That final castle was really intense. That part with the snake block and having to jump to avoid being petrified... man. Getting the moon coins was frantic. The Dry Bowser fight was a rehash, but it was much harder than the final boss due to the smaller/less frequent/faster platforms.
I have a question/concern regarding the Coin Rush mode. Since the mode picks 3 random stages from a set of worlds, doesn't that mean all the stages in the game would have to have similar volumes/amounts of coins available? I would imagine they would have to be almost identical. If there was an uneven amount of coins distributed amongst some stages (say one stage had 500 more coins available than another) then someone could get lucky with the stage shuffle and potentially earn a higher amount of coins.
I haven't StreetPassed with anyone yet, but I think you're missing the point of the Streetpass implementation in this title, as are the folks posting about maxing out the coins.
Streetpass for NSMB2 isn't about getting the highest coin total possible.
Streetpass for NSMB2 is more about beating someone else's score on a random selection of levels.
Streetpassing with others will get you different sets of levels with different coin counts -- you can then challenge the same levels as your opponent while trying to beat their coin count.
I wouldn't focus on "maxing out" the coin count -- I think you're better off frequently changing the level you have set as your ST level so that EVERYONE out there gets new and different challenges.
(...besides, if you can regularly max out the counter on one stage, it seems to indicate that those stages aren't really the most challenging for coins. Try a lower-yielding set of levels and see how many you can nab.)
Worse yet, some Star Coins are hidden and only appear for a short time (often off-screen!), for example when a P-Block is pressed. Others appear only when you stand in a certain spot. It's gotten very annoying. It used to be about finding secret rooms, hidden nooks and crannies, now too many require specific power-ups or arbitrary triggers. I much preferred NSMB Wii's penchant for hiding stuff behind fake walls that lead to secret paths. That actually felt like you were discovering something every time.
I find that the coin gimmick is entirely validated by Coin Rush mode. I've never played a Mario game in this way before. I just can't wait to get some streetpasses! However, the 100% focus on streetpass while completely ignoring the friend leaderbords possibility makes me wish that this game weren't so rushed (Mario Kart 7 is the same way). This and NSMB2 is lacking the download-play option (even if it were limited to NSMB-style multiplayer) that would have made this the perfect game.
the number of streetpass slots just depresses me. I'll never fill that. They should patch in spotpass support and deliver scores from your friends list daily/weekly.
BTW, streetpass is console specific right? I have one copy of NSMB2, but two 3DSes - one of which my kids use. all three slots on NSMB2 are used, one for me, one each for my two kids. If they get coinrush scores on their 3DS, but using the same card as me, will it streetpass me, or will it think we're the same person?
Worse yet, some Star Coins are hidden and only appear for a short time (often off-screen!), for example when a P-Block is pressed. Others appear only when you stand in a certain spot. It's gotten very annoying. It used to be about finding secret rooms, hidden nooks and crannies, now too many require specific power-ups or arbitrary triggers. I much preferred NSMB Wii's penchant for hiding stuff behind fake walls that lead to secret paths. That actually felt like you were discovering something every time.
Everyone in Japan has been playing almost nothing but Level 1 sets. I've stopped playing those sets, having gotten sick of those levels, and simply favorite the Level 2 and 3 sets so they don't go away.
Very few were arbitrary from what I remember. Normally there was something 'off' or different. I played with my girlfriend and she was always confused that I spotted certain secrets -- Mario instincts.
Worse yet, some Star Coins are hidden and only appear for a short time (often off-screen!), for example when a P-Block is pressed. Others appear only when you stand in a certain spot. It's gotten very annoying. It used to be about finding secret rooms, hidden nooks and crannies, now too many require specific power-ups or arbitrary triggers. I much preferred NSMB Wii's penchant for hiding stuff behind fake walls that lead to secret paths. That actually felt like you were discovering something every time.
That's not a problem for me, in fact, I actually liked that (though I think I've only encountered it once so far, at least as far as I've noticed, maybe I'm just doing everything right).
