My level pack was 1-4, 1-2, then a castle w/ Gold Flower used for 1-2. Just keep restarting the Mushroom pack until 1-4 is the first level, speed through it and see if 1-2 is the next level. Castles don't matter too much as I get ~6250 coins at the end of 1-2 with the flagpole doubler and by the end of the Rush I have ~13000 coins
Just takes some time to get the pack levels perfect
Picked up the game yesterday will my new XL. I have only played the game for a few hours. Originally I was not overly excited about NSMB:2 because it seemed to lack originality and was merely derivative of NSMB and NSMB:Wii (i.e I would have like to have seen a new art style, new concepts/themes for levels and an alternative structure for the game).
However, my thoughts are:
(a) The level design and gameplay is for the most part excellent, aspects I am particularly fond of include: (i) great enemy placement, (ii) clever use of secret areas and exists (I like the fact that the game forces you to check all levels for secrets and does not 'spell' out what levels to replay - that said, I am in no rush to get to 100% ASAP), and (iii) power ups are not overpowered (in contrast to Super Mario 3D Land).
(b) My desire to collect coins coupled with the timer has actually put the kind of pressure to finish a level on me that I had not felt since the NES Mario titles. I can see how some would see the coin collecting as merely a gimmick but I think it works well.
(c) I actually like the use of 3D and the graphics and think the game looks good in motion. (although I note there are others who do not share this view - there is no right or wrong, this is a subjective assessment).
Essentially, NSMB:2 has been a pleasant surprise. I was thinking it might be a 'chore' to play another Mario Bros game that was so derivative of the last two. I was wrong. However, I would still like to see Nintendo embrace a new art style, new concepts/themes for levels and an alternative structure for the game post NSMB:U.
My level pack was 1-4, 1-2, then a castle w/ Gold Flower used for 1-2. Just keep restarting the Mushroom pack until 1-4 is the first level, speed through it and see if 1-2 is the next level. Castles don't matter too much as I get ~6250 coins at the end of 1-2 with the flagpole doubler and by the end of the Rush I have ~13000 coins
Just takes some time to get the pack levels perfect
Can someone let me know what I did to make this happen:
Was playing a level in world 5 and when it finished it played some old-school mario song, and then when I was sent back to the hub area the starting area for world 5 had a rainbow over it and it became basically a level with nothing but coins in it. Does every world have this and is it easy to replicate? Thanks.
Can someone let me know what I did to make this happen:
Was playing a level in world 5 and when it finished it played some old-school mario song, and then when I was sent back to the hub area the starting area for world 5 had a rainbow over it and it became basically a level with nothing but coins in it. Does every world have this and is it easy to replicate? Thanks.
Played heaps of the game. Verdict so far is that the coin gimmick is a disappointing throwaway and the lack of originality is an (predictable) let down, but the actual level design is surprisingly good. The levels are tight, there's a lot of secrets and stuff to discover, so they feel pretty dense in content even if they're short. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I do wish they hadn't essentially made New Super Mario Bros: Map Pack, but they've done a great job of making an excellent map pack.
Keep in mind I only played first world so far, but I'm seeing nothing imaginative or new yet. Super Mario 3D Land's beginning was a masterpiece in comparison if you look at the work done on both games. I don't know if it'll improve later on, maybe my opinion of it will sway around but playing this the main catch of the whole game is "get dem coins". And I admit getting 400 coins in a level made me think "yeah that's pretty cool" for a split second but then you realize you are playing a Mario game and the goal shouldn't be a fucking collect-a-thon. It just seems like a diversion from the, so far, bad platforming. It literally screams this game is made for casuals (I don't like the hold jump to glide with tail either, in 3D land it worked because you moved around in a 3D space, but they could've kept the control like Mario bros 3 here), and I really hope later levels turn up some good difficulty like previous modern Marios did, I know I shouldn't expect it from Bosses but some better level design I really want in this
don't think about collecting coins as the main catch; this is your typical 2D Mario. Peach kidnapped, eight worlds, lots of levels, platforming fiesta. There's no catch. I honestly don't give a shit about collecting coins since it's not mandatory, while I'm a sucker for medals, there's only three per level and they provide a nice challenge without the harassment of collecting thousands of them. Platforming becomes better and better as you progress... first world is obviously the easiest. 2D and 3D Marios are meant to be different, one is your safe platform and the other is mostly an experimental exercise. I'm having the same amount of fun with NSMB2 so...keep playing, mate
don't think about collecting coins as the main catch; this is your typical 2D Mario. Peach kidnapped, eight worlds, lots of levels, platforming fiesta. There's no catch. I honestly don't give a shit about collecting coins since it's not mandatory, while I'm a sucker for medals, there's only three per level and they provide a nice challenge without the harassment of collecting thousands of them. Platforming becomes better and better as you progress... first world is obviously the easiest. 2D and 3D Marios are meant to be different, one is your safe platform and the other is mostly an experimental exercise. I'm having the same amount of fun with NSMB2 so...keep playing, mate
Most of the levels are pretty much straight left-right if you don't take advantage of collecting coins. 8 red coins a stage; taking advantage of multi-coin bricks and coin head Mario; side pipes that have no value beyond Star Coins or just coins; the item that changes regular enemies into gold enemies... I'd say you'd knock literally 75-80% of any level's design out if you didn't try to get coins at all.
