Nintendo Life

New Super Mario Bros. brings all of the classic fun from past Super Mario Bros. releases together in one amazing greatest hits-style gameplay experience and does so in a way that only Nintendo themselves can do. If you only buy one game for your Wii console for the rest of your life, make sure it's this one.

N-Europe

A truly great Mario title and a bold and brilliant new multiplayer direction for the series. Buy it now!

Official Nintendo Magazine UK

Bigger, better and harder than NSMB DS, this is the Mario game we were waiting for. Essential. [Dec 2009, p.96]

Vandal Online

This is an impressive game with a gameplay that will be talked about.

NintendoWorldReport

As both a platformer and a party game, for both casual and enthusiast gamers, Nintendo's latest Mario game delivers in spades.

IGN UK

Delivers riotous entertainment in spades. As a solo experience, it’s up there with Mario’s illustrious platform predecessors; with four players in tow, it’s breathtaking in its constantly hilarious chaos.

Cheat Code Central

It's another Nintendo masterpiece with gorgeous and vibrant graphics, loads of original characters and enemies (both classic and new), beautiful and unique environments, classic Mario tunes, superb voice acting, amusing but challenging gameplay, engaging multiplayer action, and more.

3DJuegos

Nintendo has a look back to the past and recovers good part of the Mario's gameplay history with a deep and challenging videogame. New Super Mario Bros Wii is really a must-have for Wii owners.

Game Informer

It doesn’t matter if your first gaming system was the NES or DS; New Super Mario Bros. Wii proves that 2D platformers are still a blast. Longtime gamers will love the countless throwbacks to previous titles, and the multiplayer gameplay is fantastic (albeit hectic) fun for everyone.

IGN AU

New Super Mario Bros. Wii demonstrates one more time why Nintendo are masters of the all-ages gaming market, relevant and refreshing but at all times reverent and above all, incredible fun.

Impulsegamer

With mesmerizing music and gameplay to boot, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an addictively entertaining experience that once again proves the old analogy that if it aint broke, don't fix it! Bravo!

Thunderbolt

Regardless of its shortcomings, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is easily one of the best titles on the system, and an impressive addition to the series. Saving the princess just got fun again.

Meristation

Quotation forthcoming.

Zentendo

Enjoying Mario in the genre that saw him born is always a great pleasure, even if you are not a fan of the platform titles. Nintendo returns to its specialty: to offer hours and hours of fun by giving us games with their own personality and a shellproof gameplay.

Eurogamer Italy

Nothing to object (save the anachronistic lack of the online multiplayer): Nintendo has created once again a magnificent product, an amazing party game with no barriers to entry nor annoying distinctions between casual and hardcore players. Prepare your Wiimotes and invite your friends: the legendary plumber is back with an old school adventure you won't easily forget.

Eurogamer

Who knew that, locked in the time-honoured traditions of Super Mario Bros., one of the greatest co-op games ever was waiting to get out? Well, Shigeru Miyamoto did. In unleashing it, Nintendo hasn't moved its classic series forward one jot; it hasn't had to. But it has given it a riotous new lease of life.

Gamervision

Other than the lack of online multiplayer, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is exactly what you want it to be. It’s a great mix of new and old, and though it’s not exactly innovative, playing though the game is just sheer fun.

Computer and Video Games

NSMBW is a stunning game in single-player, and a chaotic barrel of light-hearted laughs in multiplayer, accessible to beginners while truly challenging to long-term fans. Well done, Nintendo.

GameSpy

If you have friends who enjoy videogames, this is one to play together. It's made specifically for that -- and yeah, it's got all the painstaking collectibles and supplemental multiplayer challenges you already assumed it did, so you're going to play it for quite a while. And if you just want a serious challenge, play alone and revel in the pure joy of death. Either way, it's a damn fine Mario game.

Destructoid

Despite being feeling and looking somewhat familiar (which is definitely a positive in this case), New Super Mario Bros. Wii is one of your safest and best bet on the Wii this year.

Gameplayer Sweden

Platform magic on the highest level for the Wii. While the game offers almost everything you could ask for, it falls just a little short of perfect for a few small reasons. The main reason being that's it a tiny bit short in playtime, and the second being that while Wiimote-controls work great, you can't help but wonder if it wouldn't have worked just as good with a normal control. But considering how much gaming joy the game offers, there's no point in getting stuck on those details. This will probably be a given game on any Nintendo Wii-owners wishlist this Christmas.

