Hero-of-Time Posted October 23, 2009 Posted October 23, 2009 This months ONM has Mario with the propeller hat on the cover, im looking at it now.
Dante Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Your Questions Answered! The new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine hits the shelves today and it's the only place where you can read a review of New Super Mario Bros. Wii! ONM's Chris Scullion completed the game for the review and in his blog last week, he asked ONM readers and followers of GoNintendo if they had any questions they'd like answered about the game. The response was huge. So huge, in fact, we've had to split the Q&A into three parts! So if you want to find out more details about the most eagerly anticipated game of the year, read on. Look out for part two tomorrow and part three on Sunday. I'd like to know whether there are any modes apart from the main game, such as mini-games... There are three modes. The main game itself (which can be played on either single-player or multiplayer modes), Free For All Mode and Coin Battle mode. If playing with only two players, can you play as Toad? Player two can play as Toad but Player one will always be Mario. Any other players who join can choose from Luigi or one of the two Toads. Is there any playable characters other than Mario, Luigi and the two Toads? I was kind of hoping for a wide variety. No. Are the power-ups awesome and are there more than those we already know about? They are indeed awesome (especially the Penguin and Propeller suits), but there aren't any more than the ones we already know about. The Penguin suit's awesome because you can throw ice, you can slide on your belly and, if you fall into water while wearing it, you can control the direction you swim in with the D-Pad just like the Frog Suit in Super Mario Bros 3. There seems to be a lot of hubbub about the game being multiplayer for four people, but is it worth buying it to play on my own? Absolutely. The first thing I did before playing it in multiplayer was play through the whole game on my own, and it was extremely challenging. Although the levels are the same regardless of how many you play with, it really does feel like two different games when playing in single and multiplayer. Are there any multiplayer battle modes? If so, what is the objective of it? Is it like the DS VS. mode? There's Free For All mode and Coin Battle mode. Free For All mode lets you choose any of the levels you've already completed in the main game and you can play with 2-4 players. The player with the highest score at the end is the winner. Coin Battle mode is similar, except you're competing to collect the most coins. Star Coins count as 10. There are a few levels unique to Coin Battle, one of which is reminiscent of the original Mario Bros. and World 1-2 in Super Mario Bros. Did you find the game difficult? If so, did you end up using the Super Guide and how often did you use it? I never had to use the Super Guide, but bear in mind that I've been playing Mario games since I was three and have played the original Super Mario Bros. at least once a week for the past 23 years. I can blitz through Super Mario World with no problems nowadays, yet I still found this very tough at times, so that should give you an indication. Does it have any form of Wi-Fi? No. What are the themes of each world? I can't spoil too many, but World 1 is the normal grassy overworld, World 2 is a desert world, World 3 is a snow world. You will have seen a forest level too in recent screens but I don't want to reveal too many details or I'll lose my job. And it's a nice job! Would you say it's easier or harder than past Mario Bros. games? I'd say it's easier than the end of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Lost Levels, and much harder than Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario. Bros. on DS. I'd put it on a par with Super Mario World. Also how long do think it will take before you would start to get bored of it? I can't guess because I'm not bored of it yet. Are the visuals anything to shout about? Absolutely. People have already commented on my review, wondering why I said it "looks and sounds fantastic". You really have to see this game in action (and I'm not just talking internet videos) before you can appreciate all the tiny details like facial expressions and flowers wafting as Mario runs by them. There are loads of really subtle things that make it clear how much work has gone into the game. When Mario stands on a platform that rotates, instead of him rotating with it he stays upright and his knees bend more as the slope gets steeper, as if he's trying to keep his footing. Little things like that look great in motion. How many hours will it take to finish for a person who is fairly decent at platformers? It took me around six hours to complete, but that was blitzing through it and not collecting the Star Coins. That will easily add another seven or eight hours to the proceedings, because you'll obviously have to play through most of the levels again and some of the coins are in really awkward positions this time. What did you think to seeing Bowser Jr and the Koopa Kids together in the same game? Did you