Played through the first five worlds so far, every Star Coin and secret exit as well. Aside from the artstyle and music, I have really enjoyed it. The level design is very good and some of the Star Coins are fairly challenging to locate. Very good addition to my 3DS library.
Yeah, I couldn't find the regular exit for that level either.
When you go through the door and end up in an identical looking room with an arrow pointing back to the left, go to the left, hit the switch, go up through ceiling, through the door, and in the next area and don't go through the obvious door. Instead, wait for the block on the left to stop moving and hop on top of it. There's a switch there. It opens up the path to the real exit.
Yeah, I couldn't find the regular exit for that level either.
When you go through the door and end up in an identical looking room with an arrow pointing back to the left, go to the left, hit the switch, go up through ceiling, and don't go through the obvious door. Instead, wait for the block on the left to stop moving and hop on top of it. There's a switch there. It opens up the path to the real exit.
Most of the levels are pretty much straight left-right if you don't take advantage of collecting coins. 8 red coins a stage; taking advantage of multi-coin bricks and coin head Mario; side pipes that have no value beyond Star Coins or just coins; the item that changes regular enemies into gold enemies... I'd say you'd knock literally 75-80% of any level's design out if you didn't try to get coins at all.
I don't see levels being left-right as a negative, though, your goal is the flagpole after all. i just think that finding Star Coins/secrets exits is way more engaging than collecting coins and I can have a satisfying experience even if I just ignore said coins. Red coins and coin block Mario..I just see them as optional
It's a very well designed game, great controls, really fun to play, and actually had a couple of really good music tracks. There were some surprises, some really devious level design, and tons of secrets that were exciting to uncover.
And because of all that, I feel like this game is the prime example of, regardless of how well made and fun a videogame is, it also needs to leave a deeper impression that's hard to describe before I can call it a great or amazing game. It isn't memorable. A lot of things about it are great, but I don't see myself playing through it again, or putting in the effort to collect everything and see what all it has to offer.
Its formulaic approach for me is what really brings it down. It lacks identity. All Mario games have your standard Mario tropes, but this game particularly felt like it was trying to make
Mario World fans say "yay!" by having the Reznor bosses. It was trying to make Mario 3 fans say "yay!" by having the raccoon tail and the P meter and Mario 3 music and Mario 3 bosses
.
By this point, the NSMB series feels very redundant with a been there, done that, seen that atmosphere and it tries too hard by throwing in things from earlier titles because it isn't its own thing nor does it feel organic because it shoehorns in so many random things which gives it a clumsy mismatched feel. It adds new elements and some clever surprises, but overall it hasn't really been changed up. This is an 8 out of 10 game and when it comes to Mario, that isn't acceptable to me, silly as that may sound.
I'll definitely be buying New Super Mario Bros. U, but only under obligation due to me being a sad, pathetic Mario fanboy.
Played Coin Rush for a few hours today and was earning coins at a much brisker pace than normal, but am still incredibly far from a million (140,000 or so). Then I realized, of course the reward for reaching a million is stupid and worthless, it has to be.
It can't be some amazing piece of content because so few players will ever see that total that they'd essentially be designing content no one will ever see. Nintendo (Miyamoto especially) are fans of every player being able to see 100% of content, and why Miyamoto keeps switching side quests in Zelda to the main quest etc.
I beat my first dude in Street Pass today, felt awesome.
Played heaps of the game. Verdict so far is that the coin gimmick is a disappointing throwaway and the lack of originality is an (predictable) let down, but the actual level design is surprisingly good. The levels are tight, there's a lot of secrets and stuff to discover, so they feel pretty dense in content even if they're short. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I do wish they hadn't essentially made New Super Mario Bros: Map Pack, but they've done a great job of making an excellent map pack.
