Super Mario Bros. Goes Multiplayer on the Wii

By Geoff Duncan Published November 16, 2009

Nintendo owns some of the best-known gaming franchises on the planet, and today the company has launched New Super Mario Bros. Wii for its popular Nintendo Wii gaming console…and the title amplifies the franchise’s madcap fun by enabling up to four people to play at the same time, whether in cooperative or competitive modes.

“As the holiday season draws near, it feels especially appropriate to offer consumers a new Mario adventure that they can enjoy together with family and friends,” said Nintendo of America executive VP of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway, in a statement. “New Super Mario Bros. Wii has something special for everyone, and lets players of all abilities explore the imaginative world of the Mushroom Kingdom like never before.”

New Super Mario Bros. Wii (box) — Image used with permission by copyright holder

New Super Mario Bros. Wii adapts the classic side-scrolling game that first appeared in arcades and on the Nintendo NES to the improved capabilities of the Wii, and packs a bundle of new features as well as multiplayer options. Players can take on the roles of Mario, Luigi, or two Toad characters and start the game at any level in Story mode; the game also features a Free For All Mode and Coin Battle mode that enable players to pick their favorite game stage and race against each other for objectives. Players can help each other out…or active try to prevent competitors from winning. The game also leverages the Wii’s motion controller to enable users to control tiling platforms or fly Mario around in a new Propeller Suit.

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The game also features a new Penguin Mario that can toss snowballs and dive into speedy belly slides, and players can hop on a new Yoshi character that can use its tongue to eat enemies, grab powerups, and squelch fireballs.

For anyone new to the Mario franchise—or, um, parents—New Super Mario Bros. Wii also offers an in-game guide that lets players see game tips if they get stuck at particular points in the game by following Luigi through any stage—players can even take control of Luigi during the stage to complete it.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is playable in English, Spanish, and French, and is rated E for “Everyone” by the ESRB. It’s available now for a suggested retail price of $49.99.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

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