New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a 2009 video game made and sold by Nintendo for the Wii. It is a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. and was first released in Australia, North America, and Europe in November 2009. Japan received the game a month later. In 2016, the game was made available on the Wii U’s Virtual Console, but only in Europe, Australia, and Japan. A high-definition version for the Nvidia Shield TV was released in China in December 2017. Like other side-scrolling Super Mario games, players control Mario as he moves through eight worlds to fight Bowser’s army and rescue Princess Peach. New Super Mario Bros. Wii was the first Super Mario game to allow up to four players to work together or compete in multiplayer modes. Players can control Mario, Luigi, and two Toads named Yellow Toad and Blue Toad. The game also includes a feature called “Super Guide,” which lets players watch a computer-controlled character complete a level.
Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to create a Super Mario game with cooperative multiplayer since the series began. Earlier attempts to add this feature in Super Mario 64 failed because of limited technology. With the release of the Wii and its improved hardware, Miyamoto was able to fully develop this idea. After making New Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto felt it was not challenging enough for all players. To make the game easier for beginners, he added features like Super Guide and the ability to use a floating bubble to skip parts of a level. For more skilled players, the game included a reward for completing levels without using Super Guide. The game’s soundtrack was composed by Shiho Fujii and Ryo Nagamatsu, while Koji Kondo, the series’ usual composer, helped with the sound design.
Nintendo announced the game after seeing a small drop in profits, hoping it would help increase sales of the Wii. New Super Mario Bros. Wii was both well-received by critics and popular with players, especially for its multiplayer options. Some reviewers felt the game did not offer many new ideas compared to earlier Super Mario titles. The game won awards, including the Best Wii Game at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, IGN, and GameTrailers. As of March 2021, it was the fourth-best-selling game for the Wii, with 30.32 million copies sold worldwide. In 2012, the game was followed by New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Nintendo 3DS and New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U.
Gameplay
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer. Although the game looks mostly 2D, many characters and objects are 3D shapes placed on 2D backgrounds. In single-player mode, the player controls Mario and must complete levels filled with enemies, obstacles, and helpful items. To progress, Mario must reach a large flag pole at the end of each stage. The game can be played by holding the Wii Remote horizontally or vertically with the Wii Nunchuk attached. Mario can run, jump, and use moves like wall kicks, ground pounds, and double or triple jumps from New Super Mario Bros. The game often uses the Wii Remote’s motion controls. For example, shaking the controller can make Mario perform a short spin jump to kill enemies, a mid-air twirl to stay in the air longer, or pick up, carry, and throw objects. Some platforms can be moved by standing on them and tilting the Wii Remote. Some levels take place underwater, where the player must swim to move through the level.
Players can collect gold coins to earn extra lives. Levels include power-ups inside floating blocks that help Mario: The Super Mushroom lets Mario survive one more hit and grows his size. The Fire Flower lets Mario shoot fireballs at enemies. The Super Star makes Mario temporarily invincible and increases his speed. The Mini Mushroom, which returns from New Super Mario Bros., makes Mario shrink, allowing him to jump higher, run on water, and fit through small spaces, but it does not protect him from taking damage. New power-ups include the Propeller Suit, which lets Mario fly briefly by shaking the Wii Remote; the Ice Flower, which lets Mario shoot ice that freezes enemies into blocks that can be lifted and thrown; and the Penguin Suit, which works like the Ice Flower but also lets Mario slide on the ground and water and improves control on ice and in water. Yoshi appears in some levels and can eat, swallow, and spit enemies and objects, and flutter for a short time.
The game has eight worlds, each with eight to ten levels. A secret ninth world becomes available after completing the eighth world. Levels in the ninth world are unlocked by finding hidden Star Coins in earlier worlds. These coins are the main collectibles in each level. Levels are accessed through a 3D world map. Completing a stage unlocks the next one, and sometimes multiple paths become available. Each world has two boss levels: a midway fortress and a castle at the end, where the player fights one of the seven Koopalings. Some worlds also include an Airship stage where the player battles Bowser Jr. Toad Houses are scattered across the map, where players can play short minigames to earn extra lives or items. Map screens sometimes have enemies that trigger "mini-boss" fights, which reward three mushrooms. At certain points, a trapped Toad may appear in a completed level. Rescuing him and carrying him to the end of the stage gives a reward. Every level has three hidden Star Coins in hard-to-reach areas. These can be used to watch hint movies that show tips, tricks, and secret locations.
