Nintendo is pulling back the curtain more and more as we inch closer to launch, this excites me…
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Mario’s first Wii U adventure, New Super Mario Bros. U, launches alongside the new Wii U console on Nov. 18. In addition to all the side-scrolling fun that Mario is known for, the game includes a number of special modes and features that will make players want to jump in again and again.
Challenge Mode: Challenge Mode tasks players with completing specific objectives, such as clearing a course without touching a single coin or touching the ground. There are four single-player Challenge categories: Time Attack, Coin Collection, 1-Up Rally and Special (miscellaneous challenges). Boost Mode Challenges require two players, with one player using the Wii U GamePad controller and the other using a Wii Remote controller. Once players complete a Challenge, the game saves a replay of the action so players can show off their accomplishments.
Coin Battle: Up to five players can play together and compete to see who can collect the most coins. One player will use the Wii U GamePad controller while the other four players use the Wii Remote controller. The player using the Wii U GamePad controller in Boost Mode can place Boost Blocks to help grab hard-to-reach coins. Players can also use the GamePad to edit and customize the coin layout in courses found only in Coin Battle. The coin layout can then be saved and played by the players using Wii Remote controllers.
World Map: New Super Mario Bros. U is the first side-scrolling Mario game since 1991’s Super Mario World that features a seamless World Map with named worlds and courses. The map contains many secret exits, which might change the map and cause shortcuts to appear. The worlds are interconnected, so people can play through the game in a nonlinear fashion.
Nabbit: From time to time, a creature named Nabbit will appear on the world map. Players must enter the course and catch the speedy Nabbit to recover items stolen from Toad. If Nabbit is nabbed, players receive a powerful P-Acorn, which will allow them to fly continuously through an entire stage. The only way to obtain a P-Acorn is to catch Nabbit.
Multiple controllers are necessary for multiplayer modes. Game, system and some accessories are sold separately. For more information, visit http://newsupermariobrosu.nintendo.com.
- World Map is huge
- tons of branching paths
- can skip entire worlds
- After World 2, you reach a fork in the road that leads to either Sparking Waters or Frozen Glacier
- Forest of Illusion returns (in spirit) as Soda Jungle
- you’ll have to find secret exits in this portion of the game to proceed
- Baby Yoshis also periodically appear in set places on the World Map
- find one and he’ll follow you into any level where you can then use him
- keep taking him with you from level to level as long as you don’t die or lose him somehow
- power-ups can also be found periodically on the roaming map
- touch one to have it added to your inventory instantly
- hold 10 items total
- any used item is still applied to everyone in co-op mode
- P-Acorn and allows you to fly indefinitely
- Little P’s emit like sparkles from Mario when using the P-Acorn
- P-Acorns can be earned by grabbing Nabbit
- he is a new character that steals items from Toad Houses and runs off to hide in a level
- find him to get involved in a chase which can earn you a P-Acorn
- world map will sometimes show cutscenes featuring the Princess’s Castle growing into a great state of disarray
- it is eventually surrounded by a giant Tornado
- Challenge Mode offers dozens of challenges broken into different genres
- examples: flying stages” or collecting 1-Ups
- difficulty ranges from 1-5 stars, with 5 being the hardest
- earn Bronze, Silver, or Gold medals for high-scores in Challenge Mode
- Penguin Suit appears as part of the challenges stages
- one level where you slide down a hill trying to take down as many enemies as possible to earn 1-Ups
- Mini Mario also appears in Challenge Mode
- challenge where you’re holding a Blue Yoshi and have to carefully bounce off the bubbles he spits out to reach a goal high above
- Coin Battle is a competitive multiplayer mode to see who can collect the most coins
- now with levels exclusive to it
Stage names
Acorn Plains-1 “Acorn Plains Way”
Acorn Plains-2 “Tilted Tunnel”
Acorn Plains-Tower “Crushing Cogs Tower”
Acorn Plains-3 “Yoshi Hill”
Acorn Plains-4 “Mushroom Heights”
Acorn Plains-5 “Rise of the Piranha Plants”
Acorn Plains-”Castle Lemmy’s Swingback Castle”
Layer Cake Desert-1 ”Stone-Eye Zone”
Layer Cake Desert-2 ”Perilous Pokey Cave”
Layer Cake Desert-3 ”Fire Snake Cavern”
Layer Cake Desert-Fortress “Layer Cake Fortress” (I could be mistaken on this one)
Layer Cake Desert-4 ”Spike’s Spouting Sand”
Layer Cake Desert-5 *Missed it*
Layer Cake Desert-6 ”Blooming Lakitu’s”
Layer Cake Desert Castle – ”Morton’s Compactor Castle”
Sparkling Waters-1 “Waterspout Beach”
Sparkling Waters-2 Tropicial Refresher
Sparkling Waters-3 Above the Cheep Cheep Sea
Sparkling Waters-Tower “Giant Skewer Tower”
Sparkling Waters-4 Urchin Shoals
Sparkling Waters-5 Dragoneel’s Undersea Grotto
Frosted Glacier-1 ”Spinning Star Sky”
Frosted Glacier-2 ”Cooligan Fields”
Frosted Glacier-Tower Fortress “Freezing Rain Tower”
Frosted Glacier-3 ”Prickly Goombas”
Frosted Glacier-4 ”Scaling the Mountainside”
Frosted Glacier-5 ”Icicle Caverns”
Frosted Glacier-Ghost House ”Swinging Ghost House”
Frosted Glacier-Castle “Wendy’s Shifting Castle”
Soda Jungle-1 “Jungle of the Giants”
Soda Jungle- ”Bridge Over Poisoned Water”
Soda Jungle-Tower “Snake Block Tower”
Soda Jungle-3 “Bramble Jungle
Soda Jungle-4 “Painted Swamp Land”
Soda Jungle-5 ”Deepsea Ruins”
Soda Jungle-Castle ”Iggy’s Volcanic Castle”