think Bowser Jr's new mini Koopa Clown car makes him cooler? I think he looks epic in it! I can't really talk about that much because it's near the end of the game and I don't want to give away any spoilers but seeing as you know about it, I can say that it's certainly one of the more memorable boss battles because it features a different control mechanic. Are there 80 levels? Do the levels vary? I counted 74 stages. The levels do vary but they're themed by world like in Super Mario Bros. 3. Can you continue to ride Yoshi after you've completed a level? Frustratingly, no you can't. When you finish a level with Yoshi, Mario jumps off and Yoshi waves at him as he runs away. This means you can only play as Yoshi on the handful of Yoshi levels in the game, which is a shame. What's the soundtrack like? I love it. It's a mixture of remixed New Super Mario Bros DS tracks, some old-school SMB and SMB3 tracks and some new stuff. The new track for the first underwater stage is one of the best tracks I've heard in a modern Mario game. It's right up there with some of the Galaxy stuff. Loved it. Does riding on Yoshi add the cool drums in the background like in Super Mario World? Yes! Will multiplayer feature computer-controller characters? Nope. Humans only I'm afraid. My personal favourite part of the DS version was the mushroom platform levels. Do they return? I'm not sure which you mean. If you mean the ones where the platforms are flat and they're on tall mushroom-shaped bases, then yes. I would really like to see the original Super Mario Bros. tunes return to this game, as I love them and would love to hum along to the tunes like I used to! Please tell me there are because that was one of the biggest let-downs (for me) of the DS version. There's some old stuff in there. The main Super Mario Bros. theme plays in the Mushroom Houses dotted throughout the maps, and there are a few Super Mario Bros. 3 themes in there too. Is there any sort of storyline at all? Yup, but it's fairly basic as is usually the case in Mario games. It's Peach's birthday, and everyone's having a party at Peach's Castle. Suddenly a huge cake turns up and Bowser Jr and the Koopa Kids burst out and kidnap her, chucking her into an airship. So Mario and his mates give chase. Do any of the first items like the Mega Mushroom and stuff return? I hope so! The Mega Mushroom isn't in it, but the Mini Mushroom's back. It only gets used in one or two stages though. What is your favourite power up? I like the propeller suit, because being able to just do huge spin jumps whenever you want is awesome! GamesMaster said that multiplayer can be annoying when you wreck each other's attempts. Is this true? It's all down to personal taste really. It certainly does feel like a different game in multiplayer because you all have to work together to get through the level. A simple jump along platforms would take seconds in single player but it's surprising how much you have to work together to manage it with four players. It sounds frustrating but it's actually a fun challenge and feels really rewarding when you manage it. Does the "shake the Remote for a spin jump" thing work well? It does actually. It's fairly sensitive so you don't need to shake it really hard to trigger it. Are the bosses more challenging? The initial ones are fairly simple but there are some real nightmares near the end of the game. Does it have that map screen to choose what level you want to play? Yup. A few of them are more interesting than those in New Super Mario Bros. DS too. Whereas they were mostly flat maps, the ones in New Super Mario Bros. Wii go left, right, up, down... some have you climbing mountains for example. It's almost a mix of Super Mario Bros. 3 (a different map for each world) and Super Mario World (maps that see you climbing, swimming etc). Is the game longer than the DS version? Slightly, yes. It's much harder though, so it will take you longer to play through. Are either Petey Piranha or Dry Bowser bosses in the game? No and no. Does it ever feel like you're being duped into buying a slightly shinier DS game, or does it manage to pull off Four Swords' trick of creating an entirely new gaming experience? There's no trick here. While the engine may be similar to that of the DS game, there's no doubt this is a completely new game. It's the equivalent of The Lost Levels to the original Super Mario Bros., albeit with much better graphics. That's all for today. Come back tomorrow for part two.
Ronnie Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 All sounds good. I like the comment about the maps being less linear than in the DS New Mario Bros. Anything that is reminiscent of SM World is a good thing in my book.
S.C.G Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 I love the cover quote... "Come fly with Mario in the game of the year!" Lolol, I know they are only trying to drum up hype for it but c'mon! GOTY? hell no... Wii GOTY maybe but not overall I'll still enjoy it for the decent game it's sure to be though.
flameboy Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Well my subscription copy of EDGE turned up this morning and yes they gave it a 7/10 and to be fair their review is pretty well fair.
