New Super Mario Bros. U is the fourth game in the New Super Mario Bros. series and by this point it’s starting to feel increasingly mistitled. The gameplay and art style is exactly the same as it has been since the first game and, if you’ve played all of them up until this point, you may understandably be starting to feel a little tired of the formula.

Story-wise, things have been changed very slightly; this time Bowser has actually come to Peach’s castle and thrown Mario, Luigi and co. to a far off land so that they have to make their way back to the castle which is now being occupied by Bowser. What’s disappointing is that, even though you’re in a new location, very little is made of it and the environments all look very similar to those in the earlier games.

What is nice, however, is that there is a big inter-connected world map which you can explore at your leisure. Don’t get me wrong, the game is still made up of small linear levels, but you get to them via a nice big map and at times you’re even given branching paths! It reminded me of the map in Super Mario World, which I was also fond of.

But then, back to the subject of things being the same, all of the boss battles were pretty predictable and felt like things I had seen before in the series. The bosses, especially the final boss, were perhaps the biggest let down of the game; as well as being very predictable, they were also far too easy.

Thankfully, after they had been absent in New Super Mario Bros. 2, the Yoshis are rideable in a number of levels once again and there is also a fun four player co-op mode. I am still disappointed, however, by the fact that you cannot keep Yoshi with you from level to level. I can’t quite understand why this is, either, as it surely can’t be a technical limitation. As well as fully grown Yoshis, this game also features adorable baby Yoshis who you can carry; each different colour has its own power and they sing along with the background music (which I like a lot). Hilariously, they eat virtually any enemy you carry them to.

Two new things called Challenge Mode and Boost Rush have also been added. In these modes I was pleasantly surprised to find that you are able to play as your Miis. In Challenge Mode, you are put in a level and given a certain task to complete and these can often be very tricky. Boost Rush is a spin on New Super Mario Bros. 2‘s Coin Rush and you have to hurry through a level as quickly as you can while collecting coins. Both of these are nice little additions, but nothing substantial.

On the whole, I don’t want to say that this is a bad game, because it is quite fun, but it does represent a disappointing lack of variety and creativity in the Mario series. If you’ve never played a New Super Mario Bros. game before, you’ll love this game and have no problems with it at all, but if you’ve played its three prequels first, you’ll probably find yourself wanting something just a little bit more unique.

Rating: 8/10

New Super Mario Bros. 2, despite what the title may have you believe, is actually the third New Super Mario Bros. game, and it kind of bothers me that they didn’t call it New Super Mario Bros. 3D or 3DS because, it being the third game and a 3DS game, that’d have made perfect sense.

Sadly, this is the point where the New Super Mario Bros. series begins to wear a bit thin. By all means, if you’ve never played one before, you could start here and enjoy it a lot, but if you’ve played the first two and then play this one it may feel a little too same-y. Like the last two, it uses the classic 2D Mario platforming play style which has really been perfected to make it as fun as possible. But the game also reuses lots of environments from the previous two instalments and nothing really feels that fresh.

In terms of what is actually ‘new’ in this game, there’s a strange focus on money. There are coins everywhere and you have a counter that adds up your coin total after every level with the idea being that you aim to eventually get a million coins. I found this quite exciting, but it takes so long to get this many (much longer than it takes to finish the main story of the game and do the secret worlds) and so in the end I got bored of this and gave up.

There are also two money based power-ups; one is the Gold Flower which turns you into Gold Mario. I love this new item as it gives you the power to throw golden fire balls which turn things into gold. It’s probably the most powerful item you can get in Mario games and, while it is rare, I really enjoy it when it turns up. There’s also the Gold Block item which will give Mario a strange golden head and give you coins while you’re moving. I just thought it was a bit weird.

A new mode called Coin Rush has also been added which involves you rushing through three levels as quickly as you can in order to get as much money as you can. I find this mode to be pretty fun and it’s a nice way to expand the game’s life span. When you StreetPass other people, you get their Coin Rush records which you can aim to beat. For a price, you can also download new levels to play in Coin Rush mode; some of these are levels which return from past Mario games, some of them are made to be extremely hard (they’re harder than anything I’ve seen in this series before) and I think it’s nice to have the option, but it’s also annoying that you can’t just casually play them.

Overall, I do like this game, but I wish it could have had more of an identity of its own. It all feels a little repetitive, and with no Yoshi and a weaker co-op mode, it’s a bit of a step down from New Super Mario Bros. Wii too. Rating: 8.6/10

New Super Mario Bros. was a big success, so it was only natural that Nintendo would follow it up with a sequel before too long. New Super Mario Bros. Wii was a Wii title, which meant that it had the capacity to do things which were not technologically possible in the first game.

