A long time ago when Tina and I started dating she told me about a hacked Super Mario Bros. game she played with her cousins back in Taiwan. Apparently, it was modified so that two players could play at the same time. Ever since she told me about that, I longed for a version of Super Mario Bros. that we could play together. That wait has finally ended.
Let me clarify that this is not a remake of a previous version of Super Mario Bros., not even the recent New Super Mario Bros. for the DS. This is an original game based on the gameplay of the old school games that we loved for so many years before 3D became the standard and everyone started doing things from the 1st person (more or less) perspective.
Since everyone has played the original Super Mario Bros., I'm not going to go into too much detail on the basic gameplay. It's still the same. Side view. Run, jump, stomp enemies, hit coin bricks, and hop as high as you can to the flagpole at the end (hitting the top gives you a 1UP).
The most important difference of course is that you can play up to 4 player cooperative (local only). Player 1 always has to be Mario. The other folks can pick from Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad (the mushroom guys). Why they force P1 to be Mario and why they didn't include more characters to choose from, I don't know. It's not a big deal, but it does leave me scratching my head.
The game will ask you how many players to start, but you can also add and remove players at any time between levels on the map screen. The game is played with the WiiMote sideways "NES" style. Motion controls are unused other than shaking to pick up something or to do that silly spin move (also, on some levels you can also control moving platforms with tilting).
While this game is designed as cooperative, you can wreak havoc on your friends intentionally or not throughout the game. Characters cannot pass through each other, so a person might block your path to safety or step on your head as you try to jump a chasm. You can also pick each other up and throw each other at will. This provides many helpful and harmful opportunities depending on who you are playing with. I love picking Tina up to help her across a difficult jump or to hit the top of the flag simultaneously.
Also keep in mind that while the screen zooms out to some extent as you separate, a player that drops too far off screen will die instantly.
When a player dies with lives left, he will respawn in a bubble and float towards another player. The bubble can be popped by players and enemies alike. Hopefully not while standing directly above a lava pit. As long as there is one active player, the level does not start over. This actually makes coop very helpful. Players can also choose to go into bubble mode at any time without costing a life which is nice if a person is having a really tough time in a particular section of a level.
Coin collection is pooled and when 100 coins are attained, all players get an extra life (even someone who was temporarily out of the game due to losing all lives).
There are also three star coins on each stage which provide an additional optional challenge to find and collect. We played through the game once quickly and are now on our way to collecting all the coins in each world. It's really quite fun to find them and figure out how to get them. Although they aren't 100% necessary, there is definitely some good motivation to collect them.
Aside from the coop, there are also a couple new suits. There is the helicopter suit which allows the player to jet into the air, even during a jump. And there is the penguin suit which allows for belly sliding across ramps and superior control on ice and in water.
Yoshi can be found on specific levels and he doesn't carry over once you pass the stage. He's a lot of fun - able to hover in the air and eat enemies (and poop out items once you eat enough).
In addition to the regular stages, of which there are plenty, there are bonus stages for items and lives as well as challenge areas that have you scrambling to collect mushrooms while avoiding some area-specific obstacles. Also, if you are playing single player there are stages with a hostage toad that you can try to bring to safety for extra lives.
Summary:This game is excellent. On it's own as a standard single-player Mario game, this game is already a 9.25. As a coop game you can play with friends, this game is a
9.75. Easily the most fun we've had playing anything in 2009. And we're still playing it in 2010. And plan to play it for a long time to come. A
must have if you are a fan of coop and old-school SMB gameplay.
I give this game the CoopGamer.com
GAME OF THE YEAR award for 2009.