Ronnie Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 EDGE reviews usually are. In my opinion the most trust-worthy reviews around.
yesteryeargames Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 edge also game metroid prime trilogy 8/10 , mario kart 6/10 wtf lol!!! nuff said, edge are pc and xbox fanboys
flameboy Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 (edited) edge also game metroid prime trilogy 8/10 , mario kart 6/10 wtf lol!!! nuff said, edge are pc and xbox fanboys They really aren't at all...they've given nintendo games excellent scores in the past..and given a glut of recent sony games great scores to...People put way to much emphasis on the scores and label publications biased far to quickly, EDGE's reviews are some of the best written in the industry Edited October 24, 2009 by flameboy
S.C.G Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 So if Edge gave this 7/10 and ONM effectively gave it 10/10 - 96% is basically the same thing - then that in theory should mean it's an 8.5 game, because Edge while 'consistent' are also harsh and ONM will overhype anything that's made by the Big N because they are effectively 'told' what scores to give for stuff like that. Sounds like it's going to be a really enjoyable game then as long as people don't go into it expecting platforming on the same level as Super Mario World then I don't see what the problem is.
Ronnie Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 edge also game metroid prime trilogy 8/10 , mario kart 6/10 wtf lol!!! nuff said, edge are pc and xbox fanboys Mario Kart Wii wasn't that great, the difficulty, rubber-banding and dumbing down of the franchise were big negatives. Althout 6 is still a bit harsh.
LostOverThere Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Like Emasher said, Edge reviews titles on a 1-10 scale, not the usual 5-10 scale you see from most reviewers today. I mean, they gave The Conduit 4/10, whereas most critics gave it around a 7.
Lens of Truth Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 On a scale where Halo 3 deserves a perfect 10, anything goes.
tissuetown Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 On a scale where Halo 3 deserves a perfect 10, anything goes. In an Edge magazine, 10 isn't a perfect score.
yesteryeargames Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Mario Kart Wii wasn't that great, the difficulty, rubber-banding and dumbing down of the franchise were big negatives. Althout 6 is still a bit harsh. mario kart wii was excellent , multiplayer is timeless fun, it should be worth 9 alone for the multiplayer, i agree its not the best in the series but 6/10 is a joke, thats why i dont trust the mario wii score, anyway ill let you know how good new super mario wii is next week
Emasher Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 I love the cover quote... "Come fly with Mario in the game of the year!" Lolol, I know they are only trying to drum up hype for it but c'mon! GOTY? hell no... Wii GOTY maybe but not overall I'll still enjoy it for the decent game it's sure to be though. If ONM is anything like Nintendo Power, when they say Game of the Year, they mean Nintendo Game of the Year. Although, I can also see this being nominated for Platformer of the Year by many publications.
Dante Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Edge Magazine: Though his plumbing skills are rarely tested, Mario has often shown himself to be an expert architect. The games in both 2D and 3D are exemplars of pinpoint platforming, worlds constructed to lock perfectly with the parabola of each jump, the traction and momentum of Italian shoes. But there's something else, too - a rare joie de vivre - found in Mario's effusive yelps, in the irrepressible jollity of the world and, most of all, in the constant, enthusiastic invention. To put it more colloquially, Mario at his best has magic. And it's missing from NSMB Wii. Your Questions Answered Part 2! Does the game feel like a classic Mario game? And are there moments in the game where you think "this feels oddly familiar"?While the feel and physics feel more like a DS game, there are loads of nods to Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World that make it feel very familiar and old-school. Can the Classic Controller be used to play this game? No. Is there a feature where you can take snapshots? No. Is the DS version compatible with it in a way that it might unlock a new feature, level or item? No. Is the game Nunchuk compatible? I hate the D-pad. No. What's the Super Guide like? It's decent. Fail eight times and a green block appears at the start of a level. Hit the block and you'll be asked if you want to use the Super Guide. If you choose "Okay" Luigi will appear and play the level for you, without collecting any Star Coins or anything like that. You can then jump in and take over whenever you want. There's no need to get annoyed about the Super Guide as if you're good enough to get by without it you don't need to use it. It's only really for people who need help. Are there any other new power-ups other than the Helicopter and Penguin suit? Nope, other than the Ice Flower. Any Mini games? There are three different kinds of Mushroom houses. The red ones let you play a 'match two cards' game similar to the one in Super Mario Bros. 3. Yellow ones have Toad giving you a Starman from a treasure chest. Finally, the green ones have you trying to win 1-ups by jumping in a cannon and firing it to hit as many balloons as possible. In terms of there being mini-games similar to the ones you played Super Mario 64 DS though, there's nothing like that. Are there any features/secrets/surprises