Released last month as DLC to last year’s ‘New! Super Mario Bros U’ for Nintendo’s Wii U console, I’ve just purchased the month-later physical copy of the game. The add-on sees the original levels scrapped and replaced by brand new ones, with Mario replaced by a floatier Luigi and each level replaced by a shorter, more difficult, but completely new version and limited to 100 seconds on the clock.
On the surface this spin-off may seem like a shameless cash-in with the world map unchanged and secret levels missing, especially in the light of Nintendo seemingly milking their plumber as much as they can, but actually it’s quite a deep and playable piece of DLC, though it should be as it’s more expensive than your usual add-ons.
Though world one is pretty straight forward and the three star coins hidden in each level simple to find, there is a fairly steep difficulty curve as levels become much harder, but very rarely too frustrating. Finding all three star coins becomes more challenging, athletically rather than actually finding them, and a different way of playing needed becomes apparent.
Out goes the exploration of the previous games’ levels, in comes the speed-run friendly, acrobatics of a new game, utilising a floatier, jumpier Luigi who, in contradiction to other reviews, isn’t that difficult to control and for every time his jump throws you in the path of an enemy, it helps you get over a tricky obstacle. There is a certain pleasure in the game from seeing Luigi dodging over obstacles like a gymnast, trying to reach the ending before the time runs out, though in effect this rarely happens; more likely it is a well-placed enemy, trap or obstacle that will hit you.
The difficulty of the game is balanced well between losing lives and the plethora of coins and how much easier it is to land on the top of the final flagpole with Luigi, which gains you an extra life, but you’ll still find the Game Over screen appears regularly.
The game continues to work with Miiverse integration, allowing you to leave messages for players, and elements such as chasing Nabbit, mushroom houses, the relatively boring and easy bosses, and up to 4-player gaming returns, this time with the invincible Nabbit replacing Mario for younger players.
The game throws in the odd change, such as a hidden Luigi in each level (though it would be nice for the game to note if you find it by, say, touching it on the gamepad) and the removal of secret exits – which feels a missed opportunity – but mostly feels very similar, even down to the game throwing you back out of the map after each defeat, which feels like a barrier between you and the game as you find yourself dying much more regularly than in a usual game of Mario – sorry – Luigi.
With all the assets, sounds and music coming over from the original, it looks and feels very similar but for players after a much greater challenge and have exhausted the previous game, then this is a must buy, and your only decision is whether to buy it physically for £10 more so it sits on your shelf, or go for the download option (which requires you owning the main packaged game). If you didn’t enjoy the first or found that too difficult then you need to avoid this.
I thoroughly enjoy the challenge and the levels are as ingenious and tricky as Nintendo’s best.
7/10
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