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The depth/design of New Super Mario Bros. U is astounding

Sanic

Sanic

Member
For those who don't know, Nintendo will often post videos of really impressive runs through NSMBU levels, and they do a great job at showing off how fantastic the level design is. I think that this aspect of these games is somewhat under appreciated by GAF at large, so I've linked the most recent video below for those who haven't seen it.

Fuzzies on Ice in Fuzzy Clifftop

I think it's sort of a given that many people go "yeah, these games are pretty good, i'll get most of the star coins, 9/10 would play again". But then you see things like this and you realize there's a layer to the game that you haven't even started to explore!

I feel this applies to both console entries, but there wasn't a clean way to call that out in the title.
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
Agreed entirely. The super skill videos are a whole different level to standard play, and leave me stunned to be honest.
 
olimpia84

olimpia84

Member
Best side scrolling Mario game since SMW. The level design was pretty interesting throughout the entire game. Can't wait for the Luigi expansion
 
S

SirLarr

Neo Member
I wholeheartedly agree. It was very depressing to have everyone dismiss this as "just another Mario game."
 
S

Sir Ilpalazzo

Member
All that may be true, but the game doesn't have a top-tier soundtrack and I wasn't 8 when I played it for the first time, so it's an uninspired rehash like the Wii game was.
 
F

Forkball

Member
NSMB U is the best Mario game since Galaxy. The levels are extremely well designed, it is truly challenging, and there is a ton of bonus content. This is the 2D Mario game fans have been truly waiting for.
 
A

Alchemy

Member
Nintendo is great at making NSMB games now, they've had plenty of practice. U is easily the best of the series. The problem isn't quality of the game but the lack of newness of it.
 
H

HueyFreeman

Banned
No doubt well designed, but this kind of thing is possible in basically every 2D Mario, is it not? My impression is they are all designed to be playable like this.

No less of an achievement, just not necessarily unique to NSMBU.
 
F

FSLink

Banned
Gentleman Jack said:
It's nice and elegant until you introduce the obstacles of players 2-4
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6cu_TYUIrU

Nah it can be elegant with coordination.

Alchemy said:
Nintendo is great at making NSMB games now, they've had plenty of practice. U is easily the best of the series. The problem isn't quality of the game but the lack of newness of it.
Click to expand...

If the game had more original music tracks or didn't have the same level progression (plains->desert->beach->snow->etc) as NSMB2/NSMBW I'm sure it would have gathered much more excitement. A new graphical style too would have been nice though NSMBU has some really nice backgrounds I didn't really think it's necessary just for the sake of "newness"
 
D

Dr.Hadji

Member
Ysiadmihi said:
When it looks exactly like a Mario game that was released 3 months prior, you can't really blame them.
Click to expand...

Wow, sums up backseat driver GAF well. Yes if you don't play games its hard to know how a game plays. Imagine that. Plus that 3 months prior Mario game is also gold for level design.
 
R

Rubius

Member
New Super Mario Bros U is probably the best Sidescroller Mario yet.
Yes better than World and 3.
The only thing missing was a Vs Multiplayer with online ala New Super Mario Bros DS.
 
C

Chie Satonaka

Member
Rubius said:
New Super Mario Bros U is probably the best Sidescroller Mario yet.
Yes better than World and 3.
Click to expand...

I don't know if I'm willing to go that far, but NSMBU is definately, definately underrated, especially here on GAF.

I will say that this game captures the feel of Super Mario World almost perfectly. I really need to go finish Superstar Road...
 
R

Roto13

Member
Ysiadmihi said:
When it looks exactly like a Mario game that was released 3 months prior, you can't really blame them.
Click to expand...

Yes I can. NSMBU and NSMB2 both have incredible level design and it's infuriating to see people act like all of the NSMB games are the same game because they use similar superficial themes like desert and jungle.
 
L

Lowlander2

Banned
I disagree. Even the level design did not grab me this time around, which a Mario re-run lives or dies by.