I just don't like having to go to a certain level just to get a specific power-up.
I thought the fake walls were always in logical places. I'd often try to walk into suspicious looking walls. They were always either slightly indented or had different looking tiles or edges or something else to draw attention to them. I don't know what you mean by standing in an "arbitrary spot". What's arbitrary about *right next to the fake wall*? Besides, I don't remember ever relying on just standing next to every suspicious looking wall, seems rather pointless when you can just try to walk into them.
On the other hand, quite a few of the Star Coin locations in NSMB2 can't be found by simply observing the environment. Rather, the stepping on random objects or platforms is good old-fashioned trial-and-error, not even necessarily always difficult to figure out, just plain boring. On top of that, exploring the environment during the few seconds a P-Block stays activated to find a potential Star Coin that might have popped up is needlessly obscure and nonsensical.
Very few were arbitrary from what I remember. Normally there was something 'off' or different. I played with my girlfriend and she was always confused that I spotted certain secrets -- Mario instincts.
After beating the game's last world yesterday, I spent some time today looking for the few remaining secret exits and
Moon
Coins. Some of them are quite well hidden and tricky to find. All in all, I really like New Super Bros. 2. It may lack graphical freshness but it's insanely polished and very fun to play. Can't wait to sink my teeth into the Coin Rush mode.
I thought the fake walls were always in logical places. I'd often try to walk into suspicious looking walls. They were always either slightly indented or had different looking tiles or edges or something else to draw attention to them. I don't know what you mean by standing in an "arbitrary spot". What's arbitrary about *right next to the fake wall*? Besides, I don't remember ever relying on just standing next to every suspicious looking wall, seems rather pointless when you can just try to walk into them.
On the other hand, quite a few of the Star Coin locations in NSMB2 can't be found by simply observing the environment. Rather, the stepping on random objects or platforms is good old-fashioned trial-and-error, not even necessarily always difficult to figure out, just plain boring. On top of that, exploring the environment during the few seconds a P-Block stays activated to find a potential Star Coin that might have popped up is needlessly obscure and nonsensical.
Some secret exits are tricky indeed, but tricky in the bad way. There is no particular clue to find some of them. I just found the one by mistake in the ghost house in world
2
and nothing were indicating the wine block will be here.
The good tricky way is when you are saying "this is a special spot, there should be an hidden block here", not just jumping randomly somewhat like in Milon Secret Castle.
So I "100%" completed it in about 15 hours. No interest whatsover in getting 1000000 coins or 1110 lives. I got all the medals and have seen all the game has to offer.
As I already said in this thread, it was okay, it's a good game, or else I wouldn't have spent 15 hours on it. The golden block power-up is fun and the coin concept is actually a well-thought and clever idea. A few of the secrets were way too random. The biggest problem of the NSMB series is the lack of newness due to the use of same old artstyle, same ennemies, same worlds and same music. Nintendo needs to change this urgently or they risk devalueing the brand.
Still it is the 5th best 2D mario game behind SMB3, SMW, Yoshi's Island and NSMBWii.
I swore to myself I'd skip this game, but eh, what do I know. By the time it was released I was craving for some new Mario and I picked it up yesterday.
As expected, I am obviously slightly disappointed. The game is ok, but that's about it. It feels very lazy, especially with it's constant reuse of past tunes (except for Reznor theme from SMW, was there any single one that wasn't lifted from NSMBW?). Lack of world variety doesn't help either.
Level design is obviously great - miles above original NSMB, but it doesn't measure up to the greatness of NSMBW. There are some memorable stages, but there's nothing that would stand a chance compared to variety of NSMBW. Same goes with difficulty - it's harder than NSMB (WELL, DUH), but far below NSMBW.
Coin gimmick - it's too early to say anything. Coin rush looks like it has some potential, but tmie will tell (probably once I reach the cap). I like Gold Head power up, which was something I did not expect; same goes for Gold Flower.
