A look at New Super Mario Bros from and old Super Mario Bros fan

Ever since I was about 6 years old I have been playing Mario games. Sadly, I only began with Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64, so I don’t have the strong NES roots many of today’s hardcore gamers have. My girlfriend and her sister, neither of which are hardcore gamers, do, however. They remember the fast-paced running and jumping thrills of the first real side-scroller, and all the little nuances in the controls and the level design. Even today I can see my girlfriend pull out the SNES and pop in Super Mario World and just run flawlessly from level one all the way till the end without even breaking a sweat. I tried my hand at player 2, and she quickly told me to leave it to her; go figure.

Why am I mentioning all of this? Well it’s because recently I borrowed Super Mario Bros Wii from Nisute headquarters to see what all the fuss was about, and also to pass it on to my girlfriend, just to see if it passed her nostalgia test. To be completely honest, every other Mario platformer that I have put in her hands, she has quickly put it down, claiming it doesn’t feel the same as the originals. When I suggested playing NSMBW, she was interested considering the hype, but I was very surprised at the reaction it got from her and her sister.

I have to say this: as I mentioned before, I suck at the original Mario Bros games; I won’t deny it. This game though, I was able to quickly soar high and really have a good, fun and funny experience with two die-hard Mario Bros fans; and it was a blast! The game looks great, plays smoothly, and the multiplayer has been perfected on so many levels. Well… with the exception of picking up players. I personally found it fun, but apparently my girlfriend found it frustrating that I kept dragging her through the levels and accidentally dropping her into hazards; I didn’t do it on purpose, honest!

The bubble has to be one of the greatest things to happen to multiplayer side-scrolling since… since being able to walk to the right and jump! That bubble that allows you to save yourself from certain death and slowly float to your friend and drop back into the game is just awesome, and definitely made the game a lot less frustrating and much more forgiving. It was funny when all three of us would “bubble up” at the same time on accident and get an automatic lose screen, but it was definitely more funny than irritating.

There are a handful of new abilities in the game, and out of the three new suits, we were torn between the propeller hat and the penguin suit. According to my girlfriend, toad just looks too cute dressed up as a penguin, and found it fun to slide on his belly all the time, but the propeller hat also looked rather fun and was definitely the most exciting gameplay addition (in my opinion). We also found the boss battles rather challenging, and a few were even borderline frustrating; but frustration comes with the territory.

At the beginning of play, my girlfriend felt quite skeptical, but after a level or two, and getting the hand of co-op gameplay, she too had a grin on her face, and was enjoying the game almost as much as the originals. Actually, I think the one reason she had for not enjoying it as much is because the jump in NSMBW feels a bit delayed, which I can agree with. In comparison to the responsiveness of the older games, this one can feel a bit sluggish, but it’s just something to get used to and make the best of.

I’m surprised Nintendo; I honestly never thought you’d make another game quite like the old Mario Bros that my girlfriend fell in love with, and had almost lost hope in finding a Mario platformer that she would actually enjoy… but you really managed to pull out all the stops and make a greatly nostalgic and innovative experience that even manages to intrigue the most diehard NES Mario fans. I applaud you.

Gamescom: judgement time

NiSuTe Europe at the Gamescom 2009

The crew of NiSuTe arrived a few days ago on Tuesday at the Gamescom just to find us up to our necks in work. Struggling to get to all developers in time since the place is huge and having the hardest time to even find the time to write about it, the whole team pushed the boundaries of overtime (working from 7:00 AM to 3:30AM, YES that is only three and a half hours of sleep and that for 5 days in a row!) It was almost getting the better of us with people falling asleep while writing, but this all meant nothing in the face of so many games to conquer. Blizzard, Capcom, and Sega were most definitely the best interview partners this event, with the bringing of great games for us to write about. All in all a great start for a first time event. We are looking forward to going next year.

What the crew thought about Gamescom: Read more