New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Did You Know?

• The game's plot begins with Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad celebrating Princess Peach's birthday when Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings emerge from a large cake and trap Peach inside.
• A sequel, New Super Mario Bros. U, was released as a launch title for the Wii U in 2012, later re-released for Nintendo Switch in 2019 as New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.
• A Japan-only arcade game titled New Super Mario Bros. Wii Coin World was developed by Capcom in 2011, featuring multiplayer and a slot-machine mechanic.

Gameplay

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer where most characters and objects are 3D polygonal renderings on 2D backgrounds. In single-player mode, the player controls Mario and must complete levels filled with enemies, obstacles, and helpful items, reaching a large flag pole at the end of each stage. The game can be played with the Wii Remote held horizontally or vertically with the Nunchuk attached. Mario can run, jump, wall kick, ground pound, and perform double and triple jumps. The Wii Remote's motion controls are used frequently: shaking the controller performs a spin jump that kills enemies, a mid-air twirl that extends air time, and the ability to pick up, carry, and throw objects. Some platforms can be manipulated by standing on them and tilting the remote. Underwater levels require swimming. Coins are collected to earn extra lives. Power-ups include the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Super Star, Mini Mushroom, Propeller Suit, Ice Flower, and Penguin Suit. The Propeller Suit allows flight by shaking the remote; the Ice Flower freezes enemies into ice blocks that can be thrown; the Penguin Suit adds sliding on ground and water and better control on ice. Yoshi appears in certain levels and can eat, swallow, and spit enemies and objects, and flutter briefly.

Development

New Super Mario Bros. Wii was created from a desire to recreate the single-player Super Mario experience for multiple players. Shigeru Miyamoto had wanted a multiplayer Super Mario game since the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros., but attempts to integrate cooperative play into Super Mario 64 failed due to Nintendo 64 hardware limitations. The Wii's faster CPU and enhanced graphical and memory capabilities allowed the team to revisit the idea, enabling smooth display of enough enemies and items and a camera that dynamically adapts to players' movements. Miyamoto stated that Princess Peach was not playable because her skirt would require complex dedicated programming. After the critical and commercial success of New Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto hoped this game would become a staple for the Wii. He wanted it accessible to all players, balancing difficulty for casual and hardcore fans. Feeling that New Super Mario Bros. had not been hard enough, he designed this game to provide a higher challenge for those who wanted it. The Super Guide feature, letting players watch a level completed after failing several times, was included for accessibility. The Super Guide was first conceived in a June 2008 patent for a 'Kind Code' with three demo play modes: Game, Digest, and Scene Menu.

Release

On May 30, 2009, the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. tentatively called New Super Mario Bros. Wii would be released. The game was announced at E3 2009 and further shown at Gamescom. Nintendo released the game in a red case instead of the traditional white box. The announcement followed a standstill in Wii sales that led to a 52% drop in Nintendo's first-half earnings for 2009; Nintendo hoped the game would boost holiday sales. At a Japanese retail briefing, Miyamoto expressed faith that sales would remain strong beyond the first year. The game was released in Australia on November 12, 2009, in North America on November 15, in Europe on November 20, and in Japan on December 3. On October 29, 2010, it was bundled with a red Wii console alongside Wii Sports and a built-in download of Donkey Kong for the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. It was also bundled with a black Wii Family Edition console and a Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack CD on October 23, 2011. At E3 2011, a variation called New Super Mario Bros. Mii was shown as a playable demo for the Wii U, letting players use Mii characters. The game was released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2016 for Europe, Australia, and Japan. An enhanced port for the Nvidia Shield TV was released in China on December 5, 2017, featuring 1080p graphics and a redesigned UI.

Reception

Critics widely praised the game's multiplayer offerings after its E3 debut, highlighting both its competitive and cooperative elements, though many noted the absence of online play as a missed chance. Numerous reviewers drew favorable comparisons to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for similarly blending traditional gameplay with cooperative multiplayer. Destructoid's Chad Concelmo gave the game a 9.5 based on early impressions, applauding its inventive, amusing levels and improved controls over New Super Mario Bros., and calling the multiplayer unique, addictive, and gloriously entertaining. Engadget's Andrew Yoon described it as playable, addictive, and fresh, praising the camera system that automatically zooms out to keep off-screen players visible. Ars Technica found it insidiously fun despite simple graphics. GameSpot's Sophia Tong likened it to Super Mario Bros. 3 and said the multiplayer was a blast to play and hilarious to watch. Eurogamer's Oli Welsh called the multiplayer a simple stroke of genius, while Wired's Chris Kohler praised the mode's difficulty. The presentation also earned acclaim: CNET's Jeff Balakar called seeing a side-scrolling Mario game in widescreen an eye-opening experience, lauding the worlds' detail. IGN's Craig Harris noted the smooth widescreen graphics even in an incomplete build, and Matt Casamassima said it looked crisp, clean, and colorful. Some critics had reservations about the multiplayer. Balakar observed that the chaos and tight screen space could occasionally frustrate. CNET's Dan Ackerman, while enjoying the game overall, felt it closely resembled its 2D predecessors and seemed firmly stuck in that era. MTV's Russ Frushtick compared its difficulty to the NES game Contra.