When the first NSMB dropped on the DS I was all "Eh" because it in no way shape or form felt like it equaled or bettered SMW. Played a couple of stages and that was it. Then Nintendo in a really bizarre move seemed to release a veritable slew of NSMB titles everywhere which was quite odd and it felt really over saturated, not to mention the blatant recycling of a crappy art style and mediocre music. More to ignore.
I decided to give the DS version a spin a while back and found the controls very floaty and "off" but after playing SML2 on the GBA - Which is an absolute tour de force of level design, graphic quality, music etc.. and very impressive for the hardware it was running on - and trying NSMB DS again it clicked as the physics are very similar and to my surprise I discovered a very good game underneath what seemed so uninspired as everything has been placed with precision and its got a great curve. Better still is that each level has a groove that you can flow through very intuitively and thats a really great addition but what impressed me the most was this:
The Wii U version is exceedingly good as illustrated and sets a high water mark in 2D Marios that most people are totally unaware of and is lots of fun. Its the pinnacle of the style and if you play it first the others aren't worth checking as its so refined but what is so intriguing is what I read online.
It was said that the entire NSMB wave was based on "What if SMW didn't exist?" as they took the original NES concept and move forwards with it and then it starts to make sense for those of us expecting SMW2. Shame that the best one is the one the least amount of people have played.
Also of note is that console Stans often riff on Nintendo saying "Teh graphix are crap!" which are met with replies of "Muh gameplay" and yet those self same people did exactly the same thing with this franchise and wrote it off based on visuals without even giving the game a chance, much like people who run off to play "Zombie shooter football creed +1 edition" with shinier graphics this year and no underlying change in the mechanics of the game.
Hopefully one or two of you will check this out with fresh eyes, or at the very least give Super Mario Land 2 another spin first as that is what really makes it click. Or if you have played all of them which one is the best and what do you think of the series?
I decided to give the DS version a spin a while back and found the controls very floaty and "off" but after playing SML2 on the GBA - Which is an absolute tour de force of level design, graphic quality, music etc.. and very impressive for the hardware it was running on - and trying NSMB DS again it clicked as the physics are very similar and to my surprise I discovered a very good game underneath what seemed so uninspired as everything has been placed with precision and its got a great curve. Better still is that each level has a groove that you can flow through very intuitively and thats a really great addition but what impressed me the most was this:
The Wii U version is exceedingly good as illustrated and sets a high water mark in 2D Marios that most people are totally unaware of and is lots of fun. Its the pinnacle of the style and if you play it first the others aren't worth checking as its so refined but what is so intriguing is what I read online.
It was said that the entire NSMB wave was based on "What if SMW didn't exist?" as they took the original NES concept and move forwards with it and then it starts to make sense for those of us expecting SMW2. Shame that the best one is the one the least amount of people have played.
Also of note is that console Stans often riff on Nintendo saying "Teh graphix are crap!" which are met with replies of "Muh gameplay" and yet those self same people did exactly the same thing with this franchise and wrote it off based on visuals without even giving the game a chance, much like people who run off to play "Zombie shooter football creed +1 edition" with shinier graphics this year and no underlying change in the mechanics of the game.
Hopefully one or two of you will check this out with fresh eyes, or at the very least give Super Mario Land 2 another spin first as that is what really makes it click. Or if you have played all of them which one is the best and what do you think of the series?
