New Super Mario Bros. Wii

aka: NSMBW
Moby ID: 44221
Wii Specs
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Description official descriptions

Princess Peach has been kidnapped! Again! Everyone was celebrating the Princess' birthday when a giant birthday cake arrived... but then Bowser Jr. and the seven Koopalings popped out and kidnapped her! Mario, Luigi and two Toads make chase to rescue her once more. Will they succeed?

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a continuation of the Super Mario Bros. games. As with the original, players jump, dash and grab power ups such as the Super Mushroom and the the Fire Flower, which lets them throw fireballs at their foes. New powerups have been added too - the Propeller Hat allows players to zoom vertically up in the air, and then glide back down, the Ice Flower lets players freeze enemies into icy blocks, and the Penguin Suit gives them traction on ice as well as allowing them to belly slide. Yoshi, from Super Mario World makes a return, as well - players can ride him and he'll eat enemies and berries in levels.

The Wii Remote's tilting feature is used to activate certain parts of levels - for example, jumping onto specific platforms and tilting the Wii Remote will angle the platform too. Another level has players aiming a light on a boat by using the Wii Remote so that they're not lost in the dark. Shaking the Wii Remote while wearing the Propeller Hat causes the player to fly straight up, while shaking it near objects picks them up or throws them.

The game has a special feature known as a 'Super Guide' - when a player dies eight times in total in a level, a special block appears at the start of the stage the next time they play. If the player hits this block, Luigi will take over and play through the level, showing them how to complete it. This allows players to progress through the game even if they are having trouble on a particularly difficult level.

Up to four players can play simultaneously. When playing together, as long as one person is on-screen in a level, players can keep returning in-game after they die by floating in a bubble which is then popped. If all players lose their lives, they are sent back to the map screen. Another mode, Coin Battle, has all players versus each other, with the aim being to pick up the most coins while heading toward the goal.

Spellings

  • New 超级马力欧兄弟 Wii - Chinese spelling (simplified)
  • ニュー・スーパーマリオブラザーズ・Wii - Japanese spelling
  • 뉴 슈퍼 마리오브라더스 Wii - Korean spelling

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Credits (Wii version)

122 People (111 developers, 11 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 51 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 60 ratings with 1 reviews)

Four hours of constant laughter

The Good
Today I went to my cousin's place to play this game with another relative. We all vary a lot in what games we like: I am the retro guy with a soft spot for memorable stories, one cousin is mostly anime RPG focused and the other relative is mostly a strategy fan. However, when playing this game (which is part of a genre neither of us are really into) we enjoyed the most enjoyable four hours we had in recent history. Let me explain why:

This is the first Mario game (to my knowledge) whose main story is entirely playable by more than one player and also not two, but a total of four players can participate. Other Mario games (like Mario 3) had you taking turns at playing levels, but this time around you are all on the screen, working together or racing against each other. It's a great formula for parties and family gatherings because nobody has to sit on the side to wait for their turn.

Unlike the original Mario Bros. you don't have to start the entire game over when the hearts are gone. Instead you get either a Game Over and lose all your stored power-ups or you simply get a continue and five new lives to waste. Considering the difficulty of this game (especially when playing with others) this is really nice because it keeps the game going. Having to start all over is demotivating for a game intended for group play and parties with people who are not very familiar with the medium.

The story is once again kept deliberately simple, even for Mario games. The princess is captured and Mario and Luigi give chase, there are no plot twists and all the enjoyment has to come straight out of the gameplay. By keeping the story simple you avoid making the player explain the whole thing when somebody else joins in mid-game. My cousin was also trying to get us to play a Spyro game he had lying around, but because he was already somewhere in the middle of the story we just kept platforming in this game.

The level design is pretty good and is mostly fresh (or I just haven't played enough Mario games to recognize the stages). There were occasions where I spotted a rehashed map/reference from an older game, but we either had fun playing those sections with more people or we just had too much fun to really notice it. At all other the levels are fairly imaginative with some very interesting and challenging sections, all while keeping with a cheerful and colorful aesthetic.

