7 & 7 Review: New Super Mario Bros U

[7 & 7 Reviews take a look at 7 Core Aspects of any product in a neat review format.]

New Super Mario Bros U is the 4th game in the “New Super Mario” series, and once again sees Mario and cohorts on an adventure to save Princess Peach from the clutches of the evil Bowser.

1. The Controls – The backbone of any good platformer is just how well it handles. The New Super Mario Bros series has always had rock solid controls that offers Mario a lot more tools than the original 2D games. NSMBU doesn’t change much in that regard except for the fact that the GamePad offers a much better D-Pad than the Wii.
2. The Enemies – I was super thrilled to see the return of the Koopa Kids in New Super Mario Bros Wii, but now that the novelty has worn off, I would like to see Nintendo expand on the formula with more creative boss battles. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Bowser Jr. battles offered up interesting use of various skills throughout the final game. And the final Bowser encounter was neat, though a bit of a letdown following New Super Mario Bros Wii and New Super Mario Bros 2.
3. New Tools of the Trade- This game doesn’t offer Mario up a lot of new abilities, but the addition of the squirrel suit fits the series, and the mini-Yoshis were an interesting mix up to the dynamic of the character in the series. Would have liked a brand new ability other than a new means of flight, but it worked for the most part.
4. The Level Design – This is where the game truly shines. I commented more than once that this game is a hell of a thumbs work-out. It offers a great diversity in challenges and truly creative platforming. The difficulty never seems too unfair.
5. Multiplayer – This isn’t for everyone. Some people dislike the frantic pacing and collision, and others, like myself and friends, enjoy it as a party/co-op experience. Sure, you aren’t always making the most progress, but you are having fun doing it.
6. Miiverse – This was a fun addition to the game. I didn’t expect much from it, but found that I was genuinely excited to share benchmarks, and more importantly overcoming levels in this game with a bunch of strangers. It was also fun to see friends’ thoughts on the game as I was beating levels.
7. Boost Mode – The most “unique” offering inn this game is the inclusion of boost mode, which allows a change to co-op play. It can be a bit of a bore during the normal campaign, but Boost Rush Mode offers an interesting and fun challenge for co-op partners to work together.

Review 6 (out of 7) – The New Super Mario series may be lacking in appealing graphics to most, but they remain extremely solid platformers. The inclusion of Boost Rush Mode, Challenges and Miiverse also extends the life of this title. A must-have if you own a Wii U.