New Super Mario Bros U

Before we give our opinion on this game, we realized that we did not play this game to its fullest potential. We had the game for about a month and did not take very long to get to the end of the story. Normally we would consider a game finished  when everything is unlocked, collected and there would be nothing else other than play the game for fun. However, due to time constraints we decided we would just try to finish as much as we can. As of now, we have completed unlocking every secret area, beat the story once and unlocked one star world stage.

Anyways, the game starts off the same as every other Mario game. Peach has cake, Bowser ruins party, Mario goes to save Peach. So there isn't much to be had in terms of story. Same thing in terms of game play, you can run, spin and jump. You can also play with up to 4 people in each stage. If you are about to die or you are too lazy to run through the stage, you can always go in a bubble and have your partner to the work for you!

There are 8 different stages in the game, each in a different environment. The levels at each stage are actually well designed and the scenery itself is bright and colorful enough to make a pleasant experience. Compared to the first one, this one seems to have more memorable levels due to their variety. Each stage also has three coins that you can collect. Once all the coins in one world is collected, a star world stage is unlocked, which are much more challenging versions of the main levels provided. We haven't unlocked them all yet, but we plan on trying at least.

One new edition however is that one additional person can be on the Wii U gamepad assisting the main players in getting through the stages. Since we played the game like the first one, just going through the stage at the same time, we rarely bothered with the pad unless there was an annoying jump to make.

We played as 2 players, JDX as Mario and Rami as blue Toad. Some stages were tough with just the two of us, while others were easy. We did not realized the power of using the gamepad until we have completed the game. After watching videos of how it can be used, we realized we did not play this game to its fullest potential. The true power of the gamepad is to clear a path, as well as make a path for the other players. Now, we are planning to replay the game (or at least get the rest of the star coins) trying this method.

In conclusion, this is just another Mario game. There is still loads of fun between the interesting stages and the multiplayer insanity. If you're a pro Mario player you will probably tear through this game in no time, but for a nice leisurely game it does keep things interesting. We will definitely be playing more of this game later, this time trying to master using the gamepad.

Posted by Rami & JDX