You better bring your butt-stomping A-game to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Like the best Mario 2D games of decades past, this game is unashamedly and deliciously challenging. It will even test the most seasoned platforming veterans. And it's not just the difficulty that evokes comparisons with such classics as Super Mario Bros. 3. While New Super Mario Bros. Wii feels and plays like its esteemed side-scrolling forebears, there are enough additions here--such as the ability to have four players take on Bowser's minions at the same time--to make it a completely engaging game in its own right.
It starts off innocuously enough, but by the start of the second world, things get noticeably more difficult.It's a welcome challenge because despite the fact that you'll no doubt lose plenty of lives and at times be tempted to throw the Wii Remote in frustration, the game never feels cheap, thanks to its consistently outstanding level design.
The game's high difficulty may initially scare off new players, but it wouldn't be the Nintendo of today if the game didn't try to make concessions for casual gamers. The Super Guide is the game's way of helping you past sections you may find tough and is activated as an option once you lose eight lives in any particular level. If you choose to use the guide, a computer-controlled Luigi will sub in for Mario and essentially run through the entire level for you (including any boss fights that may be part of the level).
Once complete, you're given the option to either try the level again yourself or just skip it completely. It's an interesting addition, and while it initially seems to make the game too easy, the high lives count needed before it activates means that, for the most part, you'll probably be able to figure out the best way through a level on your own even before the Super Guide kicks in for you. And while it does show you the optimum path through levels, the AI Luigi doesn't uncover all the secret areas or star coins, which means Mario completionists will still have to figure out how to grab these bonuses on their own.