enigmatic_alex44
Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
I've started yet another play through of the game (plus New Super Luigi U), as I picked up the new version of the game that came out last Friday which has both New Mario U, New Luigi U and the controller patch/videos all on one disc, and the save files for the old versions aren't compatible with this disc. I'm having just as much fun as the first few times I played through this. The only other Mario games I've replayed this much are Mario Bros. 3, and World (and Yoshi's Island if that counts but for this topic I won't as Yoshi is kind of his own series now). I have Woolly World sitting here and haven't even started it yet as I'm busy replaying NSMB Wii U
I really do feel this is the best 2D Mario game in the series, and it's downplayed because people were burnt out on having had three games in the "New" series before this one. NSMB Wii U feels like the legitimate sequel to Mario World. It takes the best of Mario 3/World (giant world and Boom Boom from 3, Magikoopa and Ghost Houses from World, Koopa Kids and world map from both etc.) and mixes it together with an amazing and clean art style that looks gorgeous in HD. The music is a huge step up too, from the previous New games' "Wahh Wahh" nonsense.
Speaking of the art style, the previous New games had a bit of a "generic Mario" look to them. The DS game in particular is quite ugly, and probably my least favorite game in the 2D series due to how it looked and just bad level design, it felt very light on content as well. The Wii and 3DS "New" games looked nice but perhaps didn't wow anybody and still kind of bland. NSMB Wii U on the other hand finally achieves the look I think they were going for since the beginning but couldn't achieve since the previous systems weren't in HD. NSMB Wii U looks a lot more distinctive with really gorgeous backgrounds, clear character and (adorable) enemy models and obviously a perfect frame rate. It really is the final form of what they wanted the "New" series to be from the start. I mean, look at how gorgeous it can be:
Of course the controls are spot on, with perhaps Rayman Legends being the only other platformer to come close with how perfect and precise the game controls. The length of the levels is another huge plus imo. I think they're about twice as long as your average Mario game (according to a chart I saw), so each level is almost like 2 levels, with the halfway checkpoint being where older games' levels would already end. There aren't any terrible power-ups either like the Cloud Hat, Spring, or Frog Suit from previous games. The new Acorn Suit is a lot of fun, but not broken as a flight mechanic like the Cape. The Penguin Suit kind of stands in for the Frog Suit, except that it's actually useful and fun to use. Plus riding on Yoshi is as fun as ever <3 Literally the only thing I would change: In the New Super Luigi U expansion, I'd have it be Princess Daisy in the tower at the end instead of Peach that Luigi has to save. Daisy sucks, but she's Luigi's gal, y'know? Would have been a nice though and I can't imagine it would have been hard to just whip up a quick character model for her.
My top 3 2D Marios would probably be New Super Mario Bros. Wii U > Mario Bros. 3 > World. Everyone knows how important Mario lore is, so I almost knocked Mario Bros. 3 down a peg after Miyamoto's revelation that he considers the game never happened and the whole thing was just a "play" the characters put on, but then I decided not to take his comments seriously, just like how Miyamoto didn't take Sticker Star seriously.
I think Nintendo themselves even consider Mario Wii U on the same level as the other iconic eras of Mario. Case in point: Super Mario Maker includes 4 eras: Mario 1, Mario 3, World, and NSMB Wii U. If people weren't burnt out on 3 previous "New" games, I guarantee NSMB Wii U would have scored a lot higher on Metacritic. Truly an under-appreciated game. It bests even Tropical Freeze and Rayman Legends imo, which are both incredible games in their own right.
What are your thoughts? Agree or disagree?
I really do feel this is the best 2D Mario game in the series, and it's downplayed because people were burnt out on having had three games in the "New" series before this one. NSMB Wii U feels like the legitimate sequel to Mario World. It takes the best of Mario 3/World (giant world and Boom Boom from 3, Magikoopa and Ghost Houses from World, Koopa Kids and world map from both etc.) and mixes it together with an amazing and clean art style that looks gorgeous in HD. The music is a huge step up too, from the previous New games' "Wahh Wahh" nonsense.
Speaking of the art style, the previous New games had a bit of a "generic Mario" look to them. The DS game in particular is quite ugly, and probably my least favorite game in the 2D series due to how it looked and just bad level design, it felt very light on content as well. The Wii and 3DS "New" games looked nice but perhaps didn't wow anybody and still kind of bland. NSMB Wii U on the other hand finally achieves the look I think they were going for since the beginning but couldn't achieve since the previous systems weren't in HD. NSMB Wii U looks a lot more distinctive with really gorgeous backgrounds, clear character and (adorable) enemy models and obviously a perfect frame rate. It really is the final form of what they wanted the "New" series to be from the start. I mean, look at how gorgeous it can be:
Of course the controls are spot on, with perhaps Rayman Legends being the only other platformer to come close with how perfect and precise the game controls. The length of the levels is another huge plus imo. I think they're about twice as long as your average Mario game (according to a chart I saw), so each level is almost like 2 levels, with the halfway checkpoint being where older games' levels would already end. There aren't any terrible power-ups either like the Cloud Hat, Spring, or Frog Suit from previous games. The new Acorn Suit is a lot of fun, but not broken as a flight mechanic like the Cape. The Penguin Suit kind of stands in for the Frog Suit, except that it's actually useful and fun to use. Plus riding on Yoshi is as fun as ever <3 Literally the only thing I would change: In the New Super Luigi U expansion, I'd have it be Princess Daisy in the tower at the end instead of Peach that Luigi has to save. Daisy sucks, but she's Luigi's gal, y'know? Would have been a nice though and I can't imagine it would have been hard to just whip up a quick character model for her.
My top 3 2D Marios would probably be New Super Mario Bros. Wii U > Mario Bros. 3 > World. Everyone knows how important Mario lore is, so I almost knocked Mario Bros. 3 down a peg after Miyamoto's revelation that he considers the game never happened and the whole thing was just a "play" the characters put on, but then I decided not to take his comments seriously, just like how Miyamoto didn't take Sticker Star seriously.
I think Nintendo themselves even consider Mario Wii U on the same level as the other iconic eras of Mario. Case in point: Super Mario Maker includes 4 eras: Mario 1, Mario 3, World, and NSMB Wii U. If people weren't burnt out on 3 previous "New" games, I guarantee NSMB Wii U would have scored a lot higher on Metacritic. Truly an under-appreciated game. It bests even Tropical Freeze and Rayman Legends imo, which are both incredible games in their own right.
What are your thoughts? Agree or disagree?