Players start with five lives, but can earn more by collecting items or playing minigames. Losing a life sends the player back to the map, and losing all lives ends the game, forcing the player to restart from their last save point. Most levels have a midway flag that acts as a save point. Some levels have hidden exits with red flags that unlock secret areas on the map.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii includes a feature called "Super Guide," designed to help players who struggle with a level. If a player dies eight times in a row, a green "!" Block appears. Hitting it lets a computer-controlled Luigi show a safe path through the level without revealing Star Coins or secret exits. Players can stop the guide at any time and take control of Luigi. After Luigi finishes the level, the player can retry or skip it.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the first Super Mario game with cooperative multiplayer. Up to four players can play together as Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, or Blue Toad. A level is completed when one player touches the flag pole; others have limited time to grab it before the game pauses for the "course clear" animation.
Players can interact in ways that help or challenge each other. For example, players can jump on each other’s heads to reach higher places, pick up and throw each other, or eat and spit each other out while riding Yoshi. If players are far apart, the camera zooms out to show all characters. If they still don’t catch up, they are pulled toward the screen until they move faster or lose a life. If one player enters a separate area, like a warp pipe or door, without others, they will be teleported back to the same spot after a short time.
The first player chooses stages on the world map. If all players die before anyone respawns, they return to the map. If all players lose all lives, they restart from their last save point. If a player dies, they reappear in the level inside a bubble. Another player can break the bubble by touching it, hitting it with a fireball, ice ball, throwable item, or Yoshi’s tongue. Players can also choose to trap themselves in a bubble while another player navigates a difficult part. If all characters in a co-op session enter a bubble at the same time, they lose the level and must restart.
In addition to the main story mode, there are two multiplayer modes: "Free-for-All Mode," where players work together to complete courses and compete for the highest rank, and "Coin Battle," where players compete to collect the most coins.
Plot
When Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad are celebrating Princess Peach's birthday in her castle, a large cake appears. Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings come out of the cake and trap Princess Peach inside. The cake is placed on Bowser's airship, and it takes off. Mario, Luigi, and the two Toads chase after it. The Toads in the castle give them access to new items: the Propeller Mushrooms and Penguin Suits.
After traveling through several worlds and fighting the Koopalings, Bowser Jr., and Kamek the Magikoopa, Mario and Luigi, along with the Toads, find Princess Peach on the ship. However, Kamek flies by and takes her to Bowser's Castle. Inside, Bowser is defeated but then revived by Kamek, who uses a magical spell to turn Bowser into a giant. Bowser chases Mario and the others, destroying everything in his path. Mario finds a large button and presses it, causing Bowser to fall through the ground and freeing Princess Peach from her cage. Princess Peach and Mario leave the castle in a hot-air balloon, while Luigi and the Toads follow behind.
At the end of the game, the credits are shown as a minigame. The letters in the credits are written on blocks that players can break to collect coins. All four characters appear, but only the characters controlled by players can collect coins. After the credits, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings help Bowser out of his unstable castle, which then falls over.
Development
New Super Mario Bros. Wii was made to allow multiple players to enjoy the single-player experience of the Super Mario series together. Shigeru Miyamoto, the main game designer at Nintendo, wanted to create a Super Mario game with multiplayer features since the series began in 1983 with the arcade game Mario Bros. Earlier attempts to add cooperative multiplayer to Super Mario 64, the first 3D game in the series, failed because the Nintendo 64 hardware was not powerful enough. With the faster processor and better graphics and memory of the Wii, Miyamoto and the development team could revisit the idea. The Wii’s hardware allowed enemies and items to appear clearly on the screen and a camera that could move smoothly to follow players’ actions, helping them see their characters’ positions. Miyamoto explained that Princess Peach could not be played as a character because her dress would need special programming to move realistically.
Miyamoto aimed to make the game easy for all players, balancing difficulty for both casual and experienced fans. After releasing New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS, which he later felt was too simple, Miyamoto wanted a new game with more challenge for players who wanted it. To help new players, the game included the Super Guide feature, which lets players watch a level be completed before trying again after failing several times. The Super Guide was first described in a June 2008 patent for a "Kind Code" with three modes: Game, where a walkthrough video appears in the top right corner when a player gets stuck; Digest, where players can watch developers play and join at a specific point but cannot save progress; and Scene Menu, where players can jump to specific parts of the game without loading or watching the Digest. The team added the feature as an option that appears after failing a level multiple times to avoid disrupting experienced players. To encourage advanced players, the team also included achievements for completing the game without making green blocks appear in any levels. A bubble feature allowed players to skip levels temporarily, letting both beginners and experienced players play without interfering with each other. Miyamoto hoped the game would become a popular title for the Wii and achieve success similar to New Super Mario Bros.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii was developed by multiple creators, some of whom had different ideas about how Super Mario games should be designed. Miyamoto, as the game’s producer, helped the directors understand the rules for the game’s design by writing detailed documents explaining how the game would work. This led to discussions about what was "natural" or "unnatural" for a Mario game. For example, after introducing the Ice Flower’s ability to freeze enemies, the developers decided it made sense for ice blocks to melt when hit by fireballs and float when submerged in water.
