Whenever video-game companies stretch out popular franchises for financial reasons rather than creative ones, disenchanted customers call it a “money grab.” It’s a charge Nintendo has largely been immune to, even though its most popular character, Mario, has starred in hundreds of games.

That changes with “New Super Mario Bros. 2” (Nintendo, for the 3DS, $39.99), which takes the whole money-grab concept quite literally. The whole point of the game is to grab money — namely, the sparkling gold coins that have littered almost every Mario release since the mid-1980s. It’s an oddly mercenary approach to Nintendo’s lovable little plumber, and the result is one of the least inspired outings in his storied history.

That’s not to say this is a bad game. It’s exactly what you would expect: a collection of cleverly designed, two-dimensional environments for Mario to scamper through, dodging monsters and collecting treasures. The usual power-ups — flowers that let Mario shoot fireballs, a raccoon suit that lets him jump farther — are available in convenient locations. And most of the levels include alternate pathways, so there’s motivation to return after you’ve conquered them.

But while I enjoyed my time in Mario’s latest world, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d been there before. The major new power-up is a golden block that screws onto Mario’s head, creating a trail of coins. The familiar POW blocks now turn obstacles into, well, coins. And hoops scattered across the skies deliver … more coins. Some sort of prize awaits if you collect 1 million of the things, but I only made it to 10,000.

And then there’s Coin Rush, in which Mario has one life with which to race through three randomly chosen levels, collecting as much gold as possible. You can then challenge other humans to beat your score using the 3DS’ StreetPass function. There’s also a multiplayer mode in which Mario and his brother, Luigi, collaborate to collect double the loot. Both players need a 3DS and a copy of the game, and you need to be in the same room to team up.

Despite the “New” in its title, the latest Mario game is more of a look back to the 1980s, when we were all enjoying his antics on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Nostalgia aside, it just doesn’t offer the innovations and rewards of last fall’s “Super Mario 3D Land.” Two stars out of four.

———

The release of “NSMB2” coincides with the arrival of Nintendo’s newest hand-held game device: the 3DS XL ($200), an extra-large version of the 3DS machine introduced last year. So you get your dual screens — one a touch screen, the other a three-dimensional graphics display — but they’re both about 90 percent larger.

That’s a huge difference to a gamer like me with vision problems. My eyes usually get tired after about 10 minutes of looking at the original model’s 3.53-inch-diagonal 3-D display. The XL’s 4.88-inch screen means I don’t need to squint as much, so I can play for about half an hour without needing a break. As a game reviewer, that’s a blessing when I’m facing a deadline, but I think you civilians will like it, too.

The entire package is still reasonably compact, fitting into an adult-size jeans pocket — though not exactly comfortably. If you resisted the 3DS when it came out last year, now’s a good time to give it a second look.

———

Online:

http://newsupermariobros2.nintendo.com

http://www.nintendo.com/3ds

WE won’t patronise you by going over the Mario basics – this is the same running, jumping, coin-grabbing formula that’s delighted for more than 25 years now.

Nintendo, again, deliver a ?tour-de-force in terms of level design, striking the perfect balance between challenge and fun, ingenuity and invention.

Mario is as acrobatic as ever and, using all the skills at his disposal to uncover every secret, will see a standard five-hour playthrough easily double.

There’s a greater focus on coin collection than ever before, with the game sometimes raining the shiny stuff in bucket loads as you collect different power-ups, giving Mario the Midas touch.

Hit a million and Nintendo promise a nifty secret, though we’ve not had the time to hit that mammoth milestone just yet.

Visually, New Super Mario Bros 2 is as vibrant as any Nintendo classic but the 2D action really doesn’t suit the console’s 3D capabilities.

There’s little added depth with the 3D slider pushed up, instead muddying the detailed backdrops to each level.

For all the fun to be had, this is one of those rare occasions where a side-scrolling Mario game isn’t a must-have.

New Super Mario Bros 2 gives you the nostalgic hit that you’re most likely looking for, yet it feels a slightly pedestrian tread through Mario’s usual stomping grounds, particularly when lined up alongside the brilliant Super Mario 3D Land with all its bells and whistles.