The length is horrible though. I know modern Mario is not about the main quest of getting from 1-1 to Bowser, but seriously, 3 HOURS!? It felt like a joke and is mighty disappointing. I know I missed a lot and I still have special worlds and everything, but seriously. 3 hours is way too short.
I think the game is a lot more enjoyable if you try and get every single star coin as you progress, maybe leaving the odd one behind if it's really eluding you. The game is more difficult then and you see some of the best it has to offer. Blasting through the game would probably be kinda dull much of the time.
Ye I agree, trying to get through the game going non-stop and quickly as possible is probably not the right way to play it. If you actually take your time to at least collect the 3 star coins, if not most of the other coins, you are sure to enjoy it more. Having said that, it does seem like its still pretty short even if you do that, like me. I have only had it 4 days, havent played it all those days and never too long, and Im already on World 5..
Some secret exits are tricky indeed, but tricky in the bad way. There is no particular clue to find some of them. I just found the one by mistake in the ghost house in world
2
and nothing were indicating the wine block will be here.
The good tricky way is when you are saying "this is a special spot, there should be an hidden block here", not just jumping randomly somewhat like in Milon Secret Castle.
These are secret exits though. They're meant to be very hard to find. Star coins should not be hard to find, though. Difficult to get too, yes.
Like, one of the ghost houses uses a P switch to activate a timed star coin -- relatively tough to nab in time -- but it distracts you from the secret exit that was also activated.
That's precisely how it should be, and I'm pretty sure almost everything follows that general rule.
The length is horrible though. I know modern Mario is not about the main quest of getting from 1-1 to Bowser, but seriously, 3 HOURS!? It felt like a joke and is mighty disappointing. I know I missed a lot and I still have special worlds and everything, but seriously. 3 hours is way too short.
3 hours for what? The game has ~87 levels (not counting the Rainbow ones), that's 7 more than NSMB 1 and about 10 more than NSMB Wii. It has plenty of content; it's right in line with the other 2 games in the series. If you decide to skip most of it, that's your own fault.
3 hours for what? The game has ~87 levels (not counting the Rainbow ones), that's 7 more than NSMB 1 and about 10 more than NSMB Wii. It has plenty of content; it's right in line with the other 2 games in the series. If you decide to skip most of it, that's your own fault.
I wrote that, I know, I know. I will definitely gather everything, but even then, getting to the end of the main quest in 3 hours feels underwhelming. There is undeniably much and more for me yet to find, but I'm only saying that it feels much shorter than previous games at the moment.
I wrote that, I know, I know. I will definitely gather everything, but even then, getting to the end of the main quest in 3 hours feels underwhelming. There is undeniably much and more for me yet to find, but I'm only saying that it feels much shorter than previous games at the moment.
That's only because more worlds and levels are skippable/optional now. I mean, this game even has 9 worlds as opposed to NSMB 1's 8. To be fair though, I think NSMB Wii's levels were definitely bigger/longer overall.
My only issue with the game is the music. Level design is great just like NSMBW, the hidden exits are really well hidden, and each world has plenty of varied content. The 'beat in 3 hours crowd' I just ignore; They can play the game how they want, but I can't really respect their opinion on the game, since we're obviously looking for different things from the game.
So I'm a little confused. I just read a story that Nintendo have releases WW and regional coin totals but I have the game on right now and I don't have any spotpass messages or anything. Is there no way to get these coin totals from the game itself?
I just loaded up Mighty Switch Force, man that game looks so good compared to this. I think Nintendo is crazy for making the background all blurry in 3D. It doesn't enhance the 3D effect, it just takes away.
My only issue with the game is the music. Level design is great just like NSMBW, the hidden exits are really well hidden, and each world has plenty of varied content. The 'beat in 3 hours crowd' I just ignore; They can play the game how they want, but I can't really respect their opinion on the game, since we're obviously looking for different things from the game.
Yeah, the music is f*cking terrible. It doesn't ruin the game by any means, but I'm convinced that great music can elevate a good platformer into EXCELLENT territory.
