even though i’ve been playing mostly first-party nintendo games lately, i’ve been on a roll getting caught up with series that i had previously completed but had new entries, so i thought i’d finish off new super luigi u, released as DLC for the wii u game new super mario bros. u as well as a standalone retail release.
i’d been somewhat disappointed in NSMBU overall when i finished playing through it early this year, and although it’s a completely solid game i, along with many others, found it to be far too close to the other games in the “new” super mario bros. series, particularly NSMB2 and NSMB wii. since NSLU was DLC, i was able to enjoy it as an expansion to NSMBU, so the fact that all the assets, the world map, and the boss fights, were identical to the main game didn’t really bother me. the level design is pretty solid (although some elements, such as yoshi, are as underused as in the main game), and the game changes things up a bit in significant ways. the obvious one, of course, is the fact that luigi is the main character and features the return of his trademark higher flutter jump (and slippier footing on the ground). the game also limits the levels to 100 seconds, which as a result makes them slightly more compact. the game is more challenging than the original, which is a plus for me, and to offset that the designers made nabbit a playable character who is invincible to enemies (but not pits, lava, etc.).
despite all the similarities, the game still manages to slip in some surprises. collecting all the star coins and finding all the secret exits is in general still very much worthwhile (although finding the exits in particular can be painfully arbitrary and somewhat a waste of time), but one nice surprise was the luigis hidden in every level. i hadn’t realized there was one in every level, but it’s a nice touch to the game, as it was released to celebrate the year of luigi. it would’ve been nice if there were some system to track that you’d found them all, but many of them are located near secrets anyway. there are also some other cute surprises, like special snowmen in the ice world. the miiverse integration is the same as NSMBU so it’s still a nice way to include a social element, although it’s kind of disappointing you can’t up vote esp. good comments or mark some as inappropriate.
overall this is an enjoyable game as DLC and as an expansion of NSMBU, even though it doesn’t really push the series forward at all. still, it’s nice to see luigi get a significant share of the spotlight.
check out these shiny li’l bro new super luigi u links:
– entry at mariowiki.com
– review at nintendolife.com
– info on a handful of easter eggs, etc. at gamefaqs
– video from nintendo’s staff showing off their super skillz
video games rock 