New Super Mario Bros. 2

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Wireless)

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Review:

New Super Mario Bros. 2, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2012, is technically the third game in the New Super Mario Bros. series, after the original game on Nintendo DS and New Super Mario Bros. Wii on Wii. Like those games, this is a fairly straightforward 2D Platformer that hearkens back to Mario’s roots while modernizing the presentation.

That presentation will seem fairly familiar to anyone who has played any of the New Super Mario Bros. games, as they all bear a similar look, making use of 3D visuals for the characters and a mix of 2D and 3D elements for backgrounds. It’s appealing, colorful, polished, but far from anything impressive. Additionally, this game features a bouncy soundtrack that’s pretty typical for Mario fare – it’s good, but nothing truly as memorable as Mario’s greatest adventures.

In terms of gameplay, New Super Mario Bros. 2’s theme is coin collecting – this game’s levels are stuffed with coins, as well as various ways to increase your growing collection of coins. It’s a gameplay element that really shouldn’t change much, yet I actually find it does make things more enjoyable, and I think on some level Nintendo realizes this, as you can see some similar elements worked into the mobile game Super Mario Run. There’s even a game mode here built around this element, Coin Rush, that challenges players to collect as many as they can in a limited time. This is a fun addition that should add some great replay value to this game.

Beyond that though, this is pretty standard fare for a 2D Mario game. It’s well-crafted, with good level design, and the core gameplay is outstanding, but the New Super Mario Bros. series suffers a bit too much from its cookie-cutter approach that casts a “been there, done that” shadow over the whole affair. Make no mistake, this is a fantastic Platformer, but there’s nothing here that’s going to blow anyone away.

Still, if you’re looking for 2D Mario action on the Nintendo 3DS, New Super Mario Bros. 2 is exactly what you’re looking for. It may not revolutionize the genre, but it is an impeccably well-crafted entry in the genre, and a great all-around Mario game. This is an excellent addition to your Nintendo 3DS game library.

tl;dr – New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a Platformer with a gimmick of coin collecting that doesn’t revolutionize anything, but it’s fun nonetheless. Beyond that, this is pretty typical 2D Mario Platforming stuff, which is to say it’s very polished and well-crafted, even if it’s not one of Mario’s more impressive games. It’s definitely well worth playing though, even if it’s a familiar experience.

Grade: B+

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