Game Info
Game Name: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Developer(s): Nintendo EAD Group No. 4
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Platform(s): 3DS
Genre(s): Platformer/Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): July 28, 2012 (Japan)/August 19, 2012 (US)
ESRB Rating: E
Don’t ruin the name of Ludwig!
Bowser has returned with his children and he’s up to trouble again. Princess Peach has been kidnapped and Mario and Luigi are in a race across the Mushroom Kingdom to retrieve her. Larry Koopa, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa, Iggy Koopa, Roy Coopa, Lemmy Koopa, and Ludwig von Koopa are out to stop Mario and Luigi from reaching Bowser, and Mario and Luigi will have to tap into all of their resources to reach the Princess!
New Super Mario Bros. 2 (New スーパーマリオブラザーズ 2 or Nyū Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Tsū) is a sidescrolling platformer for the Nintendo 3DS. The game is a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. for the NDS in 2006 but followed the release of Super Mario 3D Land for the Wii U in 2011. The game was released to positive reviews.
New Super Mario Bros. was a rather difficult game. It brought back the classic feel of the earlier Super Mario games while utilizing new advances in gaming since Super Mario Bros. was released in 1985. While New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a slick and smooth follow-up to New Super Mario Bros., it feels like more of same (which is neither good or bad).
Go on…tell my my princess is in another castle…I dare you!!!
The gameplay feels like a really advanced version of Super Mario Bros. 3 due to the return of the raccoon tail (I still wish we’d get the cape feather of Super Mario World back). The game doesn’t feel like it utilizes the flying enough, but it still gives the game a shot of nostalgia that is good. This combines with slick levels that feel slightly easier than the previous entry of New Super Mario Bros. on NDS…it wasn’t until Koopa’s palace that I had many troubles. The game needed a bit of a gradual increase in difficulty to easy players in, but it went from easy to hard rather quickly (a built in Invincibility Leaf provides an out if you are hopelessly stuck).
The controls are responsive and if you’ve played Super Mario Brothers in any iteration, this version is easy to pick up. From flying, jumping, and running, the game feels like most other Mario Bros. so that makes it easy to get up and go immediately when you pop it in…if you want innovation, you aren’t really going to find it here. The game’s only real changes in gaming involve new ways to collect and create coin opportunities (with even links to online record keeping available)…but sweet sound of coins being collected is rewarding at points.
Everyone knows a skeleton version of Bowser is scarier than a non-skeleton version…
The graphics are solid and it is amazing to see how far gaming has come over the years. While the NES was huge and bulky and created far better than Atari’s graphics, the 3DS fits in your hand, the game is tiny, and the graphics are leaps and bounds above the old systems. The game does utilize the 3D aspects of the 3DS but it is rather subtle since it is a side scrolling game and the visuals mostly add depth to the environment.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a solid Super Mario Bros. game, but it also feels like a normal Super Mario Bros. game. If you have another Super Mario Bros. game that you haven’t finished, you don’t need to rush out and buy this one…it simply is more levels. If you love Super Mario Bros. like I do, more levels is a good thing though and it is good anytime you get more. The game has some replay with multiple exits, collectible coins, and branching worlds so hours of gameplay can be expected. The Mario Bros. returned in New Super Mario Bros. U the Wii U also released in 2012.
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