When the familiar action is as good as this, it’s not that much of a criticism, but there’s a slight spark missing here.

Mario isn’t showing his age just yet but the launch of the Wii U and the promise of fresh adventures it will bring just can’t come quickly enough.

Out Now on Nintendo 3DS
£29.99

Whenever video-game companies stretch out popular franchises for financial reasons rather than creative ones, disenchanted customers call it a “money grab.” It’s a charge Nintendo has largely been immune to, even though its most popular character, Mario, has starred in hundreds of games.

That changes with “New Super Mario Bros. 2″ (Nintendo, for the 3DS, $39.99), which takes the whole money-grab concept quite literally. The whole point of the game is to grab money — namely, the sparkling gold coins that have littered almost every Mario release since the mid-1980s. It’s an oddly mercenary approach to Nintendo’s lovable little plumber, and the result is one of the least inspired outings in his storied history.

That’s not to say this is a bad game. It’s exactly what you would expect: a collection of cleverly designed, two-dimensional environments for Mario to scamper through, dodging monsters and collecting treasures. The usual power-ups — flowers that let Mario shoot fireballs, a raccoon suit that lets him jump farther — are available in convenient locations. And most of the levels include alternate pathways, so there’s motivation to return after you’ve conquered them.

But while I enjoyed my time in Mario’s latest world, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d been there before. The major new power-up is a golden block that screws onto Mario’s head, creating a trail of coins. The familiar POW blocks now turn obstacles into, well, coins. And hoops scattered across the skies deliver … more coins. Some sort of prize awaits if you collect 1 million of the things, but I only made it to 10,000.

And then there’s Coin Rush, in which Mario has one life with which to race through three randomly chosen levels, collecting as much gold as possible. You can then challenge other humans to beat your score using the 3DS’ StreetPass function. There’s also a multiplayer mode in which Mario and his brother, Luigi, collaborate to collect double the loot. Both players need a 3DS and a copy of the game, and you need to be in the same room to team up.

Despite the “New” in its title, the latest Mario game is more of a look back to the 1980s, when we were all enjoying his antics on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Nostalgia aside, it just doesn’t offer the innovations and rewards of last fall’s “Super Mario 3D Land.” Two stars out of four.
 

© 2012 Associated Press/AP Online under contract with YellowBrix. All rights reserved.

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The original and ultimate casual game for many —Mario — dons a new avatar in the New Super Mario Brothers 2 and brings back a lot of nostalgia. Mario, perhaps, is one of those iconic virtual characters that will easily make it to the video game hall of fame, if one ever gets to that.

And, while most of us might have moved on to complex gaming platforms like the Xbox or PlayStation consoles, revisiting Mario on a Nintendo hand-held promises to be a highly satisfying experience.

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Gameplay
The New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS brings back the traditional side-scrolling adventure game featuring Mario, Luigi and other favourite characters from the popular Mario series.

Though it is a sequel, New Super Mario Bros 2 mimics the titles before it. Bowser steals the princess from under Mario’s nose, sends his kids to take out Mario, who tries to find and save the princess. Jumping on enemies is the standard line of attack, the mushrooms will make Mario grow bigger, flowers bring the ability to shoot fireballs, leaves lend the ability to fly, and gold coins are the currency to really up your ante on points and a variety of added options.

This 3DS game, it seems, has a serious focus on collecting of coins. In the previous Mario games, 100 collected coins meant an extra life for Mario. In New Super Mario Bros 2, while 100 of them still get another life, they also give the ability to unlock some bonus stages.

With coins strewn across levels, we felt it adds almost nothing to the gameplay beyond granting more extra lives and making the game even easier than it already is. Some of the star coins are well hidden and will require some serious exploring to discover them, and this may please hardcore gamers who can diligently put in hours finding every single star coin on a particular level.

Some new tricks
Gold begins to overpower the screen with new power-ups like golden flower that turns all the enemies golden for a short time. Hit a turtle and launch it in a direction, and this will leave a trail of golden coins. The other new powerup is a coin block head. If you bash a block with coins, the block gets stuck to Mario’s head until you hit an enemy again. As Mario moves about, the coins fall out of the block and can be collected.