that we don't know about? Absolutely. One in particular is fantastic but I can't spoil it. Experts will appreciate it though. Are there new world themes such as a space world? A Galaxy level!? Nothing in space, nope. Are there any duck-like enemies? If you mean the Cataquacks in Super Mario Sunshine that toss you up into the air, nope. You know at the end of levels in the DS version, sometimes you get fireworks because you finished with a certain time and then mushroom house things showed up? Will this be included in the Wii one? There are certainly fireworks, though I'm not entirely sure how to trigger them this time around. In the DS version they had changeable backgrounds that you could buy with the Star Coins. Will this be included? No. Two reasons for this: firstly, those backgrounds were for the bottom screen and obviously a TV doesn't have a bottom screen; and secondly because the Star Coins are used for something far more important this time. Are the worlds and levels similar/identical to the DS version? No. These are completely new levels. There isn't a single one of these 74 levels that you've played before. Can you play as Luigi in single-player mode? No. How many blocks does the save file use? I don't know. I was playing the final review version on a debug Wii that I couldn't use to see how many blocks a save was. I'd guess only one or two blocks though since it's literally just what world you're at and how many lives/Star Coins you have. Can you confirm that the game runs in 480p/16:9 widescreen? Absolutely. Is King Boo a boss? No. In the new trailer, you see Mario in a new suit which allows him to freeze enemies. Is this ability still available for the penguin suit, or has it been replaced? It's still in the penguin suit. It's odd; I'm not really sure why the Ice Flower's in there when the Penguin Suit already does the job. I suppose the angle they throw their ice balls is slightly different, but even so, the difference is negligible. Is the multiplayer function available throughout the storyline? It would be so cool for you and your best mate to be side-by-side when defeating Bowser Yes, the main game is fully playable for up to four players and players can drop in and drop out at any time throughout. Some bloggers said it's as hard as Contra (With just one player). Is this statement true? And what "hard" game would you compare it to? It's wrong to compare it to Contra because they're both completely different types of game. Contra is designed to let you die multiple times in a level before you have to start the level over again, so it's made ridiculously difficult because it expects you to at least take a couple of hits. Mario games aren't like that: it's not like a Mario game has ever fired hundreds of Bullet Bills at you from many different directions in one go. I'd say it was easier than Contra, for the simple fact that if it was as hard as Contra then it wouldn't be fun for 95% of the gaming population. Only the hardest of the hardcore who thrive on near-impossible challenges would enjoy it. That's not really what Mario is about. As a Mario game though, compared to the rest of the series, I'd say only Lost Levels and World 8 of Mario 3 are harder. How long will it take to beat the game with one person playing and are there any worthwhile unlockables to go replay the levels again? I personally didn't find the reward of collecting all of the Star Coins to be worth it. Well, trust me, it'll be worth it this time. Are 1-Ups as plentiful as they were in New Super Mario Bros.? It was SO easy to get extra lives and it felt like there was no penalty for dying. At first there are a lot of 1-ups. However, when the game starts getting trickier, the number of 1-Ups available start to decrease. It gets to the point that you're genuinely happy to see a green Mushroom House because there's a good chance of you getting up to 5 extra lives, which you're likely to lose fairly quickly in the later worlds. How does the variety of enemies compare to New Super Mario Bros. DS? It's similar but there are a lot more new and returning faces. Spike is back from Super Mario Bros. 3 (the tiny green lad who chucks spiked balls at you), and features in quite a lot of levels. Lakitu's obviously back too, and I was happy that when you jump into his cloud it goes MUCH faster than it did before and it's no longer a chore trying to get around in it. Is the pause when character dies gone? No, the pause is still there. However, it's nowhere near as bad as people are making it out to be in my opinion. It's understandable that when watching the videos it seems like it would be annoying, but when playing it's actually useful. It only takes one or two occurrences of it to get used to the timing, and from that point on it becomes handy for two reasons: it lets you know what's going on elsewhere on the screen without you having to take your eyes off your own action, and it gives you a split second to plan your next move. Once you get the timing right, it doesn't throw you off your stride, as many are assuming it will. Say you were running and about to jump when someone takes a hit: if this happens it's perfectly easy to still do the jump as the action resumes since the timing is very easy to learn. The knee-jerk reaction from the internet is that it's a bad, even game-breaking feature, but it's actually the opposite. How is the World progression in this game? Is it like New Super Mario Bros., where it's got split-paths at two point in the game? Or is it like Super Mario Bros. 3, where you just play all eight worlds without skipping any if you don't use warp zones? It's like Mario 3. There's no more Mini Mushroom