New Super Mario Bros Wii

It's the perfect storm of gaming at my home right now. I'm playing the recently released Left 4 Dead 2, which is a very well done sequel. It is actually a more complete game than the original. More on that one after I have been able to put in some more time with the game.

I also have the new Super Mario Bros Wii. I've had the opportunity to play the game for a couple hours, and it is EXACTLY what Nintendo needed to do for the holiday season. I should qualify this all by saying that I got the game for $7.50 with some credits I got from Amazon for trading in some games, etc. But I don't think that is coloring my opinion too much.

Some of the reviews I have read so far have really beaten the game up for it's perceived high level of difficulty. Nintendo has really made an attempt to appeal to a wider array of gamers. In particular the casual gamer. Obviously this has been a great idea for them since they continue to experience great sales of wii systems. I think that 3rd party developers will continue to make some great games that everyone can play.

I think that this game, being that it's from the Big "N" directly, is meant to be a return to where Mario came from. Yeah, it's a side scrolling 2D platform game (although the graphics really are in 3D if you look at them closely) but that is what originally made Mario awesome. It's almost like a middle finger, directed at those casual gamers they want to appeal to, from Nintendo right in the middle of the Holiday lineup for Wii...and I love it.

Yes it's more difficult, but I chuckle every time I lose a life in some novel way. It takes good old fashioned manual dexterity, timing, skill, and practice. You can still play the game with someone that is more inexperienced with the concept of an old school platformer. I've played with my 5 year old, his timing and dexterity can not equal mine (yet), but Nintendo has built in a feature to let a second player continue as long as one player lives. It's pretty fun for a 5 year old, and actually makes it more interesting for me too!

I really think that if you enjoy the original Mario Bros games (especially SMB 3) you will like this game. Don't just take my word for it.

IGN

NY TIMES (I guess this review is intended for those casual gamers I talked about)