It’s no doubt that Nintendo is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to platforming titles. It was only a matter of time before everyone’s favorite Italian plumber made his 2D platforming debut on Nintendo’s latest handheld. The 3DS is no stranger to Mario platforming though, as Super Mario 3D Land was released last year and is arguably the best game yet on the 3DS. New Super Mario Bros. 2 looks to push it’s bigger, more ambitious brother out of the spot light.
The story is what you’d expect from every Mario game, Princess Peach has been captured by Bowser’s Koopalings, and I’m pretty sure one of them is from the band Kiss (Morton Koopa). It’s up to Mario to hop, glide, fly, and sprint his way through deserts, haunted houses, and flaming castles. There are a total of 6 main worlds with about 8 levels each, with your standard 3 gold star coins in each level. Star Coins can be used to buy Mushroom Houses for power ups or 1ups. If this were any other franchise i’d be going on about the non existent story, but the truth is NSMB2 is as addicting as any platformer gets. Nintendo decided to put an enormous focus on collecting coins, which at first was a bit obnoxious and I didn’t really care for it, but as the game progressed I was enjoying the ridiculous coin runs and rainbow courses.
NSMB 2 looks about the same as it’s predecessor, but at first glance it seems as though it runs at 60 frames. It looks great, 
but the 3D is absolutely pointless, the only thing the 3D manages to accomplish is blurring the background. I found my self playing in 2D 90% of the time. The music is a bit forgettable, but it does add charm as the creatures in the levels will dance to it. NSMB 2′s biggest strong point is the sheer addictiveness and replayability, and Nintendo manages to hit it out of the park with that. NSMB 2 does not try to reinvent the wheel, or take any risks. It is a very tame platformer as it follows the true formula of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. As tame as it is, you can’t help but keep coming back.
When it comes to it’s level design, it’s fairly simple, but the Warp cannons and Haunted houses are wonderful. Your favorite mushrooms make a return for a more classic approach, while Mega and Mini Mario Mushrooms are a rare sight. New to the series is the Golden flower, which when shooting fireballs anything it hits turns to coins and kills grant you 5 coins each. The Gold Flower is a rarely missed power up, as only major coin collectors will find a use for it.
NSMB 2 is not the best game the 3DS has to offer, but it is one of the most addicting. It will keep you coming back, and that ever looming goal of trying to collect 1,000,000 coins will always be circling over your head. NSMB 2 does not try to innovate or reinvent platforming, but it does deliver an addicting and satisfying experience. The 3D is nearly non existent, but the visuals are nice as the game runs at about 60 frames. NSMB 2 is a must own for the console and will probably stay in that cartridge slot for the coming weeks.
Addicting, Hard to put down
Tons of content
Classic power ups
3d is nearly non existent
Not very innovating
Score: 5/5
Second Opinion:
Samuel Evans: I like the New Super Mario Brothers series but it is a completely hollowed out soul-less series. I can vividly remember almost every level in Super Mario World, Mario 64, or even Mario 3. With this series I just remember the style of level and start to hum the catchy but overused music. That being said this is certainly the best of the three released so far. The inclusion of just fire flowers, starmen, raccoon leafs, and tiny mushrooms for powerups keeps this game simple. Mario 3D Land tried to be Mario Brothers 3 but this game actually succeeds in all aspects. The golden fireflower is my only beef with this game. The whole coin grabbing frenzy Nintendo wants to get you interested in feels like it should have been saved for Wario, not Mario. It does nothing to effect the game but make random level plays feel like your running a golden fever instead of classic platforming. Score 5/5
