Beat all levels and also got most star coins in about 4 and a half hours.
I didn't have very high expectations for this, but even then, it was pretty underwhelming :/ Sure, it was standard Mario platforming that's decent fun while it lasted, but there's not a single level in the game I found memorable. I was especially disappointed by
the Star world; I expected something similar to the SMW special levels, instead, it's a series of disconnected levels that feel no different than others already seen in the game before.
After 3D Land, which was really original at times and which I really enjoyed, this just feels like a cash grab and rom hack from NSMB1.
I've played this coming right from Sound Shapes (and will be going back to that now) and it made me realize that Mario is really no longer the King of 2D platformers. Stuff like that, Rayman Origins, Mutant Blobs Attack and LBP are much more original, feel fresh, have way more personality than the recent Mario 2D games. SS and LBP even have great level editors in them which pretty much provide infinite depth, and Mario feels behind of times by not even providing online leaderboards; speedrunning and trying to get the #1 spot in a level is extremely satisfying.
This is just my opinion, of course, but I'm sure some people will agree with me.
I don't understand how people can enjoy the platforming in Little Big Planet. It seemed so wrong when I played it.
Rayman Origins was good, but NSMB Wii was great, I loved it. The secrets were so much more interesting, and the increased screen size was a fantastic idea. Loved bouncing off my friends, too.
Still excited for NSMB2, gotta get a 3DS first, though.
To be fair, from the games I listed it's probably the one with the worst mechanics, but it's still a great game with an amazing editor, and once you get used to the floaty jumping you don't even think about it anymore.
My copy of the game after being sent from Japan to Heathrow then back to Japan is now sat in Import Customs in Tokyo. Luckily if it doesn't turn up after 3 weeks (3 days time) I'm pretty sure I can ask amiami for a refund and if I do I'm just going to download the damned thing.
My post is just my opinion, it wasn't presented as anything else so I'm not sure what the problem is.
I couldn't get on with it, and I can't understand how people enjoy what I thought was a fundamentally awkward game. I feel the same way about 3D Zelda, and millions of people like that. I'm not calling all the fans of LBP stupid and wrong, just saying I didn't get it, it didn't click with me. It's not an attack.
Yeah, that sucks, especially because there are enough coins in plain sight to get the bonus while just playing through the game for the first time. Oh well.
EDIT: Also they didn't exactly rack their brains coming up with bosses for the Fortresses did they? Heh.
Well, the "fake wall lol" ones (which as far as I remember are completely gone here) weren't exactly thrilling, but a lot of NSMBW's coins were more of a test of platforming skill on top of the level layout. I doubt people who couldn't get them would be able to finish world 9 anyways. But yeah, I guess making each level unlock after getting x coins regardless of which world would have been better.
Random question but is it just me or is the third star coin in the world 7 castle a bastard to obtain without dying? I still remember that horror, right before the boss door, you have to fall with the snake blocks and time the jump perfectly.
Anyway World 3 was conquered.
A quick pondering about water stages here, if there is one department NSMB completely blunders at it's definitely underwater stages. Think back to SMW and you have stages like Vanilla Fortress, Soda Lake, the Ghost Ship, Forest of Illusion 2, these are some interesting underwater stages. The NSMB games stick too rigidly to a left to right funnel in stages that take place entirely underwater with nary anything but cheep cheeps and bloopers and it's really quite boring. There are a few inspired moments (The giant eel in NSMB 8-3, Angler Fish stage in NSMBwii) but mostly if you can't ever leave the water until the end there's little to get excited about, funnily enough the NSMB game with the best underwater suit (Penguin) has very few entirely underwater stages.
World 3
It was indeed a merger of tropical and forest themes here. There were 2 stages that stood out to me, first was the Tower which is a scrolling underwater stage, shades of vanilla fortress and NSMBwii Castle 4, the tower format of heading upwards lets it stand alongside other flooded forts and even Reznor mixed things up for the first time.
The other stage that stood out was a hidden one I believe, Mini Mushroom only, and it's about time something like this happened, there are 2 pipes, the top path is tougher, the lower is slower, a scrolling stage once again where you use mini mario to dash across the waters surface and jump between obstacles.
The rest of the world was basic enough, the castle has buzz-saws everywhere with Wendy once again flooding the boss room every now and then.
Snow world with Morton is next, i've played a bit of this one, it seems a bit weak so far, that's Snow worlds for you, no Penguin suit is no fun.