nonsense like there was in New Super Mario Bros. on DS, where many people never got to see two of the game's worlds. It simply goes 1, 2, 3, 4 etc, unless you find a warp cannon of course. Are the Koopalings referred to in-game as Bowser's children or are they mere henchmen? They're never really referred to because it's a Mario game. Nobody really gives long speeches in a non-RPG Mario game, so they just turn up and go "hey" or "graaagh", then you fight them and they jump away again. Which, to be fair, is what I'd hope for in a Mario game. The one thing that annoyed me about Super Paper Mario was the dialogue. While it was really funny, it was also immensely annoying due to its length. I'm glad this sticks to the Mario platformer tradition of short intros and tiny cut-scenes after each world. How varied are the boss battles, not including the last ones? The general idea is the same (jump on a Koopa Kid's head three times), but there's still a good variety in the boss battles. Are there boss battles that become harder while in multiplayer mode? I've seen that, while in multiplayer, some things become easier while others become harder, and the boss battles I've seen so far have become easier. Thus the curiosity. It really comes down to the level itself. Some of the earlier ones are easier with more players because they're more or less on one long, flat platform. As the game progresses and the bosses (and, more importantly, their environments) get more difficult to deal with, those players that were a help in the earlier boss battles can now get in the way and you'll have to work together to stay alive, especially in battles where there are only a few small platforms you can stand on without falling to your doom. Is the soundtrack varied and of good quality? We did hear some different tracks, but most of them had that "waah waaaah" sound in the mix, which could be annoying to some. I didn't like the "waah waah" in the DS game but it's grown on me this time. It's odd, I wasn't a huge fan of the DS music in general but when I hear it again in this (the main theme is used in some overworld levels and a remixed, banjo version of it plays during harder overworld levels) I find myself whistling away to it. There's also new music (like the aforementioned awesome underwater music) and some old Mario themes too. Overall it's a great soundtrack and there are only a couple of tracks I didn't like (the desert stuff, for example). That's all for today. Come back tomorrow for part three.
tissuetown Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 mario kart wii was excellent , multiplayer is timeless fun, it should be worth 9 alone for the multiplayer, i agree its not the best in the series but 6/10 is a joke, thats why i dont trust the mario wii score, anyway ill let you know how good new super mario wii is next week Why bother even looking at reviews? A lot of people would agree about Mario Kart Wii's issues regarding the rubber-banding and complete lack of balance. It's mindless fun in the same way Transformers is mindless fun. By the looks of things, the only magazine you would ever be prepared to trust is an official or unofficial Nintendo Magazine, as they will more than likely give out scores you will be happier with.
Serebii Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 I don't trust reviews. I know how easily they're influenced by external sources both positively and negatively
Retro_Link Posted October 24, 2009 Author Posted October 24, 2009 Is the game Nunchuk compatible? I hate the D-pad.No. We just heard it was on the previous page!!?
Hero-of-Time Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 I don't trust reviews. I know how easily they're influenced by external sources both positively and negatively Well said! Most of the time I know what games im gonna buy no matter what the reviews say, the times that im not sure I usually read impressions of gamers from various forums. I dont get why people take review scores so personally. Edge no doubt ripped apart Kingdom Hearts on the DS. Do I care? Not at all, im loving the game and thats all that matters.
yesteryeargames Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 (edited) edge are anal ,shooter fan boys its a fact, mario kart wii is a classic, the person who wrote the review must be a billy no mates and just played the single player,which is worth more than 6 alone! i know the score doesnt matter the games are great fun, i will review edge i give them 5/10 anyway cant wait for this to come out Edited October 24, 2009 by yesteryeargames
Falcon_BlizZACK Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Lets hope and pray Sega do similar with their next Sonic game. Classic, side-scrolling, with mind boggling loops and those little appreciated details seen in this game.
Hero-of-Time Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 Lets hope and pray Sega do similar with their next Sonic game. Classic, side-scrolling, with mind boggling loops and those little appreciated details seen in this game. Nah, it makes too much sense. A new game will come out where Robotnik is still Eggman, Sonic still runs around a world full of humans and a new character called Fudge is introduced.
mcj metroid Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 dudes its edge.... they rate much harder and did you really think this game was worth a 9 anyway? come off it.
Hero-of-Time Posted October 24, 2009 Posted October 24, 2009 dudes its edge.... they rate much harder and did you really think this game was worth a 9 anyway? come off it. Who knows? I dont think any of us on here have played it yet.
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