Sometimes reinventing the wheel isn't necessary. Sometimes just giving the wheel a nice spit-and-polish is all that is needed to make the wheel seem shiny and new and tons of fun. As old as the wheel might be, even if it, horror of horrors, is from the 8-bit world, it can still sometimes be tweaked and updated to be wonderful on the consoles of today. Case in point – New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
For this entry into the venerable Mario franchise, the series has been converted from the 3D version we've gotten used to seeing on home consoles (save the Paper Mario series) back to a 2D side-scroller (Super Mario Galaxy 2, which is scheduled to be released next year, is going to be 3D). It's a change that.jpg "New Super Mario Bros. Wii")
hearkens back to Mario's early days (and the New Super Mario Bros. for DS, which though it has a similar name to this game, isn't the same). It also lends an air of nostalgia to the game. The fact that worlds are labeled old-school style with the traditional 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc. only further enhances the nostalgic effect.
Make no mistake however, this is not the same Super Mario Bros. that was originally released on the NES. Levels still end with jumping on a flag and heading into a castle, and the set-up of some levels may look similar, but it is not the same game. Where it was possible to breeze through Super Mario Bros. (and even Super Mario Bros. 3 if one used a flute or two) in a single sitting, New Super Mario Bros. Wii will take far, far more time and be far, far more difficult. It is, however, time well spent.
Following in the footsteps of the latter 2D Mario games, this one features maps of the various worlds Mario visits, as.jpg "New Super Mario Bros. Wii")
well as, occasionally, the opportunity to choose which level within a world one will visit (multiple paths sometimes exist). As the game is so enjoyable though, the odds are that anyone playing will want to visit every single level available for play.
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