World 2-22: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
~Wii

The New Super Mario Bros. Wii game was a really fun play. It managed to keep all the best quirks of the original Mario games, yet still add awesome new flavours in the world of power ups, such as the helicopter mushroom (for an extra boost into the air), and a freeze flower (which was very handy in the final castle). There was a whole host of vibrant level themes, like the jungle world and the ice world. There were some cool little quirks about this game as well. A prime example of this would be that on some overworld maps, the layout was altered each time you entered a level, which would change which subsequent levels you could attempt next. For example, in the jungle world, vines would wrap around certain paths, blocking you off from entering certain levels until your next turn was up. There were also map-based enemies you could fight (usually by choice - sometimes not) for bonus power ups to be added to your inventory. This is old news in the world of Mario games, but this time around you could fight more than just the Hammer Bros. You could fight Goombas and Piranha Plants too, and instead of just jumping on the enemies, you had to collect 8 Toad Coins to reveal the treasure chest, which as it turns out, Toad was hiding in. Usually he gives you three normal mushrooms in return for saving him, which isn't much of a boost, but it does come in handy down the road.

I am still having trouble adapting to the feel of current console games, and the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game was no exception. For one thing, I almost always forgot that Mario can now wall jump, so I would ocassionally fall down into a pit of doom, accidentally jump off the wall halfway across the gap, get confused as to why Mario can suddenly jump off walls, and in a wonderful display of complete idiocy, let him fall to his death while staring at the screen with a look of sheer confusion. Asides from that, and my dreaded hate for water levels (music not included), I still found the game rather smooth and easy to get the hang of. I found myself flying through levels with complete ease the moment I picked up my controller.

Overall, the New Super Mario Bros. Wii took me 6 hours and 33 minutes to complete (bonus levels not included) and was a very enjoyable experience.