The music for New Super Mario Bros. Wii was composed and arranged by Shiho Fujii and Ryo Nagamatsu, with additional help from sound director Kenta Nagata. Koji Kondo, a regular composer for the series, served as the sound advisor but did not write new music. Some of his earlier compositions were rearranged for the game. Charles Martinet returned to voice Mario and Luigi, with Samantha Kelly as the Toads and Princess Peach, Kenny James as Bowser, and Caety Sagoian as Bowser Jr.
Although the playable Toads are not named in the game and are called Blue Toad and Yellow Toad, the developers reportedly referred to them internally as Bucken-Berry and Ala-Gold.
Release
On May 30, 2009, the online version of the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that two new games would be released for the Wii. These included a sequel to Wii Fit called Wii Fit Plus and a sequel to New Super Mario Bros. temporarily named New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The latter game was announced at E3 2009 and shown again at Gamescom. To emphasize its uniqueness, Nintendo released the game in a red case instead of the usual white box color for Wii games. This announcement followed a slowdown in Wii sales, which caused a 52% drop in Nintendo’s first-half earnings for 2009. Nintendo hoped the game would help increase Wii sales during the upcoming holiday season. At a meeting with store owners in Japan before the game’s release, Miyamoto stated he believed the game would maintain strong sales for more than one year after its launch.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii was released in Australia on November 12, 2009, and in North America on November 15. It later came out in Europe on November 20 and Japan on December 3, 2009. On October 29, 2010, the game was included as a free game with a red Wii console, along with Wii Sports and a downloadable version of Donkey Kong to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. It was also part of a bundle with a black Wii Family Edition console and a soundtrack CD for Super Mario Galaxy on October 23, 2011.
At E3 2011, a version of New Super Mario Bros. Wii called New Super Mario Bros. Mii was shown as a playable demo for Nintendo’s new console, the Wii U. This version allowed players to use their Mii characters and was a prototype to demonstrate the console’s technology.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii was later released on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2016 for European, Australian, and Japanese markets.
An improved version of the game was released in China for the Nvidia Shield TV on December 5, 2017. This version included high-definition graphics and a redesigned user interface. It was released alongside other games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
In November 2009, 24-year-old Australian James Burt bought a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii before its official release date because a store had sold the game early. He then copied and uploaded the game online. Nintendo removed the game and sued Burt, claiming he broke copyright laws and hurt sales. The case was settled in January 2010, with Burt fined 1.3 million Australian dollars for lost sales and an additional 100,000 Australian dollars as part of Nintendo’s legal costs. Burt also had to share the locations of all his computers and electronic storage devices and give access to his email, social media, and website accounts. Rose Lappin, managing director of Nintendo of Australia, called the incident a global problem, noting thousands of copies had been downloaded worldwide before the game was removed. Burt later said his actions were “very stupid” and admitted the consequences would affect him for the rest of his life.
Reception
The game was praised for its multiplayer features after being shown at E3. Critics liked both the competitive and cooperative parts of the game, but some said the lack of online play was a missed chance. Many compared it to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, which also combined traditional gameplay with cooperative multiplayer. Chad Concelmo of Destructoid said the game had "creative and fun" levels and better controls than New Super Mario Bros., calling the multiplayer "unique, addictive, and entertaining" and giving it a 9.5 score. Engadget’s Andrew Yoon called the game "playable, addictive, and fresh," and praised its camera system that could show off-screen players. Ars Technica said the game was "insidiously fun" despite simple graphics. Sophia Tong of GameSpot compared it to Super Mario Bros. 3 and called the multiplayer "a blast to play and hilarious to watch." Eurogamer’s Oli Welsh called the multiplayer "a simple stroke of genius." Chris Kohler of Wired praised the difficulty of the multiplayer mode.
Some critics praised the game’s presentation. CNET’s Jeff Balakar said seeing a side-scrolling Super Mario game in widescreen was "an eye-opening experience" and praised the detailed worlds. IGN’s Craig Harris also praised the widescreen graphics, noting the game looked smooth in progressive widescreen mode even though the version shown was incomplete. Matt Casamassina said the graphics looked "crisp, clean, and colorful."
