Geared for Co-Op
The New Super Mario Bros. U is a fun game but it will be much funnier if you are able to play with other friends locally. Since the game gets harder at some point, playing with other people will make the game more enjoyable as with the help of the Game Pad controller, you can create a path and help your friend clear levels. The co-op is also more ideal for the challenges and boost rush mode as certain challenges can be completed if helped by a friend.
NOT
Lame New Power Ups
For every Mario 2D game released, one of the things players always anticipate are the new power ups. In the Wii U version, fans will be disappointed that the new power ups within the game aren’t that exciting. Instead of having the Tanookie suit, fans will have to settle with a Squirrel suit where Mario can somewhat glide in the air. Old power ups make a come back like the Fire Flower, Star, and Mushroom. If you are expecting power ups like the mini mushroom or the mushroom that makes Mario big, you will be disappointed as they don’t appear at all in this game – although at least the Yoshis are there.
Not the Innovative Game You’re Looking For
If you are sick of the classic 2D gameplay that the New Super Mario Bros. games had on the Wii, DS, and 3DS, there’s like a high chance you will feel the same in the Wii U version. Aside from the Challenge mode, nothing has really much changed within the game. The same aspect of the Mario gameplay we’re so accustomed to remains in the New Super Mario Bros. U. Out of all the games New Super Mario Bros. games that are released at this moment, I must say that the Wii U version is more of the same thing, except it has HD graphics.
No Online Co-Op
Nintendo should learn by now that co-op is a fad this generation. One of the biggest disappointments I have in the New Super Mario Bros. U is the lack of online gameplay. Those who don’t have someone to play with locally, they will have to endure playing the game themselves, in which they most likely have played before since the Wii U version is sort of the same thing. An online co-op would be ideal to fully enjoy the game but sadly, it didn’t happen in this version.
VERDICT
As one of the launch titles for the Nintendo Wii U, the New Super Mario Bros. U is one of the definitive titles that you should get. The 2D platforming formula that everyone loved in the previous entry will make a return, adding a little bit of spice to make it somewhat refreshing . One of the few things that disappoints about the game is that it really doesn’t revolutionize the 2D Mario game and the lack of online co-op is a feature that future Mario games should have, although it’s a must have title for anyone who will pick up Nintendo’s latest console.
[Editor’s Note: New Super Mario Bros. U was reviewed on the Nintendo Wii U platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]