I decided to start up my old Gamefly account so I could rent this game (and Modern Warfare 2). Looking forward to some Mario action!

If there was ever a reason to fork out some cash on a couple of phenomenal games...this is it.

I've only completed World 1 so far.  Here are my initial observations:

-The gameplay hews very closely to the DS version, so those who weren't fans of its throwback to simpler, slippier, more rigid controls probably aren't going to be any more convinced here.  In fact, the game somehow feels slightly more rigid than even NSMB DS was.  At the least, the timing was tweaked just enough that I was killed by the very first Goomba on the first level.  (Yes, I am thoroughly ashamed, because as I was approaching it, I was saying to myself, "Please god, don't let me run into him."  And then, WHAM!)

-Some other gameplay tweaks appear to have been put into place.  Performing the triple jump, for example, is slightly harder to pull off in that it feels like you have to take a longer sprint.  Another example is that ground pounds will take a regular Koopa completely out of commission, unlike the DS game where they would shoot across upon impact.  Still another example is that you actually need to continue holding DOWN when performing the downward screw drop from a springboard jump or Propeller Suit boost.  In the DS version, simply pressing down once would keep you in the attack formation until you automatically touched ground again.

-The sporadic use of Wiimote waggle is brilliant at times, irking at others.  For instance, using it for tilt platforms is pretty neat, in that you've got a "pat your head, rub your tummy" kind of mechanic happening: keeping your horizontal Wiimote in position while executing the appropriate leap is an innovative touch.  But then you also need to waggle whenever you want to leap off of Yoshi, and more than once did I find myself accidentally dismounting because of unintentional movement of the 'mote.  Same goes when using the Propeller Suit, where I accidentally launched myself up into the air at a rather inopportune time. 

-Yoshi's a bit of a weird beast here. A hodgepodge of Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island, he retains his temporary midair float, but he can't do a vertical tongue slurp -- but nor can he do a slightly elevated standing one, like in SMW.  No ground pound when you're on him either, and unlike SMW, he can't slurp enemies through solid objects like pipes.  There are different colored Yoshis, but like Yoshi's Island, there's no difference between them gameplay wise. (In other words, no special abilities like unlimited flight or fireball spewing from SMW.)  You do spew fire from eating a Piranha Plant, though, as opposed to a simple spit-out before downing a Koopa.  Along with being able to do a leaping dismount, I can see some cool midair gameplay possibilities when using Yoshi in conjunction with the Propeller Suit.  Oh, and the stage music changes up with a layered percussion, just like SMW.

The exclusion of the reserve item box a la World and DS NSMB is missed, but in its place is the item inventory system from SMB3, where you can accumulate and then choose a single item to use before starting a level.  I'm going to guess this will come in handy later on when you need to use specific items to nab Star Coins.  Oh, and I love the new streamlined look of the inventory; no longer is it a clusterf*** of everything you've collected.  Now it's Mushroom x5, Fire Flower x3, Propeller Suit x1, etc.

-The overall structure of the game feels very SMB3.  The random enemy encounters on the map, the mid-level Fortress, the Airship, the robust number of Item Houses and bonus chances to earn extra lives, the inventory screen, and the presence of the Koopa kids..... They all add up to a very compelling bit of nostalgia.

-Lives are still very much in plentiful supply.  Without trying too hard, I managed to accumulate a healthy total of 23 lives by the end of World 1.  The levels definitely feel longer and more substantial though, moreso than in NSMB DS.  There are trickier enemy and platform placement, more hidden nooks and crannies to explore, and there have been a number of levels where you need to think out a solution to grab those Star Coins.  Imagine my surprise when I found myself running out of clocked time on a daily basis.

-The Save System is well implemented here.  Quick Save as a one-time suspend save and load session, permanent save after beating a mid-level Fortress or Castle.  It's to my understanding that completing the game will allow you to save at any time, just like DS NSMB.

-Am I the only one annoyed by the game's insistence of showing you the same obnoxious hint box each and every time you earn an Item for inventory or come out of Peach's Castle to view the Super Skills/Hints section?  Mention it the first time, fine, but EACH AND EVERY TIME?  I'm hoping they'll cease once World 2 begins.