My Tesco pre-order came in, not bad for £25 and getting it a day early. Loving the gold box and inside cover, after playing it on both a normal 3DS and a 3DS XL, I enjoyed it more on the XL, normal 3DS gives me pretty bad hand cramp.
I don't understand how people can enjoy the platforming in Little Big Planet. It seemed so wrong when I played it.
Rayman Origins was good, but NSMB Wii was great, I loved it. The secrets were so much more interesting, and the increased screen size was a fantastic idea. Loved bouncing off my friends, too.
Still excited for NSMB2, gotta get a 3DS first, though.
Got mine today to and heres some very quick impressions. Its practically identical to NSMB Wii in a lot of ways. Theres been some tweaks here and there but it really does feel more of the same. Mario feels smoother and more fluid but at the same time this makes it feel different. Butt stomp is now Down in the circle pad rather than L (may have been the same for the DS too) which takes some getting used to after Mario 3D Land. Graphically it looks like the Wii game and the blurring background is a nice touch but the game only has two depths, foreground and background, nothing seems to go into or out of the screen yet.
I guess my main feeling is its all very twee like the other NSMB games, theres something about it from the sound to the graphics thats all very boring and conservative. I love SMB3 and every level felt unique but this really feels at times like someone made a NSMB level editor graphic set and its been used to make everything compared to other Mario games where each level felt unique. In a way it seems too polished, at least early on with everything obviously sign posted and any previous Mario fan will instantly know where all the hidden lives and pipes are because they are in the usual places.
Thats not to say its bad but it feels so far like a level expansion to the other NSMB titles than new and amazing like Mario 3D Land. And god the music, it was charming in the first DS game but its now got the same music 3 games running.
Nintendo are keen to promote getting a million coins but so far theres no reason why and if that ending thats been talked about is true then it all seems rather pointless and i've no idea why they are hyping it so much in their advertising.
Oh and Co-op requires each player to have a copy of the game which is a huge surprise seeing as most Nintendo games allow 1 card play.
Its not a terrible game, its just very stale, by the numbers and no where as fun as 3D Land at least so far. Theres no mystery or cool surprises, even getting the tanooki suit in SMB3 today feels wonderful and fun but in this it just feels like 'oh heres the tanooki suit part, make sure you fly up there cos this is the area you have to use it in'.
^ Down for ground pound has been that way for the entire NSMB series.
Also, I agree that the NSMB series plays it way too safe. Everything feels over thought in some places while at the same time extremely conservative. I'm hoping the later levels are decent at least. I'll be playing it whenever I get an XL because using the normal 3DS do-pad exclusively for a game is like sticking your thumb into boiling water. Feels bad man.
They talk about why there's "NEW" in the game's title, but never explain anything new about the game, just that it's the same shit, different game, same annoying song.
I'm digging it (I'm up to World 3.) Having a lot more fun with it than NSMB 1 and Wii. Yeah, you can still complain about Mario controlling sluggishly, baby pastels, and and underwater levels that are like swimming through molasses, but that said, reviews are jaded. Game is pretty great.
I realize this is going to make me sound like a total noob: but where is the second star in World 1 - Fortress (the tower climbing level with Roy). Been unable to find it yet :/
Nevermind found it in the end, sneaky. Enjoying it so far, is there anyway to play as Luigi though (other than co-op...)
I realize this is going to make me sound like a total noob: but where is the second star in World 1 - Fortress (the tower climbing level with Roy). Been unable to find it yet :/
the room with the four snake blocks and the P button that you enter from a red pipe. Press the button, then use the blocks to climb up and it'll be in the upper level, but it disappears so hurry.
Just finished World 1... with 15,192 coins and 142 lives
On W1-2 I got 927 coins solo. Anybody beat that?
So far I'm enjoying it a great deal, especially co-op mode.
Cons: It's another Mario game.
Pros: It's another Mario game!
For the lack of ambition, recycled music, underwhelming 3D effect and rehashing of the same worlds, it's still an extremely fun game.
Oh there will be world leaderboards!
The box mentions it ("Spotpass: Receive the global coin total and all the latest Mario news"), the manual mentions it and the game itself mentions it!
So just a case of turning it on I guess? Perhaps they're waiting until they roll out the DLC?
Gold box is pimping too, gonna import the JPN NSMB1 so I can match the yellow box up with it.
So I had a sudden blitzing session and sped through worlds 4,5 and 6.
