Hands-on: New Super Mario Bros Wii

Like New Super Mario Bros. before it, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is instantly playable, addictive and fresh. It plays like every Mario game before it, embracing its NES legacy by requiring players to hold the Wii Remote on its side. Although the gameplay is immediately recognizable, the addition of four-player competitive multiplayer makes it feel, as the title reminds us, new. After even just one level, we had to question "why didn't Nintendo think of this sooner?"

New Super Mario Bros. Wii makes the arbitrary distinction of offering a "cooperative" Story mode, and a competitive multiplayer mode, but after a level or two, it's clear that there really is no such thing as cooperation in the Mushroom Kingdom. There's no real reason to switch between either mode, as both feature the same levels and a finite number of lives for the players. The only real addition to the competitive mode is the scoreboard at the end of a level, which ranks players based on their score, coins collected and the number of enemies defeated.

Why do we say there's no real cooperation in the Mushroom Kingdom? Simple: there are so many ways of being murdered in NSMBW. You can grab a fellow player and throw him down a cliff, into an enemy or into some molten lava. Grab a Yoshi and eat your friend ... and then spit him into a Piranha Plant. They won't be your friend anymore! You can even kill someone before they get to live a full life, by finding their spawn bubble and destroying it in an -- ahem -- inconvenient place (over a pit, perhaps?).

Gallery: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Continued →