I think Nintendo is crazy for making the background all blurry in 3D. It doesn't enhance the 3D effect, it just takes away.
I love the way MSF looks, but I think they did a good job with NSMB2. The depth is designed to be subtle, but I still feel it adds to the game *AND* side steps cross talk issues. It's one of the easiest games to view in 3D. I actually prefer 3D that takes a more subtle approach to that which slams you over the head.
The best thing about NSMB's music being relatively uninspired is I have no qualms about dropping the volume real low and catching up on some podcasts. (I keep it on just a touch so I can hear those delicious coin sound effects)
The game is perfectly playable without audio.
unlike a certain Vita version of Rayman Origins -- goddamn relics
Yeah, the music is f*cking terrible. It doesn't ruin the game by any means, but I'm convinced that great music can elevate a good platformer into EXCELLENT territory.
If they're not going to change the graphics it would be nice if they atleast added some new music. I would be ok if they just remixed some older mario game soundtraks.
Is it possible to be bored and having fun at the same time? Because that's what I feel. I can't believe I'm saying this about a Mario platformer, because it's generally my favorite series, but... this game is just there.
They need to scrap the whole NSMB concept and start fresh. I'm not just talking about the artstyle and music either. This game would be mediocre even if the backgrounds look like Van Gogh. I'm really disliking how the Star Coins are the biggest platforming emphasis in this game.
My favorite part of Mario was never the exploration, and I find myself looking for the Star Coins, not because I enjoy looking, but because I hope for either (a) a challenging platforming task or (b) the ability to unlock other paths to potential better platforming. I never had to collect Star Coins in SMB3 to unlock content, and I'd rather a straight A-to-B style gameplay, one of the reasons Galaxy is so awesome. Worse, some of the secrets just feel arbitrary. I shouldn't have to look up an FAQ to unlock a level. (ex. a hidden beanstalk from an invisible block with no hints that it's there)
The raccoon tail is still fun to use, but I can't shake the feeling that it's just a cynical ploy for nostalgia. As I'm whacking a bouncing fire-chain enemy, I'm wondering why I'm not just replaying the superior SMB3.
The coin thing is novel up to level 1-fortress, at which point I already got tired of it. I was really hoping it'd change up the game, but it doesn't. This makes me fear even more for NSMB:U, since that doesn't even have a gimmick. The coin flower is functionally just a fire flower with a larger radius.
And of course, the music sucks. At least if you're going to do the BAH BAH shit, don't do it in a Bowser castle where it destroys any sense of the tension from the otherwise decently ominous music. Blah.
NSMB DS was the first 2D Mario platformer in years, so I enjoyed it for that. NSMB Wii has some good level design, but I could already feel the same-ness. The third entry has officially crossed the line where I'm tired of the formula.
And it sure doesn't help that I've been watching Siglemic speedrun Super Mario 64, one of the most innovative and creative games ever made.
Is it possible to be bored and having fun at the same time? Because that's what I feel. I can't believe I'm saying this about a Mario platformer, because it's generally my favorite series, but... this game is just there.
I had no problems with it. Should open the path to the north, not south if that's what you're looking at. You might want to spoiler tag the levels too, since some people don't want to know where the secret paths are located.
Got a streetpass this morning, and I have to say, as sorta down on this game as I was before, if I can consistently find people to be streetpassing with I can see myself completely turning my opinion around. Coins actually make sense and are fun to collect when you're directly competing with someone. Easily best use of streetpass that I've seen yet. Doesn't make any sense that they won't be sending out coin rush challenges over spotpass (at least not from what I hear), because it's a great idea
Okay, now I have three shiny stars. I assume the fourth and fifth stars would be for
getting the million coins and getting 1000 lives?
IrishNinja asked me what I thought of the game, and here would be my bullet point thoughts:
- I paid $10 for the game new. I had not planned to buy the game, but I'd be crazy to pass up a deal like that.