Eh, it's a gimmick, I feel. The whole theme of the game is still pure platforming. The only thing they did was literally put coins where they previously wouldn't have, at least that's how I feel.
The golden flower is awesome, though. Waaay better than starman.
Just spent the last couple hours in Coin Rush, my misgivings about this mode have disappeared for the most part. This is a lot of fun, and definitely puts the 1,000,000 in a realistic reach.
My current best is 22,854 which seems good but I imagine players have already found a way to get 999,999 coins or some such.
So... DLC is going to be like a Banana Pack, five stages and it chooses three of them, and probably be like $8 right? Are we feeling that? I'm not sure I'm feeling it.
I seem to be on the minority who think the level design is atrocious. I always thought NSMB Wii is among the best Mario games when it comes to level design; this one just doesn't do it for me. I noticed that it gets better at World 4 and 5, but takes a steep downhill at the final world. And the final boss is among the worst I played -- ever.
Extremely dissatisfied with the game; probably the worst Mario game I played. One could argue that the first NSMB wasn't special when it comes to level design, but its time was right. This one, especially after NSMB Wii & 3D Land, is a disgrace to the franchise IMO. I agree with Wired's review in that everything seems to be designed for the Coin Rush mode, and so the level design falls short when played in a regular fashion. Which is, frankly, to me at least, is the meat of the game.
I do love the new power-ups, though: they're fun to play with and the fire flower is so satisfying. But that's about it for me.
I wish they weren't so straightforward, though. I mean, they all make it too obvious as to what you need to do, and it's hard to fail on any of them except maaaaaybe the one in Flower World.
Not really. You do two halves of a world less overall, that's all. Better way to do things compared to just tacking on extra worlds like 3D Land did, though
Not really. You do two halves of a world less overall, that's all. Better way to do things compared to just tacking on extra worlds like 3D Land did, though
Oh yeah, I beat it about a half hour ago. The final Bowser fight was cute (great reference to Yoshi's Island, too), but I was surprised at how uneventful it turned out to be. He doesn't really do a whole lot to try and kill you, you know?
I enjoyed the game, but the general aesthetic is quite long in tooth and the music is cancerous.
I still don't understand the COINSSSSS gimmick. They made a normal Mario game and copy pasted coins everywhere. Is there someone on the planet who was thinking "I'd love to give one of those Mario games a try, but only if they had more coins"?!
I still don't understand the COINSSSSS gimmick. They made a normal Mario game and copy pasted coins everywhere. Is there someone on the planet who was thinking "I'd love to give one of those Mario games a try, but only if they had more coins"?!
Up to a record of 28,228 coins after 2-4, 1-5, and 1-Tower. I've obtained 3000 coins in 2-4 before, but it was only once. Man, getting to 30,000 will be... fun.
I still don't understand the COINSSSSS gimmick. They made a normal Mario game and copy pasted coins everywhere. Is there someone on the planet who was thinking "I'd love to give one of those Mario games a try, but only if they had more coins"?!
If they actually made coins useful to get then I totally do think that the theme of coins could have worked great. But it all completely falls apart when they decided to make coins mean absolutely nothing to most sane people.
I seem to be on the minority who think the level design is atrocious. I always thought NSMB Wii is among the best Mario games when it comes to level design; this one just doesn't do it for me. I noticed that it gets better at World 4 and 5, but takes a steep downhill at the final world. And the final boss is among the worst I played -- ever.
Extremely dissatisfied with the game; probably the worst Mario game I played. One could argue that the first NSMB wasn't special when it comes to level design, but its time was right. This one, especially after NSMB Wii & 3D Land, is a disgrace to the franchise IMO.
I'm with you. Maybe if the layouts weren't done before I'd be a lot more hyped about it, but I don't really see what makes these layouts worth all the praise. After recently playing SMB1-3(including lost worlds), SMW, and some really good mario world mods like VIP mario, these stages just seem as formulaic as the aestetics and power-ups.
I personally cant fathom how the designers were so stupid to not add some sort of better incentive to the coins thing. That alone could have really saved a lot of this game and shouldn't really take an unreasonable amount of dev time for someone like nintendo.
Most of the levels are pretty much straight left-right if you don't take advantage of collecting coins. 8 red coins a stage; taking advantage of multi-coin bricks and coin head Mario; side pipes that have no value beyond Star Coins or just coins; the item that changes regular enemies into gold enemies... I'd say you'd knock literally 75-80% of any level's design out if you didn't try to get coins at all.
But the game offers virtually no real incentive to play it anything but completely straight as the only reward for going out of your way is more lives...which is virtually impossible to get even close to running out both due to how piss easy the game is and how often the game just throws lives at you.