World 4
Pretty damn drab really, weakest world of the lot i'd say and no amount of awesome SMW cliff backgrounds can change that. There were a set of stages that seemed to be only reachable through a green warp pipe but i've yet to find my way over there. After all my talk about bland water stages earlier this world has THE bland water stage tucked inside, it was depressing. Castle was like big spiky balls galore, which reminds me of the second castle in the original NSMB, now that was a solid castle, you even went outside into the desert....oh yeah I was talking about this ice world, it's kind of lame, moving on.
Actually there was a really colourful athletic stage at the end with some sort of multi coloured sky theme going on like an Aurora Borealis on Mario crack, so it's not all bad, I miss the penguin suit, the Ice world needs it.
World 5
Time for the skyworld which means lots more jumping and athletic stages which is always good, the cliff theme pokes its peaks through the top of the clouds at points but it's a shame that it's not more prominent as the cliff theme and stages are probably one of the better things to come from the NSMB series.
There was a pretty cool ruins themed stage at one point, this felt fresh, why was there not more of these?!
If my memory is correct this worlds castle had an interesting twist to the fence/mesh climbing, moving fences that would raise or lower when punched. Ludwig was the boss here but it didn't top his NSMBwii battle. The stages were nowhere near as good as the NSMBwii cloud world unfortunately, i'm pretty sure there was an airship on the map but I didn't reach it, hmmmm.
World 6
Volcano and spooky themed, well it's nice they dragged up that second theme from the first NSMB, feels odd that the wii one skipped it outside of ghost house exits. Much like the last world it felt like an inferior version of its Wii edition counterpart. So more lava, eruptions, fire and so forth. Bowser's castle was actually pretty decent, better than the other NSMB games i'm thinking, I liked the bit where the Koopalings try to hit you with stone magic and you have to hide behind walls to avoid the flash of their wands.
Now for Bowser himself, well he's got his hammers back and they're big, unsurprisingly he comes back in giant form when you bust his bridge once more but it wasn't quite as good as the Wii games Giant Bowser and 3D Land really eclipsed this as well. Also if you die on Bowser the game makes you go through plenty of unskippable stuff again, bad move.
Credits were playable and pretty good, the music was of course even more vocal than before!
Anyway i've found the first dash cannon so it's off to mushroom world, the cannon stage was fun and then abruptly over, grumble.
If I were to make a quick verdict on the game right now i'd say that its earlier stages do a good job of being a bit more enthralling than previous NSMB games but unfortunately the tempo doesn't pick up quite as much in later stages, hidden stages tend to be a lot stronger so maybe the real gold is still hidden from me but it's made easy enough that most casual players can make it through to the end, I need to delve into the mushroom, flower (I assume) and star worlds.
The stage design is noticeably of a different style, criss crossing pipe formations, stages that actually head upwards or downwards in a diagonal like fashion, some alterations to the more mechanic hazards like flame jets, saws, spike balls.
The coin approach is actually quite fun, Gold Block Mario is enjoyable to just pick up speed and propel coins rapidly out of your head, speaking of speed the raccoon tail P meter is easier to keep topped up, with a few ground returns you can keep up a full bar for some time. The stages don't tend to be designed too much around flight so don't expect SMB3 "puzzle" stages that need flight. Gold Flower Mario is basically an explosive fire Flower and I wish I could take it everywhere, the mega mushroom only turned up twice so far and one was kind of hidden so no need to worry about it destroying your fun (it's basically a rarer superstar, never got the hate), no longer do you earn lives based on your rampage of destruction as Mega Mario. Mini Mushroom gets more use on the whole.
Oh and snake blocks everywhere, these guys must really like them
I've still got plenty to do before giving it a proper judgement but it's safe to say that...
If you like NSMB Wii: More of the same but that's not all bad, more background and theme variety with a faster pace make this borderline level pack worth the investment if you just want more solid 2D Mario, you probably already knew this anyway.
If you just hate the NSMB series: You already hated this game anyway, it still has a basic visual style, the music that violates your ears is more BAH filled than ever, no amount of level design speeches will change your mind.
If you're indifferent: May be best to wait until the Wii U game comes out for proper judgement.
Didn't know I already hit 21h of play. That's like 3h less than mario 3d land counting the replay with luigi, gold flagpole and all the time spend on the last secret level.
The thing is I'm just at world 5, seems like coin rush and seeking for secret exit is time consuming.