I've decided to dedicate this blog to game reviews, both old and new games. My focus will primarily be on Nintendo games, not that I don't play other games, but because they are generally my favorite games to play. My first review is going to be over the newly released game: New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Nintendo 3DS.
Contrary to its name, New Super Mario Bros. 2 doesn't introduce much new to the series. Does that make it a bad game by any means? No, but those who are expecting something new are going to be disappointed. However, those who look forward to another 2D Mario game won't be disappointed at all. It's the same classic gameplay that we all know and love.
Gameplay
As with any 2D Mario game, the basic mechanics are running and jumping. You'll stomp a Goomba's head, and you'll send that Koopa spinning by kicking his shell. Of course there's fire Mario, which allows you to shoot fireballs at your enemies, burning them to a crisp. Then there's the Super Leaf which turns you into Raccoon Mario, which allows you to fly into the air after running for a few seconds just like he did in Super Mario Bros. 3. The Mini Mushroom returns, allowing Mario to shrink and go into places previously unaccesssible. The Mega Mushroom, which made its debut in 2006 in New Super Mario Bros., returns after taking a hiatus after appearing in Mario Kart Wii, and it's my favorite power up just because it transforms Mario into a giant, allowing him to wreak destruction on the game's environment.
New Super Mario Bros. 2, while not offering much in new content, does focus on something that hasn't been focused on much before. Coins. Yes they've been in the series since its debut, but they haven't been explicitly focused on like this game presents. New Super Mario Bros. 2 urges the player to collect as many coins as they can, and this is shown by the amount of coins presented in a level. There are more coins in this game than in the entire Mario series... Which is an overstatement, but it seems this way because the center of the game is on coin collection. In this game, Nintendo was nice enough to help us in our quest of coin collection by introducing the Gold Flower.
The Gold Flower
What it does is allow Mario to shoot little bursts of gold out at his surroundings. Any enemy hit by one of these will instantly die, and also grant Mario an allotted coin amount. The flower also allows you to turn certain objects into coins that you can add to your constantly growing coin collection. While not necessarily an innovative feature, it does allow players who like collecting coins to have a reason to come back to the game after finishing the main part of the game.
Coin Rush Mode
Coin rush mode is a new mode that is meant to add replayability to the game. The goal is to collect as many coins you can in as little time as possible within a certain time limit. However, from what I've played of this mode I can say that I'm not a fan of it. The levels picked for Coin Rush are not exactly levels built for speed runs, which is basically what this is. It's a speed run to obtain as many coins as possible, but due to the way some levels are designed, not all are built for this mode. Nintendo could have handled this better by making better decisions on what levels were included in Coin Rush, and maybe they will with DLC that they promise is coming.
Story
The story premise is the same as it has been for the past twenty-five years. Bowser kidnaps Peach and Mario has to save her. Just like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario has to defeat the Koopalings before he gets his chance with Bowser. When he finally does, Bowser is of course defeated and Peach is saved. It's all happily ever after until Bowser decides to Kidnap Peach again.
Music
New Super Mario Bros.2 does not have much going in the way of music. It's the same music that was used in New Super Mario Bros and New Super Mario Bros. Wii with minor altercations to it. The musical choices for the New Super Mario series are getting tiring, and I hope it's a situation that is rectified in New Super Mario Bros. U.
Overall Verdict
New Super Mario Bros. is not a bad game by any means, but it's not a great game. It's simply good. It doesn't capture the same magic that the Super Mario games of yore brought us as children. The series was magical back in 2006, but here in 2012 due to lack of innovation it's simply becoming old. This is still a good game, and it will tide you over until New Super Mario Bros. U, which I'm hoping will bring a spark back into this series, because it surely needs one. I was excited for this game, but it's just more of the same, which isn't bad, but a little spice would be nice.
8/10 Good, but not great...