I see this as a complete and utter failure by nintendo in a number of ways. Most importantly, they threw this already derivative game out with one feature that set it apart and that one feature is entirely superfluous. But here's the really sad part of it: Ninty FINALLY had a mechanic that could have solved the modern Mario live problem...and did nothing with it. If they would have made lives very scarce outside of hitting the 100 coin thing or getting red coins then there would be real incentive there to seek out the coins + it would both have made lives actually meaningful again, thus solving a big problem mario has had recently.
But alas, the game is extremely easy and lives are thrown at you like candy so the end result is the entire mechanic the level design is based around being entirely meaningless.
Nintendo failed on this one, and it's sad to see because they really could have done some really cool things with the mechanic if they had both made the game harder and not thrown lives at you like candy.
I personally cant fathom how the designers were so stupid to not add some sort of better incentive to the coins thing. That alone could have really saved a lot of this game and shouldn't really take an unreasonable amount of dev time for someone like nintendo.
Honestly (and this is pure speculation here) I imagine the original plan for this one left the game either much more difficult or left lives extremely sparse outside of coin collecting, but Ninty higher ups vetoed it because they needed a system seller. I mean as the solution is so abundantly clear as this one is, I can't help but give the design team at least a little bit of credit and imagined they could reach the same conclusion with the coin mechanic as the rest of us here. THis isn't even going into the fact of the matter that the game was very obviously rushed to the market in time to launch with the XL.
Overall ninty really dropped the ball on this one, and it's really kind of sad because I could really see an interesting Mario game made out this....they just completely failed at doing so.
Anyway, here's how you make the coin collecting a worthwhile mechanic - have a fourth star coin which you only get after collecting over a certain number of coins in a level. Problem solved.
Ultimately I agree with you, but I'm trying to dig in and find some way they could have saved this product from mediocrity, and limiting lives to incentivize coin collecting is about the only way I can think of that they could have done it. Either that, or find a new gimmick.
Anyway, here's how you make the coin collecting a worthwhile mechanic - have a fourth star coin which you only get after collecting over a certain number of coins in a level. Problem solved.
I don't think it's mediocre at all, it felt like each level had something new to add and some of the secrets are really nicely hidden.
My only problems are the reuse of old level themes, the terrible music and that the coin collecting could have been made much more compelling with very little effort.
This doesn't really solve the issue as collecting star coins is already entirely superfluous to the main game outside of [spoilers]unlocking a few entirely disappointing stages[/spoilers].
I don't agree with that, I think the act of finding and collecting the star coins is rewarding enough in most cases. Some of them are very well hidden. I don't really feel like I need much more reward beyond that for collecting them.
I still am not sure how someone in Japan spoiled the million coin prize the day the game came out. I mean, that's 50,000 coins every hour playing 20 hours straight.
You can get 30.000 coins in 10 minutes in coin rush mode. So if that guy is really good and it seems like he probably is really good, he could pull off a million coins in 6~ 7 hours.
Honestly (and this is pure speculation here) I imagine the original plan for this one left the game either much more difficult or left lives extremely sparse outside of coin collecting, but Ninty higher ups vetoed it because they needed a system seller. I mean as the solution is so abundantly clear as this one is, I can't help but give the design team at least a little bit of credit and imagined they could reach the same conclusion with the coin mechanic as the rest of us here. THis isn't even going into the fact of the matter that the game was very obviously rushed to the market in time to launch with the XL.
Its possible that they got compromised at the last second for some silly reason, but I don't really see the part where this game was originally harder. It's not easy to rebalance a game in a platformer. Its not like an FPS where you can adjust health levels and maybe AI aggression and call it good, you have to redesign each and every level. And in the end every level seemed perfectly balanced and had no obvious parts that got chopped or added for difficulty.
I really do wish I knew what the reasoning was. My best guess is that they simply couldn't think of a reward that they thought they could add. I'm sure they came up with tons of ideas, but I bet every one of them was discarded because it wasn't "pure" enough to their insanely safe design philosophies that they obviously had with this game.
actually it doesn't. they've been experimenting like crazy for the last several years. the nsmb games have been the only ones that have been relatively the same over the last few iterations.
actually it doesn't. they've been experimenting like crazy for the last several years. the nsmb games have been the only ones that have been relatively the same over the last few iterations.
And NSMB Wii added a four player mode which worked very well.
I wonder if the GamePad for the 5th player will have other uses than what we saw at E3. After the Rayman showcase, they may have greenlighted other concepts they worked on.