People may be sick of the "just another Mario game" label, but that was the primary through running through my head as I was mindlessly running from left to right. The graphics have extra HD gloss, but it's the only appealing addition outside of the challenges (which I do appreciate).

The soundtrack doesn't pack the melodic charm of the days gone by. The overall flow never coalesces, instead relying on level-by-level gimmicks, which by themselves never feel all that great. Honestly, the squirrel suit. What new thing did it do? It was a cape where you could also stick to walls. The Baby Yoshis were esoteric in implementation, because they varied too much. There was no defining principle behind their design, and they thus felt haphazard. And, well...the game was just too easy.

Mario Wii could also be considered a lazy rehash of sorts, but the level design was so tight and difficult that I couldn't care less. I was having too much fun. In MariU, I was bored.

Playing through Super Mario 3D Land and Galaxy again, it seems that Nintendo still has the spark when it comes to his 3D adventures. But playing through his 2D romps have felt lackluster, the exact opposite of what a Mario game should be, and when I played through Rayman Origins, my favourite game of 2011, it should have been a wake-up call. It wasn't, so it still sits mighty atop its throne as the best 2D platformer of this generation, its only competition seemingly being its sequel.
 
R

Rubius

Member
Chie Satonaka said:
I don't know if I'm willing to go that far, but NSMBU is definately, definately underrated, especially here on GAF.

I will say that this game captures the feel of Super Mario World almost perfectly. I really need to go finish Superstar Road...
Click to expand...

I completed Mario 3 about 2 month ago and its really not that good anymore. Levels are about under a minute each too.
World is better than 3 but have less stuff than U.
I'm not talking about influence or whatever, I'm talking in pure quality.
 
C

Chie Satonaka

Member
Rubius said:
I completed Mario 3 about 2 month ago and its really not that good anymore. Levels are about under a minute each too.
World is better than 3 but have less stuff than U.
I'm not talking about influence or whatever, I'm talking in pure quality.
Click to expand...

You might be right. They might just not hold up as well. I need to replay them.

Regardless, NSMBU is a fantastic game and doesn't deserve nearly as much of the hate it gets.
 
Y

Ysiadmihi

Banned
Roto13 said:
Yes I can. NSMBU and NSMB2 both have incredible level design and it's infuriating to see people act like all of the NSMB games are the same game because they use similar superficial themes like desert and jungle.
Click to expand...

So people should just throw down $40/$60 for a game that looks and sounds like a lazy effort and hope it's good?

Nintendo did NSMB U a great disservice by making it look like "just another Mario game".

And if we're going to be honest, putting 2's level design in the same league as U's is crazy.
 
R

Roubjon

Member
Essentially the guy playing is just speed running the game, and he is definitely good at it. But can't you do this for every 2D platformer ever? Why is this unique to Mario Bros U?
 
R

Roto13

Member
Ysiadmihi said:
So people should just throw down $40/$60 for a game that looks and sounds like a lazy effort and hope it's good?

Nintendo did NSMB U a great disservice by making it look like "just another Mario game".

And if we're going to be honest, putting 2's level design in the same league as U's is crazy.
Click to expand...

Yes, what have Mario platformers done to earn any kind of faith, anyway? Who knows what's up with THAT franchise.
 
D

Dr.Hadji

Member
HoJu said:
Coin Rush is a fine idea that was executed terribly.
It being ignored makes sense.
Click to expand...

What's so terrible about it. Challenging people's high scores through spotpass was awesome. Besides, for personal gain Coin Rush is the best Extra to a Mario game yet (haven't played much Boost Rush though). Got 70+ hours in New2.
 
Sanic

Sanic

Member
Roubjon said:
Essentially the guy playing is just speed running the game, and he is definitely good at it. But can't you do this for every 2D platformer ever? Why is this unique to Mario Bros U?
Click to expand...