Some reviewers had minor criticisms about the multiplayer. Although CNET’s reviewers enjoyed the game, Balakar said the multiplayer could be frustrating because of the chaos and tight screen space. Dan Ackerman of CNET praised New Super Mario Bros. Wii’s enjoyability but noted it felt similar to older 2D games. MTV writer Russ Frushtick said the game’s difficulty was like the NES game Contra.
The game received "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic. Famitsu called it a "masterpiece of 2D action" and gave it a perfect 40/40 score, making it the 13th game and fourth Wii game to earn this score in the magazine’s history. Kotaku highly praised the game, saying it was a reason to buy a Wii. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com called it the true spiritual successor to Super Mario World (1991). Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb praised the game’s balance of difficulty, saying it was easy for both casual and hardcore players, though he noted it was less challenging than Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
Critics continued to praise the multiplayer features, calling it one of the game’s most important aspects. Patrick Kolan of IGN Australia said it was the most fun 4-player experience since Super Smash Bros. Brawl and said it exceeded expectations. Matt Wales of IGN UK said the game worked well as both a single-player and multiplayer experience but was best with multiple players. Nick Chester of Destructoid called the cooperative mode fun despite occasional frustrations. GameSpot’s Randolph Ramsay said the multiplayer was "initially great fun" but sometimes tedious due to the chaos. Craig Harris of IGN US praised the bubble system but criticized the lack of online multiplayer. Kolan also criticized the lack of online leaderboards for competitive modes. Wales did not see this as a major issue, saying the social aspect made multiplayer enjoyable and that excluding online features was wise due to Nintendo’s poor online service. GameSpy said the game’s lack of online play was acceptable because it was a competitive experience, while New Super Mario Bros. Wii needed cooperation to be enjoyable. Brett Elston of GamesRadar+ criticized the 4-player multiplayer as frustrating and cramped, saying it was best played with two players.
Gameplay and controls were praised for resembling older 2D Super Mario titles. Many said holding the Wii Remote sideways was the best way to play and called it a return to the layout of the Nintendo Entertainment System’s rectangular controller. Ramsay said the lack of support for the Wii’s Classic Controller was disappointing. Opinions on motion controls varied. Kolan praised them as "easy, intuitive, and unobtrusive," while Ramsay said they were occasionally intrusive. Chester mostly praised the motion controls but disliked needing to hold a button and shake to carry items. Elston said the motion-controlled spin jump made the game’s handling "compromised" and caused accidental activation.
Some writers said New Super Mario Bros. Wii felt too similar to older games. Harris gave it an 8.9 out of 10 but criticized it for "playing it safe" and calling it a "missed opportunity" compared to Super Mario Galaxy. Edge gave it a 7/10, saying it lacked traditional Mario charm and had a low difficulty level. Elston said it lacked the creativity of other games in the series. The A.V. Club called it "the least essential Mario title to date," saying it lacked a strong concept and showed repetition in Mario games. Nintendo Power said the game worked as a sequel because it kept what made original Mario games great while adding new features.
Corbie Dillard of Nintendo Life praised the game’s visual polish and smooth animations but said it did not match other first-party Wii releases. Ramsay compared its graphics to other Nintendo games, saying it lacked the polish of Super Mario Galaxy despite using bright colors. Gerstmann said the game’s player models looked unusual up close but were not a major issue. Kolan praised the game’s music as one of the best in the series and said the sound design called back to earlier Super Mario games. Elston also praised the soundtrack and enemy interactions with music.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii won the Best Wii Game award at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. IGN gave it the 2009 Wii Game of the Year award.
Sequel
In 2012, a follow-up game to New Super Mario Bros. Wii was released when the Wii U console came out. The game was called New Super Mario Bros. U. In 2019, it was made available again for the Nintendo Switch. This version was named New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and included New Super Luigi U, which was an extra game part. New Super Luigi U was first available as downloadable content on the Wii U's Nintendo eShop and later sold as a physical copy.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Coin World (Japanese: New スーパーマリオブラザーズ Wii コインワールド, Hepburn: Nyū Sūpā Mario Burazāzu U~ī Koin Wārudo) was released in Japan in 2011. It was created by Capcom and is an arcade game. The gameplay is similar to the console version and uses a slot-machine style. Players can play with others, and the game has special features based on New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Winning events and playing the slot machine lets players collect keys. When players have five keys, they can enter a special event with Bowser to win a big prize.