Thunderbolt

Regardless of its shortcomings, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is easily one of the best titles on the system, and an impressive addition to the series. Saving the princess just got fun again.

Everyeye.it

Probably, the best 2D platform released recently.

GameTrailers

The multiplayer element, though far from its selling point, adds a welcome, manic element that amounts to icing on the cake. This, simply, 2D Mario at its best, and it's been a long time coming.

IGN

I really, really like New Super Mario Bros. Wii...[But i]t plays it safe with established gameplay with very little in the way of new innovation. It also lacks online multiplayer in a generation where such a feature is expected.

GameSpot

Classic gameplay, challenging levels, and some fun multiplayer make New Super Mario Bros. Wii another stellar outing for the plump plumber.

NGamer UK

Curiously forgettable and throwaway compared to the Mario platforming standard, but as a social experience ti's up there with the best on Wii. [Winter 2009, p.46]

PALGN

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is another wonderfully crafted Mario game that is engaging for both old and new players. Sadly the lack of online multiplayer and innovation, and gimmicky motion controls prevent it from becoming the crown jewel of the series.

GameZone

NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii is surely a classic – it just isn't as big of a classic as it could have been. You'll love it and play it to death, but don't be surprised if those painful feelings of déja vu and disappointment take over every now and then.

NZGamer

All I'm saying is that is does kind of feel a bit like Nintendo are resting on their laurels. All the effort has gone into developing a classic Super Mario Bros. game on a new system, with new controls and new visuals. It can't help but be good because it's SMB.

Play Magazine

Can a game be worth purchasing without being brilliant? It depends on your wallet. The first few hours of multiplayer are going to be worth the sticker price, but the rest of the game is nearly inaccessible for four simultaneous gamers.

Gamer Limit

In an era where retro games are almost sickeningly trendy to make, New Super Mario Bros. Wii turns back the clock and does it right. Other developers doing retro games ought to take notes.

Gameplanet

Suitable for all ages, it's a winning combination of that ‘old school’ charm and the Wii’s versatility. An absolute must for the Mario fan, and a recommended addition to the casual gamer's Christmas wish list.

XGN

New Super Mario Bros. Wii will serve both new and old gamers. It lacks of new possibility's but thanks to the 4-player co-op, it's still a very nice game.

Kikizo

NSMBW bends over backwards to be inclusive and somehow manages to succeed.

Telegraph

The odd balancing issue does threaten to undermine Mario’s first foray into co-op multiplayer and there is the nagging feeling that, perhaps, Nintendo were not entirely sure of its own focus. But these are quibbles oft forgotten when in the throes of NSMB Wii’s joyful, beguiling character.

GamePro

That sense of cohesiveness isn't always present in New Super Mario Bros. and it makes for an uneven experience that's difficult to score.

Wired

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an excellent game with friends, and I had a great deal of challenging fun with the solo mode. But if you’re looking for a new Mario adventure that’s tailored to creating the maximum amount of fun for just one person, you’ll have to wait for next year’s Super Mario Galaxy 2.

VideoGamer

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a wonderful 2D platformer, and an essential purchase for all Wii owners, but the addition of multiplayer doesn't live up to its billing. And why is there no online?

Giant Bomb

New Super Mario Bros. Wii doesn't make dramatic changes to the "New" game that was released on the DS, but by offering more substantial multiplayer and a set of new levels to conquer, it stands out as one of the Wii's best.

GameDaily

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a wonderful video game, but its designers drew upon 24 years of familiarity to produce an experience that makes us smile one moment and shrug the next.

Games Radar (in-house)

Nintendo saved the industry with games like this, so we’re sad to say the latest lacks the imaginative spark found in past entries. Easily the weakest of the 2D Marios, but even the worst Mario is better than most other.

Edge Magazine

Despite the lack of ingenuity on display, NSMB Wii's thrash of four players does bring uproarious anarchy to the sofa for short periods of time. [Dec 2009, p.86]

Teletext GameCentral

By Nintendo standards this is no classic, but by anyone else's it's a fun and accessible 2D platformer.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

The lack of a strong concept in this game brings that decades-old sameness to the fore and makes New SMB Wii the least essential Mario title to date.