Dammit, I want this so much, but it won't be released over here until December 3rd (>.<)

In spite of the 1-Ups, I'm really looking forward to playing this.

... In fact, I should replay the old 2D games. I haven't touched most of them in years.

Thanks to accidentally finding two warp cannons, two of my friends and I managed to make it to the final level and "beat" the game tonight.  Having three people was sometimes a blessing and sometimes completely infuriating.  I can't wait to dive back in and hunt for coins and see all the levels we missed.  The hardest level so far was probably 8-1, which was shockingly more difficult than anything else in world 8.  I like the game itself a LOT more than NSMB for DS... this just feels so much better laid out and designed.  Definitely more memorable, too.

Screw this, I'm importing.

How long did it take to finish the game? I read a review where the guy said it took him 8 hours to go through all the levels. That seems awfully short, but then again, I suppose most mario games are fairly short. The thing is, these days, 8 hours for 50 bucks doesn't seem to cut it. I remember all the rave reviews for mario on the DS, and that was a major disappointment. Honestly, I'm guessing this game is aimed at the family level due to the mulitplayer, and therefore will undoubtedly be on the easy side (which is disappointing to me). So, for those who want honest-to-goodness mario platforming, I'm guessing that will come in Mario Galaxy 2.

cheers,

-avatar!

You'd be wrong there.  Most to every review likens NSMB Wii to a game closer to SMB3 and Super Mario World in terms of structure and challenge.  And as I've mentioned, even the first world (and now the second) has shown that there are substantially trickier enemy and platform placement, more hidden nooks and crannies to explore, and levels where you really need to think out a solution if you're seeking to collect all of the Star Coins.

By the way, we've got a positive ID on music composers for the game.  With pieces adapted from Koji Kondo, Asuka Ota, and Hajime Wakai, the new composers onboard for NSMB Wii are Nintendo EAD mainstays Kenta Nagata, Ryo Nagamatsu, and Shiho Fujii.

The new Castle Theme is awesome.  It's like a delectable blend of the old Super Mario World Castle Theme and A Link To The Past's Hyrule Castle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz7kQF32gH0

Wow. I suck at SMB3. Who would've have guessed?

Based on the Wii's clock (and subtracting a bit for menus and whatnot), looks like roughly 4:30.  Don't forget, though, that we didn't even SEE more than half the game (using the warps to get quickly to the final level purely by accidentally stumbling across them).  We also didn't replay any level for the giant coins, which I intend to do (the reward is... more stuff to play, trying not to spoil too much).  I imagine that in total the game is going to probably occupy 20-ish hours of my time.  Also, if you're worried about the game being too easy, it's not anywhere near as easy as NSMB for DS and is probably on par with SMB3 or at least SMW.  A lot of world 8 was super frustrating and we'd never have gotten through it that quickly without the feature where one person remaining alive allows everyone to keep going.  Single player would be a LOT harder.

The credits only list Fujii and Nagamatsu for music, while Nagata's name is only under sound (if I'm remembering correctly).  Not sure if Nagata did anything for the actual score.  Music is quite good, though.  Also, why have I never heard of the two who did do the music?

Their resumés do appear to be fairly thin, so my use of the word "mainstays" may have been a bit misleading.  Seems Nagamatsu was credited for Wii Play and Wii Sports Resort, while Fujii was responsible for Wii Fit.  Not exactly the most prolific titles, musically.

Nagata appears to have been around longer, however.

I'm nearing the end of World 3 at this point, with all Star Coins in toll.  Did I mention how much I'm digging the enemy variety in the game?  It's like a who's-who in the societal circle of Mario lore.  Aside from the usual Koopas, Goombas, Cheep-Cheeps, Bullet Bills, etc, I've been seeing a lot of SM3 guys come back, including Fire Chomp, Chain Chomp, Fire Snake, Spike, and all manner of Hammer Bros. variants.  I'm hoping we see some SMW cameos in the later worlds.

Joe, I'm still a bit stunned that you opted to take the warp cannons.  Even if you were planning on going back to the previous levels, I can't imagine experiencing the end-of stages and then working backwards.  Kinda kills the intended progression of the game, no?

Heh, I think it took me forever to ever seen worlds 5-7 in the original SMB....
Same with 5-6 in SMB2.

