New Super Mario Bros. Wii

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII

Today, let's cover New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the second game in the "New" series and the first console version of the series. The game saw Mario, Luigi, and two Toads (named Buckenberry and Alagold respectively) journey through various Mario series levels in order to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser, Bowser Jr., the Koopalings, and Kamek, all working together to stop the heroes. The game is a pretty basic Mario game, not bringing much new to the table, but being just generally pretty solid overall.

We'll start off with our four playable characters: Mario, Luigi, Buckenberry, and Alagold. Buck and Al are really just "the blue and yellow Toads" so they won't be their own characters per se, simply adding to Toad's potential moveset. All four characters play pretty much the same, with the basic run and jump mechanics, and the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman returning. The Mini Mushroom also returns, alongside an Ice Flower that allows them to throw ice balls instead of fire balls, a Propeller Hat that lets them fly into the air, and a Penguin Suit that lets them slide on their belly across icy surfaces. POW Block, Yoshis, Koopa Shells, and Klown Kars can all also be used for various means as well.

As for Peach, she doesn't do much, once again acting as the damsel in distress for the full game. Toad himself (the red one) acts in a support role, delivering letters and items to Mario and his companions at various points. Finally, we have Yoshi who returns, allowing Mario etc. to ride him as he runs faster, flutter jumps, eats enemies and fruit, and spits fireballs from his mouth.

Our villains are basically a who's who of all the main Koopa villains of the series, with Bowser, Bowser Jr., the Koopalings, and Kamek all acting as bosses at various points. Bowser starts his by breathing fireballs and jumping while standing on a bridge, his classic appearance, before being enlarged by Kamek to gargantuan size and charging after Mario across a course. Bowser Jr. appears a few times, flying around in an airship and in a Klown Kar when in his actual boss fight, breathing fireballs and firing off cannonballs that double as bombs. Kamek appears at the beginning of most of the Koopalings' final battles, casting a spell to amp up their battle in some way while flying on his broom. In his own boss battle, he will teleport and cast spells to turn items into enemies, much like the general Magikoopa abilities. Also props to Kamek for finally making an appearance in this series.

Each Koopaling appears in two boss battles, one mid-world and one at the end of the world, the second being enhanced by Kamek. They all will tuck into their shells and spin around when hit. From there, they will all have their one specific thing. Larry will jump around and throw fire spells, Roy will also throw spells and travel around through pipes, Lemmy will ride a ball and create more balls, Wendy will create a magical ring, Iggy will be pulled around a track by a Chain Chomp, Morton will ground pound and send up Spike Bars, and Ludwig will jump and float in the air to cast spells from above.

As for our enemy characters, we have several returning, including: Goombas, Koopas, Piranha Plants (who display the ability to walk around on little feet, extend their neck, and use Ptooie), Hammer Bros (including Boomerang, Fire, Sledge, and new Ice variants), Dry Bones, Cheep Cheeps (with Spiny variants), Deep Cheeps, Clampies, Spikes (including Snow and Stone variants), Spinies, Spike Tops, Fire Snakes, Pokeys, Lakitus, Boos, Bloopers, Wet Bones, Mechakoopas, Wigglers, Flame Chomps, Swoops, Chain Chomps, Buzzy Beetles, Monty Moles, Rocky Wrenches, Fuzzies, Broozers, Para-Beetles, and Crowbers. All act fairly similar to their classical appearances with a few slight variations.

Our new enemies include Urchins, who float in the water; Cooligans, who slide around on ice; Porcupuffers, who chase you around; Huckit Crabs, who throw rocks; Scaredy Rats, who just walk around; Bramballs, who flip themselves over; Foos, who breathe out fog; Bulbers, who light up the dark ocean; and Jellybeams, who float around. Not much new brought to the table.

Much like its previous game, the game is split into eight worlds, being a Grassland, Desert, Snowland, Beach, Jungle, Mountain, Sky, and Lava Land respectively, with Ghost Houses, towers, and castles scattered throughout, and a special 9th world added at the very end, with various random stage types included.

As for items, of course we have the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Starman, and Life Mushroom returning, alongside the Mini Mushroom, the Propeller Hat, the Penguin Suit, and the Ice Flower added on top of them, with things like Koopa Shells and Klown Kars added on top.

Let's see what we've got!

Characters:
Mario: run, jump, fireballs, invincibility, get mini, grow gigantic, Koopa shell armor, ice balls, penguin suit, propeller hat
Luigi: run, jump, fireballs, invincibility, get mini, grow gigantic, Koopa shell armor, ice balls, penguin suit, propeller hat
Toad: run, jump, fireballs, invincibility, get mini, ice balls, penguin suit, propeller hat, give items
Princess Peach: not much
Yoshi: run, flutter jump, eat enemies and fruit, breathe fire
Toadsworth: give items, cast spells
Bowser: jump, breathe fire, charge, blue fireball, fan of fire, grow gigantic
Dry Bowser: jump, breathe fire, charge, throw bones
Bowser Jr.: grab, charge, tuck in shell, jump, throw Koopa shells, ride Klown Kar, Airship, breathe fire, fire cannonbombs
Larry: tuck in shell, jump, cast spell
Roy: cast spells, tuck in shell, pipes
Lemmy: ride ball, create balls
Wendy: create ring, jump, tuck in shell
Iggy: cast spells, pulled by Chain Chomp
Morton: slam down, spike balls, tuck in shell
Ludwig: float, jump, cast spells
Kamek: cast magic, broomstick, teleport, cast transformation spells
Petey Piranha: fly, hop, divebomb
Goomba: walk forward, fly
Koopa: walk, tuck in shell, fly
Piranha Plant: rise, chomp, breathe fire, extend neck, walk around, ptooie
Dry Bones: walk, fall apart
Lakitu: float around, throw Spinies, lightning
Hammer Bro: throw hammers, boomerangs, fire, jump around, slam down, ice
Blooper: dart up
Boo: hide face, float around, puff up
Monty Mole: drive tank, fire bullet bills, throw Bob-Ombs
Tentative - Spike: cough up spikeballs, snowballs, rocks

Bosses:
Mummipokey
Cheepskipper
Mega Goomba
Monty Tank
Lakithunder

Stages:
World 1 - Grassland
World 2 - Desert
World 3 - Beach
World 4 - Jungle
World 5 - Snowland
World 6 - Mountains
World 7 - Sky
World 8 - Lava Land
Ghost House
Bowser's Castle
World 1 - Grassland
World 2 - Desert
World 3 - Snowland
World 4 - Beach
World 5 - Jungle
World 6 - Mountains
World 7 - Sky
World 8 - Lava Land

Items:
Fire Flower
Super Mushroom
Starman
Blue Shell
Mini Mushroom
Mega Mushroom
Life Mushroom
Ice Flower
Propeller Hat
Penguin Suit

Thanks for reading! Next time, we'll be covering New Super Mario Bros. 2!