New Super Mario Bros. Wii

 Such a simplistic formula and so much fun delivered, it's hard to explain the magic of Super Mario Bros since most of us have memories of childhood etched on each game of the series. It's not hard to get excited every time a main Mario game is announced -- taking out the spin-offs with Mario playing tennis, golf or throwing a party, not that these games are bad. New Super Mario Bros Wii at first glance seems a carbon copy of the rejuvenated game released for the DS, which by the way was awesome, but don't be fooled by the practically unchanged name or graphical similarities, this game throws many other past and new ideas into play, and these changes are more than enough for anyone who played the DS version or is a fan of Mario's primordial style to pick this game up.

We could say this is a mix of many Mario games to make the ultimate new generation Mario experience, you can find ideas from many past games inherited in the gameplay. The main system is not tight like I had hoped for in a new Mario 2d platformer, it follows New Super Mario Bros and brings a more loosy type of Mario movement, it feels somewhat tighter than the DS release, but that might be because one is for a handheld and the other is for a console, even so, the system is amazing. You hold the wiimote horizontally for a NES-like controller handling, functioning like a SNES controller we are left without one essential button, having the run and jump buttons, we miss the spin jump, which is present and is triggered much like it was in Mario Galaxy, by shaking the controller, with the possibility of being performed in air for a quick glide. That might be the principal gameplay flaw, actually it's more of gameplay weirdness since sometimes the character will perform the move simply because you made a sudden movement not intended, maybe calling it a flaw is overrating the gravity of it, but it could happen. One change they made and I didn't really find good was that now to hold blocks, for example, you need to hold down the run button and perform the spin trick, in other Mario's you hold the block by simply holding the run button, it's simpler and works better since it doesn't worsen the basic functions of the button, it only enhances it.

Among Mario's power-ups we have the mandatory mushrooms, the always present fire flower, the still fresh ice flower, and others. The absence of the flying feather from Super Mario World could be described as expected, still one can hope; while I admit I don't see me playing with the feather in these "new levels", it somehow fits perfectly in Mario World, but would be strange in today's games. Instead of the feather now we have a gyrocopter cap, it's more limited than the cape but it also lets you fly for a short period of time culminating into a slow glide, it's nice that you still have all Mario's movements intact while wearing the gyrocopter cap, in Mario World if you were running and jumped you would instantly take off, but since here the flying happens when you shake your wiimote -- doing the spin -- you can control Mario normally with no worries. Who did come back to a Mario 2d platformer from Super Mario World's debut in 1990 is Yoshi, the cute green dinosaur has shy appearances here, but enough to make fans happy; unlike Mario World you can't go with Yoshi to any level, you're forced to play with him only on levels which he is available inside a "?" block, in the past the player could enter a stage and play on it only for Yoshi, you'd still be riding him in the map screen and when you chose a level you'd start mounted on him, now it's not possible because you say bye-bye to him at the end of the level, a shame.

When I said the game is a hybrid mixture of many Mario games I meant it. By simply looking randomly we can grasp the similarities. From Mario Bros 3 we have the finishing line, where there's a flag and you try to jump as high as possible for the most points or, if high enough, for a 1-up; also the fact you first lose your power-up to then shrink in size; the flying koopa ship marks important presence as well, not on all levels but it's nice to see it back; and the way the worlds are disposed, selectable yes, but distinct, not forming a big open world like Mario World, and the menu with the items you get from Toad Houses ready to be used at stages whenever you feels like. From Mario World we have Yoshi, a sub-castle and a boss castle where you face the enemy much like you did in Mario World with each koopa boss having different kinds of skills, attacks and battle terrains. From Yoshi's Island we have Kamek casting his magic on bosses to make them stronger, much like it was in Mario World 2. From Super Mario 64 we have the triple jump. From Mario Galaxy we have the air spin attack. From New Mario Bros DS we have practically everything else, including some already mentioned, forming the base of the new gameplay style. this is only to cite a few. I can also find some Luigi's Mansion inside those Ghost Houses, I just can't help it. Little from this game is actually "brand new", but that's the charm, this is new age Mario 2d with a touch of many nostalgic elements that certainly counts a lot.