- I guess I'd give it a marginal B grade. I don't think it's an excellent game. I did enjoy it enough to play it through to completion. This is going to sound weird, but the only other 2D platformer I have on 3DS is the launch Rabbids Travel in Time game which has like a 50 on Metacritic. I liked NSMB2 more than that game (which I also 100%'d), but not a whole lot more. I am fully aware that reads as damning by very faint praise and that's my intention.
Levels, Enemies, and Mechanics:
- I don't really see much of the sublime level design people praise. There were a few levels that I liked a lot (the up-right scrolling water rising level; the level with the two pipe/difficulty level choices; world (4?) ghost house with the P-Switch and the falling; the ghost house with the auto-scrolling that changes directions a few time; most of the castles in the back half of the game), but by and large the levels felt pretty standard to me. I did like the hidden coin placement, for the most part, although some of the "bonk an invisible block to find the path to the coin" bits had no real hinting and so felt a little arbitrary and unfair.
I felt star world was pretty underwhelming. I did like the red coin frog they introduced, but beyond that the level designs were neither challenging nor particularly novel
. As always, the levels were very good about introducing a new mechanic or enemy in a relatively safe context and then iterating on it--Nintendo is very good at this and lesser games should take note.
- I agree with Aeana, the game relies too much on p-blocks. I see why they do this, because it's an easy way to flood the screen with coins on a non-permanent basis, but it's still overused. Especially in Ghost Houses.
- I think the game unfortunately lacks the kind of verticality found often in SMB3 and SMW, partially because of how Raccoon Tail was nerfed. Some levels go up and down, but very few feel big or open the way many of the SMW levels do. Having the vines lead to separate screens instead of going up in the same level makes the levels feel very small. The camera's vertical scroll when you do have the raccoon tail or have a level with some vertical element feels a little slow, too, it almost reminds me of SMB Deluxe on Game Boy where the scrolling is very awkward because the game wasn't originally made for vertical scrolling.
- I did like the bosses in general. Reznor is kind of the weak link, but most of the Koopa Kids were new and interesting. I'd say I liked Wendy the best. The bosses still have the typical problem that plagued SMB3 and SMW; often times once you've hit a boss once, they do their defensive shell roll, and then there's a period where they're vulnerable again BEFORE they resume their pattern, so you can string together three hits in one go. But Wendy and... Ludwig? Whichever one has the cannons and chains... were very cool.
- The final boss is really lame, as people have mentioned many times. I would say it's the worst final boss since SMB1 and lacks the tension
- Two great new mechanics: (World 6 boss spoilers)
Flash-freeze effect from the flying Koopa Chariot, re-used in Star World
and the Full-Screen Big Boo. One thing I love about Full Screen Big Boo is that if you look at him for too long, he kinda quivers a little bit and then starts advancing anyway... like he's saying "I'm scared... but I gotta do it anyway!" This was one of the few touches in the game that really screamed Nintendo to me.
- Power-ups: Mini-mushroom remains stupid, not only because it's not interesting to use, but more importantly because just like the previous games, there are situations where a level does not give you a mini-mushroom but you still need one to get coins, leading you to replay other levels to "stock up". I liked the coin block head and the coin loop and the coin flower.
Audiovisual:
- I hated just about everything about the presentation. I don't think the backgrounds are particularly nice. Everything in the foreground looked, as it did the last two times, pretty crummy. 3D didn't really add anything; it was hard to get a good balance between 3D strong enough to give good depth without having a sort of blur effect on the backgrounds. I think the place where I most notice the weaker visual presentation is the ghost houses--I think back to the awe at seeing the massive crowd of semi-transparent ghosts dive bombing me in the SMW ghost houses... and how this game has none of the same sense of scale at all. I did like the vignetting effect in the ghost houses. I'm not going to complain about reuse of assets, but I will complain that I never liked those assets to begin with.
- The music is a disaster; mostly re-used songs (many of which I didn't like before), too limited a soundtrack in number of tracks, utterly terrible instrumentation. They not only reused the awful pipe organ synth from NSMBWii, but they doubled down on vocoder synths. I have no beef with enemies bopping to the music, though, I thought that was neat in the original NSMB.
