New Super Mario Bros. 2 review (3DS)

Reviews

September 4, 2012

There are only three things we’re certain about in the video gaming industry: we undeniably know that there’ll always be some sort of sequel to Call of Duty; that teenage girls will go bananas for yet another The Sims expansion; and that Nintendo will make a new Mario game.

But somehow, even after countless renditions of the same rescue-the-princess charade, in the same setting, with the same characters, there has hardly ever been a “bad” Mario game. Somehow Nintendo manages to introduce just a single change to the formula that keeps this franchise fresh and exciting.

Some games introduce a new Mario power-up, or take his adventures into space, or even place the legendary plumber in a full 3D environment – and the newest Mario title is no different. Rather surprisingly the big twist in New Super Mario Bros. 2 is something that’s been in the series from the very start: coin collecting.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 pushes the coin grabbing mechanic to the very limit by bombarding levels with more coins than one can possibly collect. Coins fall from the sky, get pumped out of pipes and we even see a couple of new power-ups that turn everything Mario touches to gold.

When Nintendo announced this unforeseen twist I couldn’t help but wonder how it’s going to tie in with the story. To my amusement it seems like Nintendo didn’t know either as they nonchalantly announce that one of the game’s goals is to collect 1 million coins, and that’s the last of it. I guess Nintendo reached the point where they stopped finding explanations for all the bizarre things they do.

So, after being told that every coin you collect will increase a global coin counter, Mario sets off on his very familiar journey. He makes his way through a total of 8 worlds with all the themes we know and love: from the standard mushroom platforms and pyramid-land, down to the underwater levels, and finally back up to the lava-stages where you’ll find Bowser. Nothing we haven’t seen before.

All the while you’ll continue collecting coins by the bag-load in an attempt to reach this ominous 1 million coin goal. There are a few new things to help you grab as much gold as you can – like a Golden Flower suit which lets you chuck golden fireballs that turn everything into coins.

On occasion Mario’s incessant block bashing will also result in a golden brick getting stuck on his head. This will continue to spurt out coins as you make your way through the level. There’s also a golden loop which Mario jumps through to momentarily cause all enemies to release coins by the dozen.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 also returns the Raccoon Mario Suit; the power-up that gives Mario a tail and short bursts of flight. In addition to the Raccoon Suit, there’s the Golden Raccoon Suit. This is Nintendo’s answer to complaints that Mario games are too “hardcore”.

This suit will appear at the start of the level if Mario dies more than 5 times and, if the player chooses to use it, gives complete invincibility and longer flight times. In all honesty this is basically equivalent to a god-mode cheat and if you can’t make your way through the level with this power up you should consider another hobby.

So, despite the new focus on coin collecting and the return of the Raccoon Suit, there isn’t anything else that stands out. The levels in New Super Mario Bros. 2 are awfully generic and we’ve heard most of the background music too. All of the environments, enemies, gadgets, and levers are reused from previous New Super Mario Bros. games and you’ll rarely stumble across something that grabs your attention.

I also experienced the levels to be way too simple to complete. There aren’t a lot of challenging manoeuvres or perfectly timed jumps to be made, nor is there a great deal of intricacy in the levels. But that isn’t the biggest problem: as you continue playing New Super Mario Bros. 2 you’ll discover that the game’s biggest flaw lies in its fundamental concept.

One of the biggest gameplay mechanics in the Mario series is to collect 100 coins and earn an extra life. However, in New Super Mario Bros. 2 you’re bombarded with coins and will easily gather around 500 per level. That gives you an additional 5 lives for every level you complete. Add in a few green 1-UP mushrooms and pretty soon you end up with more lives than you possibly need. By the time I rescued Princess Peach I had 146 lives stored up and didn’t even see the game-over screen once.

Take into consideration that the Golden Raccoon Suit will pop up whenever there’s a hint of danger and you’ve got a game that any noob can run through in a few hours. There’s no fun in playing a game in which you cannot die, lose, or get a game-over. Mario games are supposed to offer some challenge and New Super Mario Bros. 2 fails dramatically when catering for the hardcore gamers who grew up with this iconic series.

So is it possible to reach the 1-million coin goal? Well, let’s do the math. In just over 10 hours of gameplay (which includes completing the main campaign story and replaying some of the levels to find the missing Secret Coins) I’ve only collected 43,240 coins. That’s still 956,760 coins short of the goal. At that rate, I’ll have to continue playing for another 221 hours to reach the 1 million target.

I’m a big Mario fan, but that’s a bit absurd. I’d like to meet the person who reaches this 1 million coin goal so that I can take him outside and be his (only) friend.

The game’s only saving grace comes from two of the new implementations. New Super Mario Bros. 2 offers local co-op between 2 Nintendo 3DS consoles. This lets one player play as Mario and the other as Luigi.

While co-op in Mario games isn’t something new it’s the first time that it takes this form on handheld consoles. It’s always better to play with a friend and it’s a lot of fun! The only drawback is that it’s not supported by Download Play, so each player will need to purchase a copy of the game.

The game also introduces Coin Rush mode which uses the power of StreetPass. In this mode you have to run through 3 random levels in a limited time without dying while trying to obtain as many coins as possible. This record is then saved and transferred to other consoles via StreetPass where that player can try to beat your score.

Unfortunately you can choose to use regular Mario or super-invincible Golden Raccoon Mario when entering Coin Rush mode and the game makes no distinction between those who did it the hard or easy way.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is simply unbalanced. The idea of scattering coins across the screen is fantastic but it inadvertently broke the gameplay. If the difficulty was adjusted or the amount of coins required for an extra life increased, this game would have been a gem.

Instead gamers will tear through the unpleasantly standard Mario levels as Golden Raccoon Mario without pause. While trying to make the game more exciting and accessible to new audiences Nintendo has robbed its dedicated players of a great game.