So, can we expect the store to be sold out of all copies, or do they release an ample supply of games these days?

I just started thinking about that and reconsidered my dawdling. There will probably be ample supply, but there will also be huge demand. Which will win out?

Y'know something, the only issue I take with this game is its title:

"New Super Mario Bros. Wii"

The title starts out with "New" and ends with the name of the console its on, as if we needed to be reminded of that.

First off, is the "New." Imagine if the latest installment of each franchise was preceded with "New." Everything would be alphabetized by the "N" for "New," before the rest of the title. Imagine if we had "New Silent Hill" or "New Resident Evil" or "New Left for Dead" or "New Call of Doody." Imagine how annoying that would be. It's even more annoying that preceding the title with "Super," e.g. Super Contra, or Super Metroid, or Super Castlevania. And quite frankly, I never grasped why they call them the "Super Mario Bros." as opposed to the "Mario Bros." My only guess is that it's a marketing shtick. An annoying marketing shtick.

Then comes the Wii part at the end. It's kind of like, it's Mario. It's going to be on a Nintendo console. And the Wii (besides the DS) is the latest Nintendo console. What other home console is it going to be on?

Although, I guess they had to make it CLEAR that it was a new entrant in the series, as opposed to a remake or what-have-you, but what happened to numbering schemes or subtitles?

They couldn't figure out a better title?!

What're they gonna call the next entrant in the series, especially when Nintendo releases possibly their next home console?

Well, I agree about the "New", which is always a dumb word to use for a title because it never applies for long.

Other than that, there's nothing new here.
Lots of SNES games started with "Super", and lots of N64 games had "64" attached to the end, it's not a new trend or anything.

Here's a question:

I was playing World 1 and when I went through warp pipe to see where it would take me, the airship flew away to World 5.  I went back to World 1 and beat it, but I was wondering what happens with the airship if you don't visit the warp pipe.  Anyone know?

I'm in the "loves NSMB DS" crowd (with the exception of the too easy to get 1-ups), so I'm loving this one too (again with the exception of the too easy to get 1-ups).  I wish they kept the koopa suit from the DS one, though.  That was a lot of fun.

Finally, huge props to Nintendo for having the koopas actually stop and dance to the music during their march.  I couldn't have smiled more the first time I saw that.

Or NEO Contra?

The title is fine. Cute, quick, gets the job done. The practice of naming a game according to its console is still alive and well: Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, and now New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Why worry about what the name will be in the future, when there's lots of things you can call this one? New Mario, New SMB, New Mario Wii, Mario Wii, Wii Mario, just go wild!

I don't believe you actually confront the airship until later on in the game.  Mind you, I've only finished up to World 3 at this point, but I've used no warps of any kind, and in each case, the airship flies off after the completion of the end-of-world castle.

I can only guess you take on the airship toward the end of the game, perhaps as one big, lengthy level.

After seeing some newer vids that looked and played surprisingly like SUPER MARIO WORLD, I'm pretty tempted to get this.  (inside the castles with the mesh fences to climb, being able to ride Yoshi again, those sky levels, etc..)

I don't care about a propeller hat, and I passed on the DS game, but if this game is really a "Super Mario World 2" in disguise, then I'm sold.

Ok, thanks for the clarifying.

In tone, the game feels more like the DS game than Super Mario World. Part of it is just the way Mario feels (very heavy and less sprightly) and then there's the annoying wah wahs in the music.

Fortunately, the game DOES have more level variety than the previous attempt. The castle levels in particular remind me of SMW (and are similarly difficult).

I'm halfway through the second world and the game is entertaining... but to me, it's still missing the magic that SMW and especially Yoshi's Island had. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why I feel this way.

I've decided I can't complain too much about all the 1-Ups as I spent well over 10 lives trying to get a maddening coin in 2-1...

The game almost goes out of its way in presenting you opportunities for gaining multiple lives.  In addition to the classic World 2-2 method, I took advantage of the one in World 3-2 -- which was a lot more fun achieve.  ^_^

A friend and I played all the "recommended" worlds (and "team" completed all of them), but haven't started the actual game yet.  The World 8 level took us a good 10 tries or so, and was very maddening.  So far, we find it similar to Little Big Planet in that it's one of the few multiplayer, side-scrolling platform games we've played recently.  Definitely worth buying.

