New Super Mario Bros Reviewed
New Super Mario Bros. Wii offers a combination of cooperation and competition. Players can pick each other up to save them from danger or toss them into it. Mario, Luigi and two Toads are all playable characters, while many others from the Mushroom Kingdom make appearances throughout the game. Players can even ride different Yoshi characters and use their tongues to swallow enemies, items and even balls of fire. In some areas, players use the motion abilities of the Wii Remote controller.
1Up (100/100): For every developer or publisher who’s ever dreamed of pushing beyond the demographic limitations of “hardcore” or “casual” gamers, here is how you do it. And were that universal appeal NSMB Wii’s sole achievement, it would be one of the most important games in recent memory. But, no: It’s also ridiculously fun.
IGN (94/100): Delivers riotous entertainment in spades. As a solo experience, it’s up there with Mario’s illustrious platform predecessors; with four players in tow, it’s breathtaking in its constantly hilarious chaos.
GameSpy (90/100): If you have friends who enjoy videogames, this is one to play together. It’s made specifically for that — and yeah, it’s got all the painstaking collectibles and supplemental multiplayer challenges you already assumed it did, so you’re going to play it for quite a while. And if you just want a serious challenge, play alone and revel in the pure joy of death. Either way, it’s a damn fine Mario game.
Eurogamer (90/100): Who knew that, locked in the time-honoured traditions of Super Mario Bros., one of the greatest co-op games ever was waiting to get out? Well, Shigeru Miyamoto did. In unleashing it, Nintendo hasn’t moved its classic series forward one jot; it hasn’t had to. But it has given it a riotous new lease of life.
