Apart from an enjoyable multiplayer mode, this game adds very little to Mario's legacy.
With this in mind, some may have found it surprising to see Nintendo announce the development of an all-new 2D Mario game for a home console for the first time in over a decade. The success of Super Mario Galaxy, which sold almost 9 million copies and is generally considered to be one of the best games this generation, left little to be wished for. Oddly enough, however, 2D Mario is more popular than his threedimensional counterpart in Japan, and Nintendo apparently saw the opportunity to combine the complete satisfaction of the Eastern market with expanding the Mario brand to a broader audience.
The result is a game that tries to do two things: primarily, it tries to pay homage to Mario's roots, offering the same gameplay we know from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, of course clad in updated, nice-looking, but by no means out of the ordinary graphics. Secondly, New Super Mario Bros. Wii attempts to familiarise the non-gamer audience - often personified by 'your grandma' - with the classic Mario gameplay. One of the most prominent manifestations of this aim is the Super Guide, which can be enabled after failing one course 8 times. The Super Guide allows the player to watch a computer-controlled Luigi make his way through the level. This process can be interrupted at any time, in which case the player takes control again, or Luigi can finish the level for you, even though this means that the player cannot take any of the collectable goodies in that level with him. Another example of this 'casual' approach is the multiplayer mode, which was apparently designed so that families could play the game together. The later levels are a little too difficult for inexperienced players, though, so beating the game with your grandma is not as easy as it may seem.
The game actually starts off at a rather calming pace, however. The first few levels are as easy as you'd expect the first phase of a Mario game to be, and it mainly serves to familiarise the players with the game mechanics. To experienced players, however, these mechanics aren't anything new. Especially when the game is played with the Wiimote held sideways (like a NES controller), it plays almost exactly like Super Mario Bros. 3. This means you'll have to time your jumps and build up your sprints exactly like in that game. The gameplay itself needs little introduction: you make your way through levels jumping on the heads of Bowser's minions as you go. The checkpoint system from Super Mario World is back in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, preventing the player from having to go back all the way to the start of the level upon perishment. These checkpoints are actually a welcome addition seeing as the levels are generally much longer than the ones in the old 2D Mario games. Each stage also has 3 Star Coins hidden in places that are hard to reach, hard to spot, or both. Collecting enough of these coins will unlock hidden levels, which are easily the most challenging in the game.
That does not mean, however, that the regular levels in the game aren't challenging. After an easy start, the difficulty quickly ramps up, and while most of these levels may still not be very difficult for experienced players, everyone's bound to die quite a few times in the later stages of the game. Especially the completionists that want to retrieve every single Star Coin will not have an easy time. It can actually be questioned if this game really is that friendly to newcomers. It does make a few concessions to the non-gaming crowd, such as the Super Guide, but the later levels might prove to be a bit too much for people who have never touched a controller before, and watching a computer-controlled Luigi play through every level isn't very fun, even in the book of someone who just started playing video games.
This is why the main draw of the game lies in the multiplayer, as it's a fun way to introduce your inexperienced relatives to the wonderous world of video gaming and show them what you've been busy doing all these years. Unfortunately, this is all there is too it. Playing through the whole game with a novice player can be a frustrating activity for either side, and it's still best for more serious gamers to team up if they do not want to beat this game on their own. In this case, you need to have the luck of knowing someone like that, because New Super Mario Bros. Wii does not have an online mode. While Nintendo is not exactly known for its fantastic online service, it's still a disappointing omission in this day and age, when most of the multiplayer fun happens online.
A similar form of digital conservatism can be found in the game's presentation. In terms of both technical graphics and artistic design, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, while not looking bad by any standard, does not attempt to push the boundaries of 2D gaming. The game looks slick and polished, but Nintendo could've really used the technical simplicity of a 2D game to go all the way in terms of visuals, for example by letting amazing things happen in the background (that could perhaps interact with the gameplay) or by having some more original and spectacular artistic design.
At least the game still looks fine, but that qualification cannot be applied to the sound department. The soundtrack is very subpar, especially for a Mario game. There are only a handful of tunes to be heard, and even they are generally poor. The music that plays in the castles is the only exception, but it's hard to not get sick of even that tune, as it is played in every castle level in the game.
Conclusively, it's not very clear what exactly New Super Mario Bros. Wii tries to do. It's a good game in its own right, but it's inferior to even the old Mario sidescrollers, let alone the amazing 3D installments of the series. It does attempt to compensate its gameplay in order to appeal to non-gamers, but it is to be questioned if many of them will see New Super Mario Bros. Wii as a gateway drug to gaming rather than a fun novelty that fails to leave a lasting impression, let alone make them yearn for more. Experienced gamers will probably be able to derive some enjoyment from this game, although the 50 euro price tag suggests it might be a better idea to just download one of the old Super Mario games from the Virtual Console for 5 or 8 euros. So unless if you insist on trying out multiplayer Mario, don't believe the hype.