While I'll grant most of my deaths have been from carelessness (and the nasty case of the flu I'm currently battling), it's never a great ego booster when the slightly transparent green block pops up.

Just started World 3 and I'm finding it really tough. Impatience mostly kills me... but even when I'm not going after the coins (always the hardest part), the environments do me in. I've really warmed up to this game. It's a blast!

I gotta say this is the worst Mario sidescroller I have ever played--which doesn't sound bad since I've enjoyed all of them (I have stayed the hell away from New Super Mario Bros DS), but let me tell you why this is bad.

Impressions:
New Super Mario Bros Wii is terrible single player, and multi-player can't really be much better. The new suit, the propellor suit, is our shitty version of the tanuki suit and cape. All you can do is go straight up and then you travel slow as f--- in horizontal directions, so pretty much you only use it to ascend and want to get on the ground immediately; I feel much anguish slowly moving. The levels so far have not taken advantage of this suit because that would require levels consisting of the screen slowly rising or falling. Perhaps, levels where the screen is moving horizontally against the player's control would take advantage of this power-up (slow moving screen for a slow moving power up). And that leaves me to discuss the levels. There are no levels in the first world that auto-scroll; the lack of variety in the first world leads to the lack of suit difference appreciation. The levels in the first world are designed to barely take advantage of the propellor suit. Once you go straight up to collect the big coin there is no reason to keep using the suit's power. The propellor suit so far is not fun/taking advantage of the level in a pleasurable way. And by having a suit that allows users to gain high vertical distance by the flick of a controller, Nintendo has added a suit that makes platforming deaths less likely to occur. To counteract that fact, Nintendo would have to deliver harder levels (levels that make it harder to ascend or levels that attack the player so they lose their extremely advantageous suit). The game is designed for 4 player co-op. However the camera does not need to pan out so much like it does for single player. The levels so far are boring. The only joy of the game is having your friend kill you or attempt to kill you and you killing them first. Ice mario is pretty cool and there are a lot of cool things nintendo could do with that suit.

I mean I am still on the first world (beat the first castle koopa kid). I couldn't bother to keep playing it (for that one-session, not ever again), but one thing I REALLY REALLY hate is the collect 3 coin shit. This was fine for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island b/c that one relied heavily on well-designed platforming and had interesting puzzle and exploration. This game does not. (Killing yourself is almost impossible thanks to the wall jump. Don't forget the bubble system). The real problem I have with the 3 coin thing is that I like to run through levels. I play Mario like I play Sonic and when you add the coins I have to actively search through the big boringass level for it. Even the stages look tacky. Bowser castle has some walls that come in and out and it looks like some brown clay poor man 3d abomination. There was some Toad rescue mission. That was cool. And Yoshi has the flutter jump, but the game has too much shit in it. Like you can go back to the castle and it gives you hints. Hint movies? That doesn't sound like anything from the mario universe. This game is designed for the new generation of kids.

I do approve of the new air spin move that gives Mario a little more distance on his jumps. The butt stomp I am still debating over. The Wii tilting tech should have stayed the hell away from this game. It feels thrown in. Wonder how this game works with the classic controller..?

I already beat the game at a friends (read: beat the final level). The final boss is f---ing awesome, but it's too damn easy.
If only Nintendo had made that boss Contra3 final boss hard I'd forgive Nintendo for the shittiness it took to get to that boss. The final boss actually takes advantage of the panned out camera and makes the player actually feel like he will die.

What you can say is rehashed is the music. Too much "oohh you're playing a mario game let's throw in old tunes immediately" going on. Granted I listened to the soundtrack way ahead of playing it and I gotta say it sucks.

Another minor bit is that Nintendo absolutely should not have shown that Penguin Mario was available as a suit in the item menu box before you get the suit. I like the surprise of discovering new suits--this is a huge problem when it comes to having the will to ignore the press revealing every little detail about a game. And maybe I have ADD (I don't), but having to wait on the ill-chosen Mario Party themed next level blue circle to appear so I can begin the next stage takes way too long (like 4-5 seconds)--the other games had cool animations of the road forming or Mario walking into pipe at least. Lastly, the only time you should have been able to go bubble form is when you are returning from your death. So yea, if your friends will force themselves to play the game that way it's cool, but it should have never been there at all.  The platforming motto is: you f--- up that jump, you die.

edit: to be added later: thought that 4 player co-op slows down the level screen moving progress and that the propellor suit compliments that. Talk about co-op from Goemon Ganbare/Legend of the Mystical Ninja to use as a comparison.

