After the success of both New Super Mario Bros. games on the original DS and Wii, Nintendo went at it again with the third (or is it fourth since the Wii-U has one as well) installment of the series with New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS. And while this game stands true to the classic Mario games of old, that does not stop it from being the weakest out of ALL the 2D Mario games I've ever played.....and I've played a LOT of them too.
Right off the bat, you know the drill: Princess Peach has been kidnapped.....again and you have to save her.....again. The one good aspect of this game is the 3DS debut of the Koopalings. The downer is that you face 5 of them off the bat and the remaining 2 are in secret worlds that have to be unlocked. Also, New Super Mario Bros. 2 features the return of an old foe from Super Mario World on the SNES, but to be honest that is the only redeeming factor of this game.
If you're familiar with any of the 2D Mario games, especially the New Super Mario Bros. games that came before this, the format is still the same. Move forward, jump, shoot fireballs, swim and climb past all enemies and obstacles to reach the goal flag at the end of every level minus the castle levels which always ends in a boss. Collecting red mushrooms makes Mario grow and enables him to receive one hit before taking a second hit and dying while flowers grant you fireballs. The raccoon leaf from Super Mario Bros. 3 makes its return after a two decade hiatus and Mega Mushrooms have sadly become scarce for an all-new powerup that will be explained shortly.
Usually each Mario game has a gimmick behind it. Mario 3 had the Raccoon Leaf, Mario World had Yoshi and Mario 64 had the Wing Cap, etc. The gimmick here is what really makes this game feel weak to me: coins. The yellow bits that are a standard to every Mario game are the gimmick here. Coins are ALL over the place and in case you miss any, Nintendo gave us this new powerup: a gold flower. This works just like a fire flower but with a catch. Firing a 'gold ball' will turn all breakable and hidden blocks into gold coins to collect. Hell, killing an enemy with the gold flower adds more coins to your wallet. By the time you finish World 1, you'll have at least 40 lives or more which really kills the challenge in my eyes.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 has one more redeeming factor: co-op. If you have a friend with a separate 3DS and a copy of the game, both of you can collect coins and play the game as a team. Also what has become the norm for Mario games since the first New Super Mario Bros are the Star Coins. Each level has three hidden in them which are all optional, yes, but collecting a certain number of them will unlock a special world which is.....somewhat challenging but not so much. And as noted, finding hidden areas in stages will unlock new levels to play, open paths to Toad houses especially the 1-Up houses (which makes more sense since it's impossible to get game overs) and even better, two hidden worlds which should've been unlocked from the get-go.
Mario games are fun. New Super Mario Bros. 2 is no exception, but the coin gimmick is what really kills it for me. It's not like the games are all that challenging with the exception Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan), New Super Mario Bros. Wii with more than 2 players and Super Mario Galaxy 2. It's just that they are those who can play through any Mario game and beat them without collecting a single coin or barely collecting any at all. Leave the coin, or should I say, ring collecting for Sonic, Nintendo. That's all I gotta say.