Somebody told Nintendo never to launch a system without a Mario title. Somebody who likes coins.
Given the great succes of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo is bringing back the franchise for the launch of their brand new Wii U system. With a healthy dose of new power-ups, New Super Mario Bros. U is set to offer more than a Mario sidescroller has ever seen before.
The title is confirmed to be an updated version of last year's New Super Mario Bros. Mii.
UPDATE: It has been confirmed that the title set to be shown at E3 is none other than an updated version of New Super Mario Bros. Mii, which was seen at last year's E3. Yesterday's story (posted on 04/16/2012 at 5:29:50 PM) can be found below.
The Miis invaded yet another Wii U tech demo that looked identical to the Wii version.
The 5 playable levels ranged from your typical desert to cave, to the tricky moving on-rail platforms seen in previous games, but their design and layout were at least unique. I didn't see any new powerups and the remote controls were virtually unchanged, with d-pad control used even on Wii U. I did seem to remember trying to make a last-second bubble save and being unable to, so that feature may be removed in future sequels. One change that didn't feel as good was the shake; trying to drift closer to someone while in a bubble by shaking the tablet didn't seem to work well for me. So assigning the extra jump flutter move to the R button instead of an upward flick wasn't too surprising when considering the controller's extra weight. Getting a feel for which controller configurations work best for Wii U will no doubt take some extra experimentation from developers.
Check out some footage shot directly from the show floor of E3, showcasing both the prototype for NSMBM and the Wii U tablet controller!
