Impressions: New Super Mario Bros Wii Hands On

Better late then never, here is our guest reporters hands-on of New Super Mario Bros Wii, direct from E3 2009 When the Nintendo press conference rolled around there were people cringing in their seats while others struggled to stifle anticipation of ...

Better late then never, here is our guest reporters hands-on of New Super Mario Bros Wii, direct from E3 2009

When the Nintendo press conference rolled around there were people cringing in their seats while others struggled to stifle anticipation of something potentially massive being announced, the announcement of New Super Mario Bros for the Wii relieved a lot of anxiety from both camps. Personally? Well the most popular game on my DS has without question been the game that this takes it’s name from.

Once I managed to wiggle my way into one of the display titles I was stuck by how good the game looked. The colours were bright and vibrant, the overall picture belying it’s standard definition origins. The character designs are traditionally Mario, and the environments look the same, the level on show was simple but I expect there will be more advanced and exciting in the final game.

To bump the interactivity with more than one person the first addition has been the grab and throw mechanic which allows you to pick up another player and throw them, there is a little waggling of the Wiimote involved along with a button push to make this move. The bouncing off of peoples heads makes for accessing higher places and me being an asshole, both options I hope become a regular fixture in the game. There are some new suits that were shown in the press conference I managed to play the penguin suit creating ice cubes out of all who stood in my way and saw an adversary or companion player wearing the propeller hat get up. When you die you reappear in a bubble and can float towards another player faster by shaking the control, choosing the right re-entry point is made easier by this while still keeping a level of interactivity.

In terms of controls, if you’ve ever played a Mario game you’ll feel right at home, my 4 year old will no doubt find the majority of the game just as easy as the DS version while still asking for help with some of the suits and challenging sections that require more precise timing and movements. This shouldn’t be viewed as a negative, it has always been Nintendo’s position that games should reach as many people as possible and NSMB will be a great example of a cross over title that allows hard core and casual gamers to get what they need from the experience.

For a game just announced it looks like it is almost ready, the way it controls, the way it handles, hell, if they had enough well planned levels and a few more suits in there I’d say it would be worth releasing now. It’s Mario through and through and anyone that likes the classic Mario’s will love it.

Brianemone is the owner of New Zealand site Buttonmasher, check it out.

Daniel Vuckovic

The Owner and Creator of this fair website. I also do news, reviews, programming, art and social media here. It is named after me after all. Please understand.