New Super Mario Bros. seven years ago. It’s a more sincere follow-up to Super Mario World than any previous game, and even if its innovations are muted and on the periphery, this is the evolution the series needed. It’s a simple question, really: Do you like 2D Mario? If so, play this game. It is that damn good.

All in all, New Super Mario Bros. U is Wii U’s first must-have title, especially if you’re a fan of Mario or platforming games. It’s the culmination of the New Super Mario Bros. sub-series, and perhaps the best 2D Mario title since the SNES era. This is all thanks to how well it strikes a balance between the offering of recognizable mechanics and original ones. It’s also great to finally see Mario enter the HD era, even if he didn’t get the full 1080p treatment. What’s most important here, however, is how charming and right this game feels. The platforming is rock solid, the puzzles are complex yet not infuriatingly difficult, the Challenge Mode is a glorious addition to the tried-and-true formula found in the story mode, and the new features make it very hard to go back to playing any of the other New Super Mario Bros. games. I’m still waiting with bated breath for a rightful sequel to Super Mario Galaxy 2, but in the meantime, I’m very content with playing New Super Mario Bros. U.

Harking back to the very best of Mario titles, creating that addiction, that need to progress, this is a wonderful game. Even with the lack of Pro Controller support, it’s impossible not to fall completely and utterly in love with Mario all over again. If you’re grabbing a Wii U soon, then you should also grab New Super Mario Bros. U. But then, you already knew that.

In the end New Super Mario Bros U is an extremely fun game on the Wii U which proves classics can still make it in a world of games such as Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty. The visuals look amazing, the gameplay, although quite retro is pure Mario which makes this a must have title for the console.

If you load up New Super Mario Bros. U with the expectation of playing another genre-defying escapade like Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy, then you’re likely to be disappointed. Mario’s first game for the Wii U plays it safe when it comes to theme and concept; like previous titles in the ‘New’ series, this is essentially a rehash of the blueprint laid down by the very first Super Mario Bros. back in 1985. The mechanics remain the same, but they have been gilded by decades of subtle refinements and enhancements, leading us to what has to be one of the most accomplished 2D platformers ever created. New Super Mario Bros. U may not offer the cataclysmic genre shift that many badly crave, but it’s the gem of the Wii U launch lineup and a must-have purchase.

Le Roi n’est pas mort, bien au contraire : la Wii U lui permet justement de connaitre une seconde jeunesse. 2D HD qui fait mouche, arrière-plans magnifiques, musiques toujours aussi justes… Pas de doute, Nintendo n’a pas fait les choses à moitié pour ce jeu de lancement. Après un party-game de qualité, voilà un jeu de plateformes tout aussi bon dans sa catégorie, aussi bien en solo qu’en multi. Le principal souci ici concernera le budget : il faudra mettre la main à la poche si 1) vous souhaitez avant tout y jouer en multi et 2) la Wii ne s’est jamais installée dans votre salon. Un premier jeu de plateforme d’excellente facture. Vivement Rayman Legends !

New Super Mario Bros. U is clearly a must buy for those who have picked up the new Wii U home console from Nintendo and it might also be one of the main reasons to get the new hardware. The game is solid when it comes to core mechanics and as classic as possible without turning off modern gamers, but the Challenges and the Boost Mode also introduce some interesting new ideas to the series. The Coin Battle is also a great way of transitioning gamers from the older Wii to the new gaming platform and will offer hours of fun and might even strain some friendships after intense games. The only big problem with New Super Mario Bros. U is that the game fails to truly evolve the formula of the franchise and might leave long-term fans disappointed.

New Super Mario Bros U provides a highly enjoyable experience for anyone from seasoned veterans to young players getting their first taste of gaming, earning the franchise the launch title success it hasn't seen in over fifteen years.

Avec New Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo signe tout simplement le meilleur jeu de plateforme de l’année. Utilisant intelligemment le GamePad à plusieurs, le titre vaut aussi bien pour son aventure solo que pour son multijoueur. On pensait découvrir un Mario au rabais mais la Wii U se dote là d’un excellent jeu.

New Super Mario Bros. U ist der Inbegriff eines klassischen Marios. Die 2D-Optik funktioniert noch immer, und all die altbekannten Elemente fügen sich in das farbenfrohe und detailreiche Gelage ohne jegliche Probleme ein. Mir hat das Spielen trotz vieler schwieriger Passagen jede Menge Freude bereitet. Grosse Innovationen habe ich persönlich nicht erwartet. Diese werden wohl eher mit einem neuen 3D-Teil kommen. Allerdings wäre ein wenig mehr Mut zum Neuen doch lobenswert gewesen. Das soll allerdings kein allzu grosser Vorwurf sein, schliesslich macht der Titel verdammt viel Spass - und eben darauf kommt es an. Wer das Franchise schon immer mochte, bekommt zum Start der Nintendo Wii U damit eines der besten und vor allem bewährtesten Hüpfspiele unserer Zeit geboten. Alle Fans sollten zugreifen!

