New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released throughout Summer 2012, and is the direct sequel to the 2006 Nintendo DS game New Super Mario Bros. but the third game in the series overall. It became the first Nintendo-published game released both physically and digitally, and would later be followed up by New Super Mario Bros. U (which in turn is a direct sequel to New Super Mario Bros. Wii), released as a launch title for the Wii U on November 18, 2012 and later ported to the Nintendo Switch on January 11, 2019, under the name New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.
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New Super Mario Bros. 2: Gold Edition, which contains both the base game and all of the DLC, was released in 2014 on specifically-marked 3DS systems, which have it pre-installed.
Why It's Good as Gold
- The graphics look impressive for 3DS standards, which is saying something for a game released a year after the 3DS's release.
- The controls are solid, and the characters are easier to control in this game thanks to the Circle Pad.
- Golden Flowers are introduced in this game, which turns Mario and Luigi gold or silver (depending on which of the Bros. you're playing as) and allows them to shoot golden fireballs that turn anything they are sho at into coins (such as bricks or enemies), and can even destroy bosses in a few hits.
- Despite some of the soundtrack being reused from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, it's just as good as one can expect from a Mario game, especially the staff roll, title and Special World themes.
- This game is the first on 3DS to feature local co-op gameplay by utilizing two 3DS systems and two copies of the same game, with no need for Download Play.
- The levels are nicely-desiged and fun to explore, be they more simplistic or more creative/complex.
- Many callbacks to previous games in the series, including:
- The colorful platforms return from Super Mario Bros. 3, along with the Super Leaf and Raccoon Mario, while Luigi gains a new Fox Luigi form instead.
- The Mega Mushroom from New Super Mario Bros., which was absent in the previous game, makes a return in this one despite only appearing in a few stages.
- Reznor, the fortress boss from Super Mario World, makes his long-awaited return as the tower boss in this game.
- The DLC's for Coin Rush mode add more fun to it, despite being pay-to-use and costing half of the base game's price at launch when bought together.
- As before stated, this is the first 3DS game to be simultaneously released in both physical and digital formats, which became the norm for future Nintendo games and shortly afterwards all prior-released 3DS games became available on the eShop.
- Great replay value, particularly in order to obtain Stars on your save file.
Bad Qualities
- The game is a little too easy, especially compared to its predecessor. Since the game's main objective is to collect as many coins as possible, you can possibly get hundreds of lives and dying is very unlikely, especially if you're good at the game and/or have the level layouts memorized. The only thing that makes the game harder is the Impossible Pack DLC which those levels are incredibly hard to the point that the design of those levels looks like Super Mario World Kaizo ROM hacks and Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2 kaizo/troll levels.
- While the soundtrack is good, as before stated, some of it is reused from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, except with different beats and "bah-bah" sounds.
- The Toad Houses are a step back from the ones found in previous games, as there is no item minigame (such as the three chests in Super Mario Bros. 3); instead, you just walk in, obtain the power-up laying in plain sight, and leave.
- Lackluster boss battles against Bowser, despite being an improvement over his fight in the original game (which is identical to the first battle in that game, just with Browser Jr. thrown in); overall, it just feels reused from the previous game.
- Adding insult to injury, you have to fight Bowser twice: once in World 6 as the final boss, and again in World Star against Dry Bowser as the secret boss.
- Even worse, the two battles play identically, except that Dry Bowser's platforms are smaller.
- Adding insult to injury, you have to fight Bowser twice: once in World 6 as the final boss, and again in World Star against Dry Bowser as the secret boss.
- In order to play as Luigi, you must first beat Bowser in World 6, rather than playing as him from the start (in NSMB, you could simply play as him by holding down L and R at the file selection screen).
- Sadly, due to the 3DS eShop's closure, you can no longer buy the DLC levels at all, meaning the only way to legitimately obtain them is to buy the Gold Edition 3DS consoles.
- Boss fights tend to be hit-or-miss, such as the aforementioned Reznors (who are always the Tower boss) and almost every Koopaling battle except for Wendy and Ludwig.
- Collecting one million coins (the game's primary objective) does absolutely nothing other than changing the title's background color and adds a golden statue of Mario.
- To rub salt on the wound, collecting the maximum number of coins (9,999,999, to be exact) only changes the Mario statue into a Raccoon Mario one.
- While it is a sequel to New Super Mario Bros., the game's title is rather confusing and it could have been renamed it as New Super Mario Bros. 3, to reflect the series' installment. Therefore, the title, New Super Mario Bros. 2, should have given to the Wii to avoid confusion with it and the 3DS game.
Reception
New Super Mario Bros. 2 has received "generally positive" review, with an aggregated score of 78/100 on Metacritic and 9/10 on Nintendo Life. Praise was given to the level design, graphics, branching paths and replay value, while the reuse of some songs from the previous game and low difficulty were criticized.
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