Impressions on World 2:

~The Challenge and Screw-ups~
Things got a little better on actually designing stages to test players death aversion tactics. The 1st level is just an annoying stage, not hard, as it has stage elements that make you platform in a conservative (boring) way. I am fairly certain that the first sand geyser played Sonic style is a no-go, as the turtle conveniently collides with you no matter how fast you run and jump on the geyser. The 3 coin shit I have decided to not bother with--do I really get rewarded for collectathons?--this level keeps reinforcing to me that coins collected have little to do with skill or intelligence; the last coin on this level simply requires the boring propellor suit (or a "death jump"->bubble in multi) to get it. The Toad mission on the stage with Lakuta was satisfying; I don't know why Nintendo made them optional. Not pleased that Yoshi is a one stage only dinosaur now.

The amount of items I get from the Toads is getting annoying. I already have 34 lives and I don't replay stages after I beat them. Getting so many lives is cool if the game would get disgustingly hard and laugh as you dwindle all your lives away on a hard stage or boss--this happened to me as a kid playing DKL2 against that one wasp boss. The lives should seriously reset back to 3 after each stage is beaten or have some stock limit. Unfortunately Nintendo wants everyone to Forgotten Worlds game break challenge by allowing players to come back as long as someone else is still alive. More concerning than that is that I've encountered some sloppy hit detections that I would not expect from a Mario game; example 1: Mario jumps with a turtle shell out in front (facing right) of him and somehow gets hurt by a goomba coming in from the left w/out the goomba eating shell in the process; example 2: I shake the controller to pick up Toad and Mario does the spin motion, but Toad is not above my head--and down the geyser he went thereafter. Last annoyance deals with more time wasting Nintendo shenanigans that have players go through another door to enter the item room after entering the Toad house.

~Stage level discussion~
The boss level for the game was a poor use of forced scrolling. Why make a long passageway section and make me stand around waiting for the stage to make a "ding noise" that I've done it correctly? Does everything have to be so blatantly obvious in this game--I can't imagine how dumb people would have to be to use hint movies (in Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat the hint movies at least were for showing how to achieve a high score--something that is superfluous in this game) The motion controls to move stuff around in stages is still quite lame. The stage with the elevator lift and turtles really had potential to be a hardhitting hairs-on-end stuff if they have thrown in another wave of enemies to make dodging the turtles hard (like a hammer bros hammer arch). The lights out stage was very creepy and I much approve of a whole stage being like this (throw in that stalker Mario 2 enemy for max tension).

~Future~
World 3 has the Penguin Suit. The Penguin Suit belly sliding (Mario Sunshine ftw) is exactly how I've wanted to play this game from stage 1. With 4 players the fun of sliding around is compromised since everyone would wind up slowing down someone. The game doesn't really doesn't have anything new/fresh (better word may be distinct) about it; it feels like a hodgepodge of Mario games.

edited for noobs who play games:

This game is really bad. I am bored playing it. Everytime you play a "throwback to the classics" level you are reminded of how much better that said classic was. At world 5 I have 60 lives and way too many items.

A video of a sloppy little occurrence that shouldn't be in a Mario game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbvUdrNEeBU

My problem with this game is it has the same unresponsive control as New SMB on the DS. As someone who still plays 3 and World religiously, it's hard to feel attached to the game because of that. Well, that and the wiggling parts.

So close, yet so far with this one.

Yes, the controls for the NSMB series are awful.
I always knew that deep down, but when I played that Super Mario collection again recently it was really absolutely striking. The controls in the old games are so deliciously tight, the new games really pale in comparison.

That said, I still really enjoyed NSMB Wii, much much more than the DS game. Level design was much better I thought.

I didn't have any problems with the controls in either of these, but I felt that the level designs in the DS one were a lot more fun than those in the Wii one.