You'll hold the Wii-mote sideways in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which is very reminiscent of the classic Nintendo controller used to play Super Mario Bros.  The 1 and 2 buttons act as the A and B buttons, while the directional pad moves your character.  There are times when shaking the Wii-mote will help a character fly, pick up objects, or do a "ground pound."

This game really retains the classic feel of the original Super Mario Bros. as well as Super Mario Bros. 3.  Nintendo is banking on the fact that you've probably played one of those before, and while not necessary, it definitely will help you feel right at home if you have.

One of the great things about New Super Mario Bros. Wii is how the multiplayer experience can be competive or cooperative.  Up to four players can be on the screen at the same time, which will expand a bit if one player gets too far ahead, but eventually any stragglers will be left behind.  Players can cooperate, with all coins collected going into a mutual pool, or you can play a competive mode where you are battling for coins.

For player to reappear on screen, they'll also need the help of other players to pop their bubbles in order to let them re-enter.  If no one pops them, they're left floating there.  The downside is that if everyone else is in a bubble, too, then you have to go back and re-start the level.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii feels harder then we remember the other Mario games being.  Gamers with a little bit of skill should be able to master the rotating ground, or the swinging bridges just fine, but younger gamers and those who may not have as much video game experience may struggle a bit as they tackle some of the game's harder obstacles.

Overall, New Super Mario Bros. Wii combines contains so many qualities any family would want in a game to play together.  Parents will love the nostalgia, kids will love the colorful Mario universe, and everyone will love playing with or against each other.




INFORMATION FROM COMPANY FACT SHEET

Developers at Nintendo have dreamed of creating a simultaneous multiplayer Super Mario Bros. game for decades. The Wii console finally makes that dream come true for everyone. Now players can navigate the side-scrolling worlds alone as before or invite up to three others to join them at the same time on the same level at any point in the game for competitive and cooperative multiplayer fun.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii offers a combination of cooperation and competition. Players can pick each other up to save them from danger or toss them into it.  Mario, Luigi and two Toads are all playable characters, while many others from the Mushroom Kingdom make appearances throughout the game. Players can even ride different Yoshi characters and use their tongues to swallow enemies, items and even balls of fire.

In some areas, players use the motion abilities of the Wii Remote controller. The first player to reach a seesaw might make it tilt to help his or her character reach a higher platform – or might make it tilt incorrectly just to mess with other players.

New items include the propeller suit, which will shoot players high into the sky with just a shake of the Wii Remote, and Mario’s new ability to transform into Penguin Mario.

At the end of each stage during the coin battle multiplayer mode, players are ranked based on the number of coins they have collected.