I won’t even bother to dedicate a paragraph to the story, like I usually do, since it’s so minimal (Bowser kidnaps Peach, you must rescue her), so I’ll get straight on with talking about the gameplay. It takes the classic play-style of the old 2D platformers, but it really perfects the control scheme and polishes things up nicely. At the same time, new features are implemented too, such as the very handy new power-up the Propeller Mushroom which launches you into the air and gives you a slow decent.

Significantly, this game features a very fun co-operative mode for up to four players. Players 2, 3, and 4 take control of either Luigi, a yellow Toad or a blue Toad and you work together to get through the levels. I find this very fun and it adds an exciting new dynamic to everything. Things get very competitive, and oftentimes you’ll find you’re in a situation where either you have to let yourself be killed, or do something which will leave your fellow players killed. Other than the yellow and blue Toads being boring choices for character slots, there’s not really anything bad I can say about this new mode.

But, even if you don’t have any people to play with, playing by yourself is its own experience which can be just as fun and rewarding. As you may be able to guess from the cover art, Yoshi has been brought back into the mix and being able to ride him makes things even better, though it is a shame that he’s only available in certain stages. A less welcome return is that of the Koopalings (Bowser’s distinctive young underlings); on the one hand it’s cool to see them with 3D models for the first time, on the other, it does mean that the boss stages are quite predictable.

On the whole, a very fun game and one which builds over its prequel. However, if you have played the first game, this might feel a little like an expansion, rather than a wholly new experience, but as there are a lot of nice new additions, you should still be happy with it. Rating: 9.1/10

Buy it here.

In 2006 it had been over a decade since the last 2D platforming Mario game and so, when New Super Mario Bros. brought back this classic formula, it was very exciting news! It was a real treat for the fans, while simultaneously being accessible to new players too.

Story-wise, there’s nothing new here. Once again, Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach and, once again, Mario must travel through eight worlds in order to track her down and get her back. I’d not like to complain too much though, because this game is intentionally made to be a throwback to the older Mario games that had quite simple stories like this. Plus there is also a slight degree of mystery and an unexpected plot-turn or two, so, I can’t fault it here.

In terms of gameplay, it takes the classic Mario formula, polishes it up and adds quite a few nice things. One thing I like is that the controls have really been perfected, which may feel like a small thing, but actually it’s a big part of what makes the game fun to play, and something which might be overlooked. There are classic elements like fire bars, flag poles and Bowser waiting on a drawbridge, but there are also brand new things like the Mega Mushroom which turns you into an indestructible giant, the blue shell that lets you roll along like a Koopa and I found the boss battles to all be pretty fun and unique (one in particular is very memorable).

Beyond the main game, there’s also a collection of mini games available (some of which previously appeared in Super Mario 64 DS) and a very fun multiplayer mode. In the multiplayer mode one person plays as Mario while the other plays as Luigi and you run around in levels fighting to collect the most stars. Some of the smaller mini-games are also multiplayer, which is quite fun.

Overall, very fun. A Mario classic. Rating: 9/10

Buy it here.

Back when the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy was being released for the SNES, there were a series of side games (the Donkey Kong Land trilogy) which were released as handheld counterparts. The Land games took the same general premise as their Country brothers and sisters, but changed things up and did them slightly differently.

What’s sad about this game especially is that a lot of people think it is literally just a watered down port of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. But that’s plain wrong. Every single level in this game is unique, and if you played the SNES game, you are likely to enjoy this too. It’s some solid 2D platforming fun, with levels that look lovely even in monochromatic 8-bit.

What is disappointing about this game is that, while Donkey Kong Country 2 has one of the most beautiful soundtracks in gaming history, Donkey Kong Land 2‘s is a little underwhelming. Being toned down to 8-bit sound does reduce some of the quality, but even like this, it still sounds very nice. The real problem comes from the fact that the number of songs is greatly reduced and certain songs get repeated a lot, which is a real shame.

I also think this game is, perhaps, a little too easy. I didn’t really get stuck on any of the levels, and when combing through them to find all the secrets after beating the final boss, I didn’t really have any trouble either. This reduced level of difficulty also means that you will probably get through the game pretty quickly.

Nonetheless, I don’t want to give a negative impression! Donkey Kong Land 2 is very good because it is similar to Donkey Kong Country 2 which is one of my favourite games. The gameplay is fun and it’s another adventure for Diddy and Dixie Kong. It falls short in one or two areas, but is generally great fun.

Rating: 9.3/10

Buy it here.