I like the fact that you can pick up other players, it allows you to reach places you couldn't reach alone and during hectic moments it is often a way to make small platforms easier to cross. That would be the RIGHT way to use this ability, what we used it for however was to throw objects at each other or hurl each other in holes, lava, enemies or spikes. Why is it still a plus then? Well because that was the main reason why we had so much laughter, the joke never loses its touch.

The Bad
While it is fun to throw each other into pits from time to time, it was rather frustrating that we encountered a lot of sections where you require team work and planning that is simply beyond the average drunken family members can use. I am talking sections where we were jumping around and bouncing on each other's heads while trying to escape traps. The fact that you always bounce is really annoying and causes a lot of unfair deaths.

At first I really liked the fact that you can turn into a bubble and float to a team-member to be saved from it because it looked funnier than just respawning. However, the bubble turned out to be a very cheap escape from death when we discovered how to use it properly. We would just try a jump and if things looked bad we'd hit A and float to a buddy who was waiting for us. This also makes it a problem when you are racing against each other because players will naturally ignore you and go off on their own, but if they die you will have to start the level over again.

The Bottom Line
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is what you'd expect from a Mario game, platforming action with a simple plot and one or two unique features. This time around the new features are multiplayer and some new power-ups and given it is a pretty good idea to have multiplayer in a Mario game. The level design is of a pretty high quality again and you're sure to get some above-average fun out of your Wii with this title no matter if you play it alone or with friends.

A recommendation for this game only depends on whether or not you own a Nintendo Wii. If you have the system and need a game for it, here you go, you are certain to like it unless you really can't stand Mario or platforming.

Wii · by Asinine (957) · 2011

Discussion

Subject By Date
Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay?! yenruoj_tsegnol_eht (!!ihsoy) (2599) Aug 24, 2014

Trivia

Sales

According to publisher Nintendo, New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold 29.51 million copies worldwide (as of September 30, 2015).

Awards

  • 1UP
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game (Editor's Choice)
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game (Readers' Choice)
  • 4Players
    • 2009 – #2 Best Wii Game of the Year
    • 2009 – #2 Best Dexterity Game of the Year
  • AceGamez
    • 2009 - Wii Game of the Year
    • 2009 - Best Platformer of the Year
  • Cheat Code Central
    • 2009 - Nintendo Wii Game of the Year
    • 2009 - Best Platformer
  • Game Informer
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game (Editor's Choice)
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game (Readers' Choice)
  • GameShark
    • 2009 - "Best Game to Play with Your Child If You Don't Have a LAN" Award
  • Gamespot
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game (Readers' Choice)
    • 2009 - Best Platformer (Readers' Choice)
  • GameSpy
    • 2009 - Nintendo Wii Game of the Year
    • 2009 - Nintendo Wii Gamers' Choice Award
    • 2009 - The Divorce Generator Award
  • GameTrailers
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game
  • GameZone
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game
  • IGN
    • 2009 - Wii Game of the Year
    • 2009 - Wii Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
    • 2009 - Overall Best Platform Game
    • 2009 - Overall Best Platform Game (Readers' Choice)
    • 2009 - Overall Best Family Game
    • 2009 - Overall Best Family Game (Readers' Choice)
    • 2009 - Best Wii Platform Game
    • 2009 - Best Wii Platform Game (Readers' Choice)
    • 2009 - Best Wii Multiplayer Game
    • 2009 - Best Wii Multiplayer Game (Readers' Choice)
  • Nintendo Power
    • 2009 (Issue #252) - Wii Game of the Year
  • Spike TV
    • 2009 - Best Wii Game
  • Yahoo
    • 2009 - Best Family Game of the Year

Information also contributed by Bob the Stickman

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Ben K.

Wii U added by Michael Cassidy. Android added by firefang9212.

Additional contributors: Big John WV, Caelestis, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, Grandy02, Victor Vance, lightlands.

Game added December 22, 2009. Last modified June 19, 2023.