Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Been there, done that"

Meet Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Wii. That may seem like a backhanded comment, but that's the reason why I like this game. Admittedly it doesn't have the same charm as 8 bit games usually do, but this game makes many callbacks to SMB3. For one, the Koopa kids finally make their return to the Mario universe again, and all their quirks are still there and as fun as ever. The music also makes a lot of cues from SMB3, and considering that SMB3 had some of the best gaming music ever in turn makes NSMB Wii have some amazing music. The game is also challenging like SMB3, not only are the levels and enemies difficult from time to time, but you can't save till you beat a castle, with this simple element, 1ups and items become far more important and really makes you tense when you are on those last life's. And if you're still not satisfied there are branching paths and star coins to collect to make your life in NSMB Wii all the more difficult. Nearly everything about this game makes fans of the original SMB3 nostalgia all over again.

So why didn't fans or myself gush all over it? Well it's honestly just more of the same. There is just something missing or offbeat about NSMB Wii, that doesn't compare to SMB3. Perhaps I'm just too old to appreciate it as much as I did when I was 6 playing SMB3. Or maybe it's because the physics feel very weird to me, and don't response like I think they will. Really it just falls short compared to SMB3, and unlike Super Mario World which gave so many secrets and so many levels then you knew what to deal with, NSMB Wii just doesn't give enough and merely feeds to nostalgia. The quality itself isn't bad, but it's not inspiring, like a copy cat, for what once was there but now is gone. I'll admit that Co-op makes this game far more interesting and challenging to a whole new degree, but single player should really provide more than it did.

Conclusion: New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a copycat of Super Mario Bros. 3, and while that isn't exactly a bad thing, the fact that it doesn't provide a lot of new and interesting things to deal with or play with is. Nevertheless the nostalgia I felt playing this game was a treat, but not enough for me to like this game more than its predecessor(s).