I finally got a Wii last Christmas. It was the Mario 25th anniversary red Wii with Wii Sports and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I managed to beat Bowser shortly afterward, but I just managed to find all the secrets and complete the game 100% a few days ago.

I have never owned a Nintendo DS, so the only time I ever got to play the original New Super Mario Bros. was in short plays at display kiosks. So the whole New Super Mario Bros. concept was pretty new to me when I first played New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I’ve always liked the 3D Mario games, but it was great to play a new side-scroller again, since the 3D games aren’t the same due to their open-world feel. I liked the inclusion of the 3D moves, such as the wall jumps and the butt stomp. I also liked the homage to Super Mario Bros. 3 with the costumes Mario could wear. The raccoon tail was more fun for flying in Mario 3 than the propeller cap, but the penguin suit in New Super Mario Bros. Wii was much more fun than the frog suit. Mario could still swim really fast with the penguin suit, but he wasn’t slowed down on land, and he could slide on his belly, which was fun. :)

I liked that the blue mushroom from Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels was used again, this time to better effect. In The Lost Levels, the blue mushroom was evil, since it caused you to shrink or die, depending on if you were currently using a power-up. Here, the mushroom caused you to become very, very tiny, and let you access hidden locations, jump really high, and run across water. It was great to see that the blue mushroom seems to have finally found it’s place in the main game series. :)

The music is always a high point of Mario games, and the animators took it one step further by having the characters in the game react to the music. The creatures in the game would dance or hop when the vocals kicked in with the “da da” refrain. I love cute things, and this really made my experience all the more enjoyable. I stopped playing many times when I encountered an enemy just to see how he’d react to the music. :)

It was great to see the inclusion of both the Koopa Kids from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World and Bowser Jr. from Super Mario Sunshine as bosses. It helped make the games feel like they really were part of the same series, despite being presented in different play styles. The best part about the game for me though, was the end battle with Bowser. It was the most nerve-wracking, adrenaline-pumping boss battle I’ve played yet in a Mario game, and I enjoyed every second of it. :)