One also has the choice to take the mustachioed plumber on a Coin Rush mode, where a gamer attempts to speed through levels while collecting as many coins as possible. The new co-op mode allows a gamer to play against a friend (only wirelessly), but the two will have to own a copy of the game.

From running, jumping, stomping to floating in the air or swimming through water, controls are spot-on, and as good as any 2D platform game gets. Given that this is a 2D-based game, the 3D slider (on 3DS models) adds depth to the backgrounds. The game is enjoyable with or without the 3D slider on. It can be played in both the modes and both look decent.

New Super Mario Bros 2 doesn’t take the earlier 2D Mario games to a new level, and is certainly not as disruptive as last year’s Super Mario 3D Land, but that does not mean we should be writing it off the new version. New Super Mario Bros 2 is as good as Nintendo’s finest 2D platformers, but doesn’t give the desired highs.

Availability: The suggested retail price across online stores is about Rs 3,500. The game is available on the Nintendo 3DS platform (to be purchased separately).

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It’s been three years since the last New Super Mario series entry, but less than a year since Super Mario 3D Land jumped onto the retail scene. With Mario making an appearance on the Wii U this year as well, some fans may be wondering if Mario is making his plumbing services a little too accessible.

Title: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Publisher/Developer: Nintendo
System: Nintendo 3DS
MSRP: $39.99
Release Date: August 19th, 2012
ESRB: E for everyone
Players: 1-2

If you’ve played just a few Mario games, then you know what to expect here. Peach has been kidnapped again, and Mario must traverse treacherous terrain to get her back. Mario hops across the usual fire, snow, grass, sky, and beach areas, mercilessly stomping on anything in his path. Each world has around six to seven standard stages, a ghost house, a tower, and a castle.

The controls of the game are as great as they’ve ever been. Mario has a feeling of weight and momentum, and it’s something that may need getting used to. Personally I prefer the easier movement of Super Mario World, but the controls of New Super Mario Bros. 2 are practically flawless. Having the ability to make slight adjustments to Mario’s speed as he runs adds to the depth of gameplay.

As for the presentation, I feel that the New Super Mario Bros. series doesn’t quite get its due. Just about any object in the game has subtle gradations in color, a texture, and/or a hand-drawn pattern. The ground is not merely brown. It has layers of colors, shadows, and rocks. People who say that the game doesn’t have good graphics, or that it isn’t detailed aren’t looking close enough. The one detriment in New Super Mario Bros. 2, unlike its Wii counterpart, is that the open sky sometimes has a film grain look to it that isn’t pleasing to the eye. I don’t think it has to do with the resolution of the screen because I didn’t have a problem with any of the other background graphics. Thankfully It’s not too noticeable while you’re focusing on playing. The 3D effect slowly blurs the background as you move the 3D slider up, giving a razor sharp focus on the foreground. It’s a nice effect, and it gives a greater feeling of the background being distant, though there is a major loss of detail because of it. I often kept the slider in the middle to retain more of the background details.

The bosses of the game are simply too easy, and with no extra boss rush mode with added challenge, they remain a disappointment. The towers are populated by an ancient relic from Super Mario World, the triceratops standing on platforms that rotate. They are slightly different in each tower, but they’re never difficult-I think I was hit once. Maybe. The Koopa Kids who inhabit the castles of each world mostly feel like rehashes from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Some of them are slightly different, but slightly doesn’t take away the sting of disappointment.

A whole horde of old foes are in attendance in New Super Mario Bros. 2. What would a Mario game be without goombas? Empty, I say. The koopa troopas are also back, dancing to the music. Then there are a handful of enemies from Super Mario Bros. 3: chain chomp, fire snake (several flames connected to one larger flame), fire chomp (the chain chomp that flies around and shoots fireballs at you), and micro goombas (the little guys who stick to you and prevent you from jumping). I won’t sit here and name them all, but there are plenty of enemies to keep you on your toes.

