New Super Mario Bros. 2 Review
New Super Mario Bros. 2 marks the second Mario platforming on the Nintendo 3DS, with the sublime Super Mario 3D Land being the first. Being the direct sequel to the Nintendo DS’s best-selling and very fun New Super Mario Bros., I had high hopes coming in, especially with the game giving you an almost unlimited amount of coins to collect as you go through each world.
What I Liked
It’s A New Super Mario Bros. Game
It’s clear by now that Nintendo has perfected the 2D Mario video game. Jumping right into New Super Mario Bros. 2, I noticed that the platforming is as fun as it has ever been. Mario moves and controls perfectly, the levels in which you play through are all very well designed with a tonne of different areas to explore (especially when you utilize the Tanooki Suit to fly), and the replay value for each level is off the charts with countless regular coins and 3 Star coins to collect in each and everyone.
My initial time of beating Bowser was a very short one, lasting just a couple of hours, but the game does a very good job of giving you lots to do after you’re done. After I had collected the majority of Star coins in the levels, unlocked the two secret worlds, and visited every area, the game clock was over 10 hours and every minute of that was filled with 2D platforming fun.
What I Didn’t Like
It’s A New Super Mario Bros. Game
As much fun as this game is, you’d be hard pressed to find any difference from the DS or Wii versions (apart from the amount of coins). The worlds are all based off of the series staples of Mushroom Kingdom World, Sand World, Ice World, etc., you can expect the exact same boss greeting you in the very middle of each world (this time it is a bunch of rotating rhinos, taken straight from Super Mario World), and the final boss of every world will be a member of the Bowser clan who in a very small room and is way too easy to defeat. Good or bad, familiarity is definitely something you’ll find within New Super Mario Bros. 2.
Coin Rush Mode
Whereas the DS version of the game had some addictive mini-games to eat up some of your gaming hours, the 3DS sequel gets Coin Rush mode. This has you ‘rushing’ through a random assortment of levels, with only a small amount of time on the clock. Your goal is to collect as many coins as possible and, if you like, you can share high scores with other people. Unfortunately, Coin Rush mode just doesn’t have enough incentive to play it over the main game, mostly due to the fact that you can’t collect Star Coins while within Coin Rush mode.
Comparison
On Par With: New Super Mario Bros, New Super Mario Bros. Wii
If you picked up either of New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS or New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2 is just as fun as those two. While this sequel feels way too much like its predecessors, it also keeps the fun those two games and gives you a game you can come back to for years.
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Final Word:
Don’t let the name fool you, there really isn’t anything new in this game. Sure, you have an over-abundance of coins to collect, but that also leads you to having hundreds of lives at a time (I beat the game with 115), therefore creating a game that is way too easy. When it comes down to it though, in terms of fun, this game is off the charts. While it doesn’t do anything new, it doesn’t do anything to mess up the already super fun 2D Mario formula.
Check out how to unlock the secret worlds in New Super Mario Bros. 2.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 was reviewed with a copy provided by Nintendo.
