8.5 /10 20

New Super Mario Bros. Wii launched in late 2009 as Nintendo’s answer to declining Wii sales momentum. The game’s critical and commercial success exceeded expectations, delivering a fresh take on classic side-scrolling platforming through four-player simultaneous multiplayer. This marked the first mainline Mario game to emphasize cooperative gameplay rather than solo adventure. With a Metacritic score of 87, the game succeeded by respecting platforming fundamentals while introducing mechanics that leveraged the Wii Remote’s unique capabilities. This review explores what makes NSMB Wii a landmark title, how its multiplayer implementation revolutionized couch co-op gaming, and its competitive position within the Mario franchise landscape.

How to Play New Super Mario Bros. Wii

New Super Mario Bros. Wii preserves core Mario platforming while expanding the formula for cooperative play. Controls are responsive and tight, faithful to the series’ movement philosophy. The Wii Remote’s motion controls feel integral rather than gimmicky, enhancing rather than complicating the experience. Progression advances linearly through eight worlds with strategic power-up placement and hidden shortcuts rewarding exploration.

1. Controls – Hold the Wii Remote sideways like a traditional controller, or pair with a nunchuk for enhanced control options. Mario responds immediately to input with precise movement and jumping. Motion controls enable shaking for spinning attacks and jumping higher. Learning curve is steep for casual players but rewarding for those who invest time.
2. Progression – Advance through eight worlds facing escalating difficulty curves. Each world contains multiple levels with boss encounters at world’s end. Star coins hidden throughout levels unlock secret levels and challenge courses. Multiplayer sessions accumulate toward story progression cooperatively.
3. Power-Ups & Mechanics – Super Mushroom, Fire Flowers, Ice Flowers, and Blue Koopa Shells appear throughout levels. New Propeller Helmet enables brief flight sections. Yoshi returns as a rideable companion providing jump boosts and egg projectiles. Multiple power-up options create emergent gameplay situations.
4. Tips – In multiplayer, communication prevents chaos when sharing platforms. Positioning matters significantly since players can knock each other around. Learn to time jumps off Yoshi for challenging platforming sections. Collect all star coins for completionist satisfaction and post-game challenges.

Who Should Play New Super Mario Bros. Wii

NSMB Wii caters to diverse audiences despite challenging platforming mechanics. The accessibility features mean newcomers and veterans coexist comfortably in the same experience. Multiplayer flexibility enables gameplay adaptations matching skill levels. The game balances accessibility with genuine challenge that hardcore players appreciate.

• Platforming Enthusiasts – NSMB Wii delivers tight, responsive level design rivaling classic Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. The game respects player skill with challenging optional content and secret levels.
• Families and Friends – Four-player simultaneous multiplayer creates dynamic social experiences. The game accommodates varying skill levels without forcing skilled players to carry newcomers.
• Completionists – Star coins hidden throughout levels provide extended playtime goal. Unlocking world nine requires significant exploration and challenge completion. Post-game content justifies multiple playthroughs.
• Skip if – Players seeking story-driven experiences will find minimal narrative scaffolding. Those allergic to motion controls can use nunchuk attachment but lose some motion-based mechanics. Online cooperative play is unavailable, limiting remote play options.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Platform Performance

NSMB Wii runs at native Wii specifications with consistent visual presentation across gameplay and cinematics. The 2.5D rendering combines 2D character sprites with 3D environmental elements, enabling creative parallax scrolling effects. Performance remains stable at 60 FPS without noticeable drops during four-player scenarios, demonstrating excellent optimization.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii System Requirements

NSMB Wii requires only the Nintendo Wii console and at least one Wii Remote. Additional remotes enable multiplayer experiences. The nunchuk controller enhances control options but is not mandatory. Storage needs are minimal as the game ships on standard GameCube disc format.

Similar Games to New Super Mario Bros. Wii

NSMB Wii exists within a broader platforming renaissance on the Wii. Several multiplayer-focused side-scrollers attempted to capture similar magic through cooperative gameplay and level-based progression. Each offers distinct mechanics and difficulty curves, though few achieved NSMB Wii’s critical consensus or enduring player engagement.