Some levels offer up a challenge, and most are more difficult and more fun to play than the bosses. One level has you munching down a mini mushroom to grow small so you can run across a level full of water while you spring off of flying koopa troopas and dodge giant balls of spikes. This level in particular has two versions of it; their structure is slightly different, and the harder version’s screen auto-scrolls at about twice the speed. Being an experienced player, I liked having the option to play a harder version of that level. It’s just too bad that more levels weren’t built this way to better cater to a wide audience.

There are a few cannon levels that blast you across a short level, with only the jump button under your control. They can be fairly challenging, and they’re a nice diversion from the standard fare. I wish there were more surprises like this. It seems that a lot of Mario games throw in a few levels like this, but like the rest, they seem like tantalizing experiments that leave you wanting more (stingray level from Super Mario Galaxy, anyone?).

The levels are mostly compact and linear, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some players may take a lot of time, struggling to get through a level. More advanced players may beat levels their first try, but they’ll also have Star Coins and secrets to go back for. The great thing about this game’s level design is that once players have explored extensively to find the secrets, levels can be replayed without those secrets bogging down the fun of dashing through to the end.

While Star Coins aren’t usually too difficult to find, and you can often get clued in on their location, finding the secret exits to levels can be unnecessarily frustrating. In Super Mario World, the game that started the trend in Mario games of levels having secret exits that open up different paths, you could at least tell which level had a secret exit to find because it was the color red on the map, as opposed to the one-exit yellow-colored levels. In New Super Mario Bros. 2, not only do you not know for sure which levels have secret exits, but sometimes finding the exit within the level is an absolute nightmare. Many of the secret exits are accessed via an invisible block hidden in the level. Most of the time there is absolutely no indication of where this invisible block is, so you’re left with having to jump around mindlessly, hoping that you’ll eventually find it. Rather than wasting my time with finding invisible blocks, it would have been great if Nintendo had included a time trial mode, and/or a bosh rush mode.

Coin Rush is a mode that gives players one life to complete three levels and collect as many coins as possible. The limited time in each level adds to the tension. The Gold Flower power-up allows players to throw fireballs that turn everything into gold. Obviously this is a very useful skill in Coin Rush, but given only one Gold Flower to be used in one of three levels, an element of strategy is added. There aren’t any leaderboards for Coin Rush, and I suspect it’s so that players compete locally, and thus have a chance to one-up each others’ scores and/or beat the scores of strangers they pass (via the street pass feature). With leaderboards in place, most players would just watch helplessly as their scores failed to approach the top ten (trust me, I know from experience). Though some players may not like the lack of a leaderboard system, I think that by not including it, most players will actually have more fun competing with people they know. A total of three courses can be found in Coin Rush mode, and players should be able to squeeze out at least an hour or two of fun out of it.

There is a two-player mode available, but I was not able to test it out.

Everything included, this is a fun Mario game that is worth your time. It’s the 2D Mario that you grew up with. It’s better than the DS’ New Super Mario Bros., but not quite as fun as New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Super Mario 3D Land. Dedicated fans of the Mario games may be disappointed that, despite the title, there’s not much new here; it feels like Mario was put on autopilot with this one. Though there are some challenges to be had, I would mostly recommend this game to the less experienced players. Advanced gamers will have fun with it, sure, but it only took me around six hours to complete, and a total of sixteen hours to find every secret and beat every level. If that doesn’t sound like enough to you for the retail price of $39.99, you might want to gift the game to a younger family member, and then borrow it. It’s great that this game exists, if only to introduce newer players to the land of Mario, but as a lifetime fan, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next time Mario and I can go on a more unique and fresh adventure.

Ryan Southard is a video game enthusiast, dissecting games down to their tiniest details. Whether it’s new or it’s old, as long as it’s awesome, he’ll play it.