Coins
- I did change my playstyle in order to get coins, but it's pretty obvious that a lot of people in this thread have not been able to adjust their playstyle. This is going to be something pretty divisive about this game--how much of the experience do you miss if you don't try to maximize your coins? Does the game do a good job of making someone adjust their pace in order to make them maximize their coins?
- The map screen keeps prompting you when you hit coin milestones, but since you're not actually leading towards anything and the million coin goal is a canard, this is kind of crummy. I'd also argue that having a million coin goal, reward or no reward, is a little silly if it essentially REQUIRES grinding to get. You could play 5 hours of Coin Rush and play every level in the whole game straight through 5 times while trying to maximize your coins--far more play than 99.9% of people will get out of the game--and you still won't have a million.
Errata
- I haven't tried multiplayer.
- How are there no online leaderboards JFC.
Conclusion
Although there are 87 levels and they're certainly longer than the little nuggets from SMB3, the game as a whole felt very small fry or insubstantial to me, like NSMB1 did. I have no idea why this is, I can't really justify it except as a collective summary of the thoughts I expressed above. I don't want to say "level pack" or "B team" or anything like that, but the game just seems less significant as an entry than pretty much any other mainline Mario except NSMB1.
I haven't finished 10 games released in 2012 yet, but I can't imagine any scenario where this game would make my top 10. Despite this, I liked it enough to play through and finish it. I think it's a good, not great game. I think Super Mario 3d Land (which was also flawed) is a much better game and would easily recommend it over NSMB2. I did not feel ripped off for $10. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't buy NSMB2 for full price.
There is a 0% chance that someone in their first playthrough would be able to get the 4-2 Warp Pipe to 8-1, or the first of the two warp whistles (well, if they didn't watch The Wizard)--and I'd also argue that the levels you still need to play in SMB1/SMB3 do a great job of encapsulating the games as a whole, still offering a sense of scale, a feeling that the games are substantial, and some good platforming challenges. I've finished SMB1 maybe 250 times or so and I still find World 8 challenging.
By contrast, I think it would be pretty simple for someone doing their first playthrough to take the Cannon route in NSMBWii. NSMB2 makes you play through MORE of the game, but I could easily see someone who doesn't adjust to the coin attack style of gameplay going through the game and finding it to be very slight and short.
I had no problems with it. Should open the path to the north, not south if that's what you're looking at. You might want to spoiler tag the levels too, since some people don't want to know where the secret paths are located.
Figured it out. I had given my brother the 3DS to play and he died numerous times on the level so the white tanooki leaf popped up. I decided since I'd never used it before to try it out and see what it does. I went through the secret exit using the powerup so that's why it never opened up. I went through it quickly a minute ago without it and it opened up just fine.
Anyway, Having fun with the title. Liked it more than NSMBDS. About on par with NSMBW for me. Most flaws have already been listed. Major ones being few new things being done, reused assets, and lame coin reward. Also, I have to agree with Stump's assertation of the mini-mushroom. Personally I love playing it but I hate its implementation and I hate its rarity as well. Don't clog levels with secret mini-paths but not provide it anywhere in the game. Still haven't beat the game due to work and other responsibilities but I'm up till world 5 right now. The first 3 worlds were surprisingly well paced compared to most early worlds in platformers but world 4 and 5 have definetly slumped. I can't believe they reuse the reznor fight as minibosses for every level. Just reeks of laziness.
- I think the game unfortunately lacks the kind of verticality found often in SMB3 and SMW, partially because of how Raccoon Tail was nerfed. Some levels go up and down, but very few feel big or open the way many of the SMW levels do. Having the vines lead to separate screens instead of going up in the same level makes the levels feel very small.
Easily best use of streetpass that I've seen yet. Doesn't make any sense that they won't be sending out coin rush challenges over spotpass (at least not from what I hear), because it's a great idea
They will, but not right now. They claim to still not have worked on new levels specific to coin rush, but this is planned. They are waiting for players feedback first.