It's not, but I was speaking more to the versatility of the design. There are a ton of different ways to play many of the levels. You could probably get through the level I linked to in the OP just as quickly without doing it the way he/she did.
 
K

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Rubius said:
I completed Mario 3 about 2 month ago and its really not that good anymore. Levels are about under a minute each too.
World is better than 3 but have less stuff than U.
I'm not talking about influence or whatever, I'm talking in pure quality.
Click to expand...

Chie Satonaka said:
You might be right. They might just not hold up as well. I need to replay them.

Regardless, NSMBU is a fantastic game and doesn't deserve nearly as much of the hate it gets.
Click to expand...

I replayed SMB3 and SMW on the virtual console recently, after beating NSMB U, actually.

To be fair to SMB3, it works very well due to being an older style of game. You're not supposed to replay stages to collect things (like star coins), and the warps have more of a point - making it to the end of the game since (virtual console save state aside) there's no game save feature in the NES original.

Super Mario World has mostly really simplistic stages, but its redeeming quality to me is that their pacing is really great. It's fluid and relaxing to play through them. Makes replaying it fun and not frustrating.

For all the dislike the aesthetics get, the NSMB games (after the DS original) do show that Nintendo lost nothing in design capabilities IMO. The U game is a tour-de-force of platforming design in some worlds. It also seems to intentionally save some of its best and most creative levels for the hidden nodes on the world map, rather than merely use the hidden levels as stops on a shortcut like SMW usually did.
 
A

abstract alien

Member
This is why I laugh when people tell me other platformers like Rayman have better level design than Mario. It's good clean collectible fun(and beautiful), but nothing compared to something like Mario U.

CorvoSol said:
Am I the only one in the world though who actually kinda likes the wuh wuh, though?
Click to expand...

Nope. I like it too :)
 
T

Thoraxes

Member
Man, this thread is hyping me up for New Super Luigi U.

NSMBU blew away my expectations, especially after NSMB2. It was just a much, much better game in almost every way, and me and a friend even spent hours gold-medaling all the no-platform challenges.
 
Y

Ysiadmihi

Banned
Roto13 said:
Yes, what have Mario platformers done to earn any kind of faith, anyway? Who knows what's up with THAT franchise.
Click to expand...

Mario platformers having a tradition of being awesome doesn't change the fact that NSMB1 and most of 2 are so easy to the point that they're boring. You really don't know what you're getting with the NSMB games, and having them all look the same doesn't help.
 
G

Gannd

Banned
AFter playing the Starry Night level I think something with that style for a whole game would be brilliant.
 
B

Boney

Banned
sigh...

no wii u yet makes me pretty jealous of this thread, but I'll just coment that NSMB Wii and 2 are criminally underrated and they're some of the best games I've ever played, Wii version gets an extra nod due to it's amazing congruent single and multiplayer.
 
H

HoJu

Member
Dr.Hadji said:
What's so terrible about it. Challenging people's high scores through spotpass was awesome. Besides, for personal gain Coin Rush is the best Extra to a Mario game yet (haven't played much Boost Rush though). Got 70+ hours in New2.
Click to expand...
You can only save one of your own coin rush highscore.
Half-assed implementation of leaderboards, which are on the NSMB2 website.
And this is more subjective, but doubling your coins by getting to the top of a flagpole is kind of bullshit.
 
K

Kai Dracon

Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
CorvoSol said:
Am I the only one in the world though who actually kinda likes the wuh wuh, though?
Click to expand...

I'm OK with it, but I do wish NSMB U had more new music because its new Acorn Fields theme is really great.

Isaccard said:
So I'm guessing the concensus here is that NSMB2 was a dissapointment/bad, etc?
Click to expand...

Lot of people on GAF think NSMB2 is great for level design and is a good game, but there's a lot of agreement that it really abused stage themes and music from NSMB Wii too much.

NSMB U refreshes the visual themes by a fair amount in comparison.
 
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