Koopa Kids return!
- Thread starter Hylian
- Start date
- Status
Oh. My. God.
YES! KOOPA KIDS RETURN FTW!
YES! KOOPA KIDS RETURN FTW!
figmentPez
Staff member
I'm still wondering if this game will still be fun with a single player. There's a high chance that I'd never get anyone to play it with me.
From what I have been hearing is that when you play it by yourself it plays like the classic Mario games. And when you play it with your friends it becomes a chaotic jumble mess that is still a lot of fun.
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3176396
New Super Mario Bros. Wii may share most of its name with the DS title from a few years back, but they're not the same game at all. While the general idea is roughly the same -- a 2.5D Mario adventure in the classic platforming vein -- the upcoming console action game features entirely new stages, new power-ups, and most importantly of all, four-player cooperative action. Or rather, \"cooperative\" action. NSMBWii may actually prove to be the most challenging Mario ever. Sure, four people teaming up to tackle Bowser's challenges may seem like the formula for a cakewalk, but you'll quickly discover that other people, well... they kind of suck at games. Also, they're complete jerks. Something as simple as jumping to another platform can be a perilous, life-or-death situation in NSMBWii, because while you're trying to make a straightforward jump, everyone else is bouncing off your head, getting in your way, maybe even picking you up and tossing you into a pit. Maybe without even meaning to! That's just how it goes in this game, it seems: Everyone knows how to play Mario, but everyone plays a little differently, and when those conflicting styles collide it all turns into a giant mess.
But it's a fun mess. In fact, after several 1UP editors demoed NSMBWii today at Nintendo's offices, we all agreed: Mario games are universally fun, and this Mario game captures that essence in a new and wonderful way. We were constantly stumbling over one another, scrolling the screen so far that other players died, knocking one another into holes and lava, screwing up each other's advanced tactics, and basically making a grade-A wreck of things. And we had a great time doing it.
NSMBWii takes the anarchic fun of a party-style game and funnels it into a classic, retro-tinged Mario game. Yet unlike certain other Nintendo franchises that have taken on a more casual-friendly \"anyone can play\" feel, NSMBWii doesn't seem to have been compromised in the process. It's still geared toward a single-player story mode, which could in itself be more challenging than any other Mario game in years; after all, the world is also designed to be a challenge for four people, and it doesn't get any easier when it's just Mario adventuring on his own. The handful of stages we checked out from the game's first two worlds did a number of things we've never seen in a Mario game before. The underwater stage in particular boasted an unusually large number of enemies -- including screen-filling schools of Cheap-Cheaps -- and with them came new opportunities for interesting ways to play. The Ice Flower (borrowed and refined from Super Mario Galaxy) comes in handy underwater, as it allows enemies to be frozen, which causes them to float upward. If they hit a wall, the ice shatters, but in an open area the frozen fish will bob along the surface, pushing Mario upstream against air vents and creating impromptu platforms that can be used to access hidden items on the level's \"ceiling.\" Freeze a sea urchin and the ice quickly shatters, but the cold puts the urchin to sleep, causing it to drift downward and potentially block vents or cover obstructions. In other stages, frozen enemies can be pushed along icy surfaces or lifted and thrown as weapons. Throw a frozen Dry Bones and you'll actually shatter and destroy the otherwise immortal skeleton turtles. Elsewhere, barrels litter the desert stages, and players can carry and heave them, Donkey Kong style.
NSMBWii plays very differently depending on how many people are in the game. Solo, it's more about conservative play and hunting for secrets -- or at least it is for me, since that's how I prefer to tackle Mario games -- while in a group, it becomes a struggle to coordinate the actions of a bunch of people who turn into bumbling idiots when there are suddenly three other players on-screen. The game allows players two through four to jump in or out at any time; story mode isn't segregated into single- or multiplayer but rather turns it all into one free-form experience.
There are, however, a few multiplayer-specific aspects to the game. The first is Coin Attack, which is (as it says on the label) a contest to collect more coins than the other players. More interesting is the second extra mode, Free-For-All, which drops multiple people into a single level and lets them duke it out for score and coins. Of course, that's assuming everyone actually finishes the level; as manic as a four-player session in story mode can be, the action is even more frantic when it's every man (or Toad) for himself. Eventually, players are probably going to be forced to come to terms with the need to work together in order to clear these stages, since a multiplayer level comes to an end once all characters are knocked out of the action simultaneously -- even if someone has revived from a death and is simply floating around the stage waiting to be freed from his respawn bubble. Of course, whatever teamwork is forged of necessity will inevitably end in backstabbing, in true Survivor style -- but waiting for the hammer (or is it a dagger?) of treachery to fall is part of the fun.
In short, New Super Mario Bros. Wii feels like the kind of game Nintendo fans have been clamoring for these past few years. It's very much a game in the classic mold, full of running and jumping and special powers and tricky traps and hidden secrets and Koopa Kids hiding in fortresses. Stages are bound together with a series of Super Mario Bros. 3-style world maps, just like in New Super Mario Bros. on DS, and players can choose among alternate routes, unlock hidden levels, and face off in minigames by bumping into enemies on the map screen. Yet despite the indelible appeal of classic Mario, NSMBWii also incorporates the philosophy of modern Nintendo by being extremely accessible and completely inclusive. Nintendo wouldn't show us the game's controversial \"Super Guide\" feature, which offers gameplay tips to people having trouble with the game, but the details we've heard from Japan suggest it's strictly advice rather than an instant-win button; a useful tool for inexperienced gamers rather than a simplistic cheat.
From the couple of hours I've spent with NSMBWii through various event appearances and closed-door showings this year, it strikes me as the single most effective marriage of old and new Nintendo you could ever hope for. A completely new Mario adventure with fresh ideas and the ability to play with any and everyone? No wonder everyone I know is quietly stoked about this game. Mario may not have the most hype of any game this holiday season, but something tells me that when the dust clears, it'll be the one game that everyone owns. And deservedly so; it looks genuinely, sincerely fantastic.
T
TwoBit
I'm still wish they had better 3rd and 4th characters to choose from, instead of just two different colored toads.
They could have had toad and the princess like in SMB 2.
They could have had toad and the princess like in SMB 2.
O
Olorin
The game is designed for a single player experience, so you'll still have an absolute blast. (if you like 2D Mario platformers)
But Peach has obviously been kidnapped again. I actually like the toads, but I'm kinda sad that I'll only be able to play as Mario in the singleplayer mode.
Can't wait! This may be one of the few games that I'll purchase at full price.
Q
Qonas
All I can say is, about damned time.
O
Olorin
oh wow, super skills:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxgn9cRBeGU[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxgn9cRBeGU[/ame]
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