If you thought this game was mere fan-service forgetting entirely about the motion sensing you thought wrong, a new gameplay mechanic debut here, the player will encounter moving platforms and lanterns throughout the game, and to control them you need to use the wiimote. In the case of moving platforms they generally will ask you to move the wiimote left or right depending where you want to lean it toward. The lantern can be moved freely wherever you want the light to shine upon, sadly the system is only available in one stage, while the moving platforms are found in higher number, designs and functions. That adds to the multiplayer, which brings good co-operation action, every player will play at the same time, and the characters available are Mario, Luigi and two Toads, one yellow and one blue. There's also Coin Battle and Free-for-all modes to play with your friends. Nice to notice how if Peach were available to play, which truthfully wouldn't make sense story-wise, it would have the cast of Mario Bros 2 for multiplayer.

Graphically this game satisfies, the effects are really beautiful and the details impress, it's a must to keep in mind that this game doesn't primarily require graphical prowness, so the visuals are more than excellent for what it tries to achieve, although high definition for this would do wonders. If what you see is awesome, what you hear is even better. Old classic compositions rearranged share the show with amazing new ones and form a soundtrack to be remembered, of course we couldn't expect nothing less from Mario, especially when we look at a recent release like Galaxy, which finally brought us symphonic beauty, and old releases, which brought us unforgettable classic compositions, musics that even non-players may recognize. New Super Mario Bros Wii doesn't have an orchestra to do the job, but it's incredible nonetheless.

The enemies are the usual ones for a Mario game, some are new, but most we've already seen in some Mario game before. To enhance it, some known bad guys received new sets of attacks or movement patterns. For example, whoever played the original Mario remembers the Bloopers, they're a bunch of squid-like creatures found in water levels, they've always been known as deadly creatures, they lurk the seas swimming horizontally on the screen and always caused trouble for players; they are present here, but now they also hide behind submerged flowers waiting for Mario to pass by to ignite a swift boost toward the player, making them even more of a threat. The bosses remember the ones found in Super Mario World, they follow the same overall idea and that's more than welcome, the boss battles offer the certain amount of challenge. What's even more worth noticing is the last battle, which is one of the most epic confronts that appeared in any Mario game.

Without a doubt the new Nintendo wouldn't let the less fortunate souls drifting hopelessly by the game's difficulty, although far from raw difficulty, be sure to find a tricky game, much like any other Mario game. There are many secondary paths along the way, similar to Super Mario World, though in a less extent; also the 3 Star Coins per stage from the DS game is back. If you find yourself lost trying to find the coins or finding the secret pathways you can get your already earned Star Coins to spend in hint movies, which is pretty straight forward, they allow you to see a movie with the CPU performing what needs to be performed. There are also movies to help you gather lives more easily by introducing the best spots to do so or showing high skill gameplay stunts. And like that Nintendo pleases the casuals and the hardcore players, if you don't want to touch the hints movies, it's your choice; if you have a problem with some level and think they could give you a hand, then there they are. A cheaper way to beat a level you're stuck in is the Super Guide, if you keep failing in a level, suddenly a green block will appear, if you jump on it you'll be asked to be shown how to play the stage, a cpu-controlled Luigi will take place and play the level, when you decide to take on the stage again you can, this time from where Luigi left off. The high amount of Toad Houses for items and lives ease things up as well.

When Nintendo want to make a great Mario game they do it, it's fairly easy to tell the truth, this game doesn't aspire much innovation like Mario Galaxy did for Mario's 3d platforming, but as a piece of merged new and old ideas it succeeds greatly. Of course the job was made easier because of the DS's release, but this one improves satisfactorily upon the game it was based on, adding exciting new features, even though many others were still left out, which is fine since I can only hope that this is not the end for Mario's 2d platformers. The graphics are much more polished than the DS's and the sound is as awesome as ever. This is an easy recommendation, though I'm not sure if any Mario game needs recommendation at all, at least not the main games in the series.