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Forums - Nintendo - NSMB2 is an exceptional game in the eyes of reviewers

the_dengle on 24 August 2012
noname2200 said:

Do reviewers really care much for LBP? I thought the reviewer consensus on that one was largely indifference, at least as a platformer. I don't think Kirby was particularly shined on either, at least not for anything beyond its art style. I admit, my perception could be wrong though.

I see where you're coming from regarding how 2D platformers are more common now than 3D ones (although I'd hardly label them as "a dime a dozen," especially when the bulk of them are more puzzle than platformer). But I don't put as much weight in that, since other games in crowded genres continue to get high plaudits. This generation has been saturated with shooters, WRPGs, brawlers, and sandbox games, yet this doesn't stop reviewers from slapping 90+ scores on Uncharted/Gears/God/Assasin's/Mass Effect/whatever 3+. Perhaps the evolutions within those titles elude me, since I admit I'm not a huge fan of those genres,* but the changes between UC 1 to 3, or Gears 1 to 3, for example, don't strike me as anything more than minor tweaks.

@ the bolded, LBP has a 95 metascore; LBP 2, a 91; LBP for PSP, 87. Although Kirby's Return is sitting at 77, Epic Yarn and Canvas Curse are both at 86. Mass Attack has an 83. All of those games (excepting Return to Dreamland) are better than New Super 2, judging by their Metascores.

As for the rest, I think you missed what I was saying a bit, which is understandable because I'm bad at words. I'm saying the reason it's relatively "okay" that the Gears of War series hasn't changed much from 1 to 3 is because the third-person shooter genre as a whole hasn't changed much between those games. Likewise, there haven't been many amazing first-person shooters since Modern Warfare that completely reinvented the genre (the way Half-Life and Halo did before then). The series doesn't appear as stagnant as it is because there isn't anything (or much) not stagnant in the same genre to compare it to. So much has happened in the 2D platformer genre in the past 6 years that many critics feel the New Super Mario Bros. formula is dated. It's old-fashioned, it's retro. Imagine if Half-Life 2 hadn't been like Half-Life 2, and had just played like an expansion pack for the original Half-Life, and you're close.



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Attoyou on 24 August 2012

Im having a lot of fun with the game but it does not feel like a New Super Mario Bros '2' but more like a 'New Super Mario Bro PLUS A LOT OF COINS CUZ THATS WHAT PEOPLE PLAY MARIO FOR RIGHT? YEAH JUST PUT A LOT OF COINS /dumb idea from guy who never played a mario game.

Super Mario Bros

Super mario Bros 2

Super Mario Bros 3

Super Mario world

New super Mario bros DS

New Super Mario Bros Wii

New Super Mario Bros 2

New Super Mario Bros U



Atto Suggests...:

Book - Malazan Book of the Fallen series 

Game - Metro Last Light

TV - Deadwood

Music - Forest Swords 

menx64 on 24 August 2012

 The gameplay is flawless and is as good as all the other 2d mario games IMO.

Reviewers have a double standards, most critized the game for not feeling liken a new game, based on that sole argument the 90% of the games this gen should have been below 70...



Menx64

3DS code: 1289-8222-7215

NNid: Menx064

Deoz on 24 August 2012
thetonestarr said:
You're wrong on both of those counts.

Anyways, the point is that it's not just the third in a series, but more like the ninth. It's the ninth time pretty much having the same thing with small upgrades each time.

Yeah, the ninth time over 25 years. Wich is not really bad.



Deoz on 24 August 2012
the_dengle said:

...Imagine if Half-Life 2 hadn't been like Half-Life 2, and had just played like an expansion pack for the original Half-Life, and you're close.

Personally that's almost what they did with a new engine.



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the_dengle on 24 August 2012
Deoz said:
the_dengle said:

...Imagine if Half-Life 2 hadn't been like Half-Life 2, and had just played like an expansion pack for the original Half-Life, and you're close.

Personally that's almost what they did with a new engine.

*shrug*

Hey, at least it had a different plot.



Slimebeast on 24 August 2012

I'm happy if this game is easier than the average Mario, because this could be my chance to come back and start liking Mario games (historically I always disliked Mario, except when he was in Donkey Kong lol).

From my experience Mario games are quite hard and a bit frustrating, just like arcade platformers should be, but for me personally a slightly easier Mario should be a perfect start.

It doesn't have any difficulty levels, right? Does it get harder in NG+?



d21lewis on 24 August 2012

When I first started playing NSMB2, I was pretty upset by the apparent lack of any type of upgrade from the normal DS hardware. On top of that, it featured the lamest 3D I'd ever seen in a 3DS game (Mutant Mudds and even the Nes game Kirby look better due to awesome 3D). The game felt like NSMB warmed over.

Well, after putting all of that to the side and just playing the game, I've warmed up to it quite a bit. The game is still a hell of a lot of fun. It's just that it feels like "Angry Birds Seasons". Instead of a full upgrade, it's just more of what we liked before. I can't fault the reviewers (and, to be honest, I don't care) but it's still a great game. Just not the groundbreaking experience we've come to expect from the franchise.



d21lewis on 24 August 2012
thetonestarr said:
You're wrong on both of those counts.

Anyways, the point is that it's not just the third in a series, but more like the ninth. It's the ninth time pretty much having the same thing with small upgrades each time.


"Small" is a relative term but, from where I sit, the diferences between SMB1, SMB2, SMB3, SMW, and Yoshi's Island are HUGE.  It's just that NSMB1 was a throwback to the original and NSMB Wii was basically the same game with a couple of new power ups and multi-player.  The NSMB brand is basically not changing things up like every other Mario game has. 

The thing is, are audiences today really wanting change?  I knew people in the 80's that LOVED Super Mario Bros. but couldn't get a grip on Super Mario Bros 2 and its new gameplay mechanics and rules.  I know people who couldn't figure out how to carry a turtle shell or fly in Super Mario Bros. 3 and just felt overwhelmed by it.  I know people that felt Super Mario World was waaaaaay too complicated with too many buttons, two different jumps, a dinosaur with his own controls, flying mechanics, etc.  And I know a horde of people that just said "Fuck it" when Mario made the jump to 3D.

Maybe the reason the New Super Mario games have remained unchanged is because the past Mario games from the 80's to Yoshi's Island changed so much that fans of the original (which was the best selling game of all time for a looooooong time) just got overwhelmed by the changes.  If that's the case, did Nintendo make the right decision or the wrong decision with NSMB2?  I don't know.  I like change but my GF (who spends way too much time playing the Virtual Console version of Super Mario from 1985) will probably give NSMB a chance.  Just saying.



Carl on 24 August 2012

From what Ive read, it sounds like theyre getting bored of traditional 2D Mario. The coins gimmick Nintendo put in hasnt really freshened it up like they hoped it would.