You can rightly expect great things when Mario rolls around, but he's been off his game for a while. Still the connoisseur of platformers, New Super Mario Bros. U represents a valued return to spotlight for Mario in all his serendipitous glory. A considerable part of the level designs seen here surpass that of recent efforts in this line, even though there's not a defined authoritative backing behind them. And while not superb or completely dazzling, New Super Mario Bros. U is a highlight of modern-day, 2D platformers in general, never mind just those belonging to the Mario brand.

After witnessing New Super Mario Bros. 2 and how it slowly approached the brink of self-parody, I couldn't help but lower my expectations for New Super Mario Bros U. In hindsight, this was a mistake. Until you compare each entry of this Mario series against the other, one truth tends to be hidden in plain sight: The portable New Super Mario installments often take on much less risk than their console siblings, perhaps due to the limitations of the mobile platform they're designed for. With that in mind, it's easy to see why the original DS game felt so easy or how the 3DS sequel could't fix things by literally throwing money at the problem. By comparison, the Wii and Wii U entires show a maturation of platforming ideas that place safe bets on what works yet also develops other ideas along the way. NSMBU doesn't re-write the rules of platforming games, but it carefully balances enough of what works with a handful of new ideas that come together in the end.

Det är förstås ett lika vackert spel som föregångarna i serien och erbjuder en del världar med superläcker design. Om det bara inte vore för den där lätta oron över att spelet upprepar sig för mycket och sliter på genialiteten från tidigare äventyr... Kanske är det här titeln som ska hjälpa oss att få tiden att gå fram till nästa riktigt innovativa Mario-satsning släpps. Tills vidare njuter vi helhjärtat tillsammans med detta trots allt underbara spel.

The transition to HD graphics has not meant the Mushroom Kingdom now looks less cartoony - if anything the colours are more vibrant in their variety and detail and the extra levels of animation the higher-powered console allows has been put to good use in the parallax backgrounds and foreground animations. The backgrounds are marvelous, especially the moving impressionist painting of the Soda Jungle. The enemy models are superb too - Bowser and his ships are very impressive, for example. All of this, along with the Challenges, Boost Rush and the beautiful map (a la Super Mario World but better, much better) make New Super Mario Bros U a very welcome addition to the series and differentiate it from all that has come before while remaining very much a Mario game. Knowing Nintendo’s modus operandi from their past actions this is likely to be the only 2D Mario on the Wii U; I can’t wait to see what all the creative energy of the Mario team conjures up next!

There’s not really anything especially wrong with New Super Mario Bros. U, and there’s plenty of high-quality content to keep a single player and his or her friends busy for a long while. The graphics are in high-definition for the first time and they look great. Though the controls are occasionally squirrelly, that is unfortunately true of all games in the New Super Mario Bros. series and the modern generation of gamers doesn’t seem to mind. As long as you’re not bothered by the lack of any substantially new ideas, Mario’s latest adventure is a rewarding and surprisingly challenging trip down memory lane that you shouldn’t miss.

C'est indéniable, New Super Mario Bros.U possède toutes les qualités d'un excellent jeu de plateformes en 2D. Une formule gagnante qui a déjà fait ses preuves sur les différentes générations de consoles du constructeur nippon. Nintendo joue ainsi la carte de la sécurité en se basant sur un vrai savoir faire, sans pour autant prendre de risque. On regrette justement que cette version soit si proche, dans le fond et dans la forme, de la mouture sortie sur Wii... Mais quand on fait venir un plombier rouge en 2D dans son salon, on ne s'attend pas à autre chose que ce qu'on nous propose ici. En revanche, les fonctionnalités autour du Gamepad, sympathiques au demeurant, sont clairement trop limités. Il faudra sans doute attendre une version 3D pour toucher à une nouvelle expérience.

Certes, on sent très vite que Nintendo ne s'est pas foulé avec ce New Super Mario Bros. U et recycle bon nombre de ses anciennes recettes, y compris provenant d'illustres ancêtres en 2D comme Super Mario World ou Super Mario Bros 3. Mais il reste malgré tout un bon jeu de plates-formes, agréable à jouer à défaut de révolutionner la série, et qui fait preuve de bonnes idées disséminées par-ci par-là. Une vieille recette que l'on mange pour se remplir l'estomac, mais on aimerait bien goûter à autre chose de la part de Nintendo.

En jouant à New Super Mario Bros U, vous aurez l'impression de jouer à une version "Lost Levels" de l'épisode Wii, la difficulté ultra corsée en moins. Alors certes, ce sont de nouveaux niveaux, mais mine de rien, le game design est strictement identique à son prédécesseur et le level design ne fait pas preuve d'une imagination débordante. Les fonctionnalités GamePad sont surtout utilisées en multi mais font plus office de bonus qu'autre chose. Un titre qui ne marquera pas l'histoire de la série mais qui reste un bon jeu à faire en famille ou avec des amis.

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.

It's frenetic and anarchic, but hardly the stuff that will convince you to buy a Wii U. Come on, Mr Miyamoto: let's have a proper Mario game for the Wii U. And a Zelda, and a Metroid, and a Pikmin, and a Donkey Kong and so on...