You can’t just go ahead and make a platformer about Mario every year of at least the same level Odyssey — ideas don’t lie on the road. But it’s impossible not to release a platformer about Mario every year – otherwise it will be like with the Wii U, which was criticized (and not bought) for the late release of its main hits. That’s why Nintendo releases on Switch New Super Mario Bros. U – with a postscript Deluxe and an add-on about Luigi included. That is, they are again selling us the best game from the launch of Wii U – it seems like a good offer, but is the “luxury” version worth its price tag??

Saving princesses is the work of the princesses themselves

Talking about 2D platformers about Mario – why do that at all?? Everyone knows everything perfectly well. Mario collects coins, eats mushrooms and jumps on turtles’ heads. Mini series New Super Mario Bros. This is exactly what it is – it takes classic parts from the 80s and early 90s and interprets them in a modern engine, sometimes adding some interesting feature like “collect a billion coins”. In 2012, when the Wii U was launched, this same game came out on the same day as the console, and then it captivated us with the ability to run four people at once, as well as the function of drawing platforms on the touch screen of the gamepad.

Now, on Switch, drawing, of course, has been removed – but they have included an add-on New Super Luigi U. This is a very powerful standalone game that, although it uses the same world map, offers completely redesigned stages and a completely different level of difficulty. In addition, two new heroes can now save the princess. The first is Kralik, an absolute "imba" with long ears: he is invulnerable to enemy attacks, gets more time to complete levels, although he cannot use items. In a word, we have added a mode for babies and crooked hands.

The second hero is Toadette, who can transform… no, not into Bowsette, but into Princess Peach. It turns out that the princess saves herself. Well, logic is not about the Mario universe. The Mushroom Girl includes an easy difficulty level, with her they give more additional “lives”, and the princess even knows how to soar (not with a vape, but in the air). In general, there are few changes. There are also additional modes, clearly designed for several people. All of them are very simple and a “hardcore” gamer will get bored in five minutes.

Run in 100 seconds

But maybe this is the case https://gofishonlinecasino.co.uk/ when you don’t need to change anything? Really, NSMB. U it was made well for its time and has been well preserved. Overall the game is "cosplay" Super Mario World. Here you can also ride the dinosaur Yoshi, there is a large and branched world map, which is full of secret passages that allow you to skip entire worlds, and among the stages, haunted castles stand out, more like puzzles. Something is constantly happening on the map – predatory piranha plants crawl out of the pipes, goomba mushrooms run around, Kralik appears with a bag of valuables. Many stages are optional – this part turned out well, I want to explore, find secret paths and additional levels.

Not everything is so clear with the locations themselves. In my opinion, this is the most difficult and most uninventive part New Super Mario Bros., and I went through all three previous ones, some several times. "Complicated" does not mean "Dark Souls from the world of Mario". It’s just that very often there are quite controversial moments in design when, for example, you calculate a series of jumps, but at the last moment the seemingly correct trajectory leads into the mouth of a toothy flower. The designers here also really like to cram more enemies onto the screen, as if they were replaying the bullet hell genre. As a result, at some stages I died 20 times, which really infuriated me, and by the end of the race, instead of the usual 99 lives, I only gained about 70.

Eight worlds are made according to traditional patterns – we will get a forest, desert, underwater world, snowy and other zones seen many times. Alas, the balance of levels and their interestingness are always very different. Having put the game aside just last night, I can’t remember a single truly outstanding run, but I remember very well that after a very easy stage you can run into a tough “challenge” that simply forces you to use the green automatic passage cube.

In terms of balance, the levels from the Luigi add-on turned out even better. They are much shorter than Mario stages – each one must be completed in a measly 100 seconds. The music reminds you that there is not much left, at an accelerated pace, the adrenaline is off the charts, your fingers are doing some wild things – we will think about collecting Big Coins (they will open additional stages after completing them) in the second race. New Super Luigi U – excellent reaction training, it’s clear that it was polished much more diligently than the main game, and against the backdrop of a slightly stagnant series, this is a good breath of fresh air.

Traditionally a bit boring

And since we have very traditional platformers, according to tradition, I’ll remind you about the technical part. The game weighs seven times less than the Wii U version, but don’t let that fool you, because those video tips that used to eat up a huge amount of space now only work with Wi-Fi. And so everything looks great on a small or large screen, and even when you’re running with two or three (I don’t have a fourth gamepad), the frame rate remains stable. Of course, there are no frills here – even in comparison with Super Mario Odyssey everything looks pretty simple. Therefore, saturated worlds Donkey Kong Country seem like something from another planet.

And it’s the same with music – if in Donkey Kong amazing tracks sounded David Wise (David Wise) in electronic processing, here the soundtrack is simply not memorable, although it does not interfere. In general, the main problem NSMB. U – in its very traditionality: the game does not do anything outstanding, relying on classic mechanics. While in the six years since its initial release, numerous competitors have appeared, and they are remembered much more strongly and give more emotions.

Although there is one moment with a magical picture – for this level the artist seems to have hired Van Gogh.

In the weak Wii U launch lineup, this was truly a hit. But now, on a new platform where there is Tropical Freeze or Rayman Legends, Italian bros get lost. As a casual game for company Deluxe also doesn’t always work – the story modes here are relatively complex, and the additional ones are too primitive. But overall, my main complaint remains the high price – it’s worse than both the uneven balance of levels and mediocre ingenuity. Otherwise, you will get your pleasure for a dozen or two hours.

Pros: two games in one package; new heroes, including Princess Peach; many very interesting and original levels.

Cons: not the most inventive entry in the series; uneven level balance; overpriced.