I just came to a terrible realization: I don’t really like Mario games… that much… I know, I know, I hate myself too. You see, Mario’s been like a father to me!
I remember reading the Super Mario Comics, watching the cartoons and even enjoying the live action movie as a kid, but I also remember sucking hard at the Mario Games. More often than not I’d get killed by the second goomba in level 1-1. I’d have a blast watching my brothers and friends play through the games over and over again, but it wasn’t fun enough for me to develop the hand-eye coordination required. When I was by myself I’d rather play Duck Hunt.
Still, when I heard of New Super Mario Bros. Wii I couldn’t resist it. I made myself believe I’d have a blast playing with the kids and bought is as soon as I could.
The game packs insane amounts of nostalgia, which makes it a lot more fun when you’re just watching. They took elements from all previous “true” Mario games and mixed them in perfect harmony, carefully shifting the influence towards the most popular titles while still feeling like a separate entry in the series. Level design is absolutely delightful. Control-wise the game feels very tight. My wife, who is a hardcore 2D Mario gamer, kept complaining they felt awkward at first but she eventually got used to them and proceeded to kick ass. Music was pretty good but I don’t find myself whistling any of the tunes like I still do with the classics.
I had lots of fun the first few weeks when I played with the wife. It was easier for me than the average Mario game and she was still getting used to the controls. On the other hand, playing with the kids was a pain as this is their first true Mario game; multiplayer requires a lot of patience although they did take some measures to avoid the weakest link slowing down the team. Eventually I was too slow to play with the missus and too fast to play with the offspring, but that’s ok because by then I was already tired of the game altogether. They all still play occasionally, so I guess it does have some replay value.
In retrospective, what I believe happened was that Nintendo was successful in turning Mario into a game selling machine for our generation, and that didn’t have much to do with the games he starred. So if you really love 2D Mario games, this might be the game for you. If you love Mario (search your feelings, hey may not be your father) maybe you should rent or borrow first, better yet, drop by a friend’s and get some multiplayer on.
No comments:
Post a Comment