• Donkey Kong Country Returns – Released 2010, emphasizes cooperative platforming with unique barrel-blast mechanics. Tropical themed levels offer visual variety but narrower skill audience than NSMB Wii.
• New Super Mario Bros. U – Wii U sequel that refines NSMB Wii’s formula with HD graphics, new power-ups, and challenge mode. Maintains four-player multiplayer but adds off-screen tablet player advantage.
• Kirby’s Return to Dream Land – Side-scrolling action-platformer emphasizing Kirby’s copy abilities. Four-player simultaneous multiplayer with more lenient difficulty suited to casual audiences.
• Rayman Origins – Four-player cooperative platformer with hand-drawn art style. Music-synchronized level design creates distinct identity from NSMB Wii’s mechanics-first approach.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii vs Competitors

NSMB Wii established multiplayer platforming as commercially viable on consoles where action-adventure dominance was assumed. Direct Metacritic comparison reveals NSMB Wii’s critical superiority to most contemporaneous platformers. Playtime data shows NSMB Wii’s main story completes quickly, but star coin collection extends engagement substantially, creating replayability depth exceeding listed averages.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Story and World

NSMB Wii maintains the series’ narrative simplicity: Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, Mario and companions rescue her across eight thematic worlds. The game doesn’t pretend depth beyond this framework, instead trusting gameplay to carry engagement. Visual design distinguishes each world through environmental theming: grassy plains transition to desert fortresses, underground caverns, ice kingdoms, lava castles, and sky-based sections. The sparse storytelling paradoxically strengthens replayability by avoiding cinematic pacing interruptions. Multiplayer cooperation creates emergent narratives where player interactions matter more than scripted plot points.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Multiplayer and Online

Four-player simultaneous multiplayer represents NSMB Wii’s defining innovation. Unlike most platformers where multiplayer meant turn-based level rotation, NSMB Wii enables all players to occupy the same screen simultaneously, creating cooperative and competitive dynamics. Jumping on teammates, stealing items, and racing for power-ups generate natural social interaction. Unfortunately, no online functionality exists, restricting multiplayer to local couch experiences only.

• Story Mode Co-op – All four players progress through campaign simultaneously, enabling natural cooperation or competition within structured level progression.
• Coin Battle – Competitive mode where players collect coins while navigating standard levels. Final coin count determines winner, creating risk-reward decision-making during levels.
• Free Play Levels – Any completed level becomes playable in multiplayer freeplay mode, enabling practice or extended engagement with favorite stages.
• No Online Play – Entirely local-only, preventing remote multiplayer despite technological feasibility. This represents a notable limitation compared to modern titles.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii DLC and Expansions

NSMB Wii shipped feature-complete and received minimal post-launch support reflecting 2009-era DLC practices. Nintendo prioritized creating new entries rather than expanding existing titles through downloadable content. Challenge updates and minor balance adjustments arrived through system updates, but no substantial content additions occurred post-release.

• Challenge Mode – Included post-launch update adding time-limited levels testing specific platforming skills without story context.
• Level Packs – Minor downloadable challenges became available through Wii Shop Channel at minimal cost, optional extensions rather than essential purchases.
• No Seasonal Content – NSMB Wii never adopted seasonal updates or battle pass structures, predating those monetization models.
• Preservation Through Updates – System updates maintained online leaderboard functionality until Nintendo’s Wi-Fi service shutdown in 2014.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Community and Support

NSMB Wii fostered dedicated communities around speedrunning, challenge documentation, and multiplayer strategy discussion. Official Nintendo support ended with Wi-Fi service discontinuation, but community-maintained resources preserve leaderboards and strategy guides. The game’s approachable design attracted casual players alongside hardcore communities seeking challenge optimization.

• Speedrunning Community – Active speedrunning communities document world records and optimization strategies across all-star difficulty levels. Twitch channels regularly feature NSMB Wii runs attracting significant viewership.
• Reddit and Forums – r/Mario and dedicated NSMB Wii communities maintain discussion about challenge strategies, multiplayer cooperation tips, and preservation preservation efforts.
• Leaderboard Preservation – Community-operated private servers maintain online leaderboard functionality after Nintendo’s 2014 Wi-Fi service discontinuation, preserving records and competitive engagement.
• Modding Community – ROM hacking and emulation modifications enabled custom level creation, expanding NSMB Wii’s content library substantially beyond official releases.