Meet the Nerd Reactor Team

Whenever video-game companies stretch out popular franchises for financial reasons rather than creative ones, disenchanted customers call it a “money grab.” It’s a charge Nintendo has largely been immune to, even though its most popular character, Mario, has starred in hundreds of games./ppThat changes with “New Super Mario Bros. 2″ (Nintendo, for the 3DS, $39.99), which takes the whole money-grab concept quite literally. The whole point of the game is to grab money – namely, the sparkling gold coins that have littered almost every Mario release since the mid-1980s. It’s an oddly mercenary approach to Nintendo’s lovable little plumber, and the result is one of the least inspired outings in his storied history./ppThat’s not to say this is a bad game. It’s exactly what you would expect: a collection of cleverly designed, two-dimensional environments for Mario to scamper through, dodging monsters and collecting treasures. The usual power-ups – flowers that let Mario shoot fireballs, a raccoon suit that lets him jump farther – are available in convenient locations. And most of the levels include alternate pathways, so there’s motivation to return after you’ve conquered them./ppBut while I enjoyed my time in Mario’s latest world, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d been there before. The major new power-up is a golden block that screws onto Mario’s head, creating a trail of coins. The familiar POW blocks now turn obstacles into, well, coins. And hoops scattered across the skies deliver … more coins. Some sort of prize awaits if you collect 1 million of the things, but I only made it to 10,000./ppAnd then there’s Coin Rush, in which Mario has one life with which to race through three randomly chosen levels, collecting as much gold as possible. You can then challenge other humans to beat your score using the 3DS’ StreetPass function. There’s also a multiplayer mode in which Mario and his brother, Luigi, collaborate to collect double the loot. Both players need a 3DS and a copy of the game, and you need to be in the same room to team up./ppDespite the “New” in its title, the latest Mario game is more of a look back to the 1980s, when we were all enjoying his antics on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Nostalgia aside, it just doesn’t offer the innovations and rewards of last fall’s “Super Mario 3D Land.” Two stars out of four./pp—/ppThe release of “NSMB2″ coincides with the arrival of Nintendo’s newest hand-held game device: the 3DS XL ($200), an extra-large version of the 3DS machine introduced last year. So you get your dual screens – one a touch screen, the other a three-dimensional graphics display – but they’re both about 90 percent larger./ppThat’s a huge difference to a gamer like me with vision problems. My eyes usually get tired after about 10 minutes of looking at the original model’s 3.53-inch-diagonal 3-D display. The XL’s 4.88-inch screen means I don’t need to squint as much, so I can play for about half an hour without needing a break. As a game reviewer, that’s a blessing when I’m facing a deadline, but I think you civilians will like it, too./ppThe entire package is still reasonably compact, fitting into an adult-size jeans pocket – though not exactly comfortably. If you resisted the 3DS when it came out last year, now’s a good time to give it a second look.

Whenever video-game companies stretch out popular franchises for financial reasons rather than creative ones, disenchanted customers call it a “money grab.” It’s a charge Nintendo has largely been immune to, even though its most popular character, Mario, has starred in hundreds of games.

That changes with “New Super Mario Bros. 2,” which takes the whole money-grab concept quite literally. The whole point of the game is to grab money — namely, the sparkling gold coins that have littered almost every Mario release since the mid-1980s. It’s an oddly mercenary approach to Nintendo’s lovable little plumber, and the result is one of the least inspired outings in his storied history.

That’s not to say this is a bad game. It’s exactly what you would expect: a collection of cleverly designed, two-dimensional environments for Mario to scamper through, dodging monsters and collecting treasures. The usual power-ups — flowers that let Mario shoot fireballs, a raccoon suit that lets him jump farther — are available in convenient locations. And most of the levels include alternate pathways, so there’s motivation to return after you’ve conquered them.

But while I enjoyed my time in Mario’s latest world, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d been there before. The major new power-up is a golden block that screws onto Mario’s head, creating a trail of coins. The familiar POW blocks now turn obstacles into, well, coins. And hoops scattered across the skies deliver … more coins. Some sort of prize awaits if you collect 1 million of the things, but I only made it to 10,000.

And then there’s Coin Rush, in which Mario has one life with which to race through three randomly chosen levels, collecting as much gold as possible. You can then challenge other humans to beat your score using the 3DS’ StreetPass function. There’s also a multiplayer mode in which Mario and his brother, Luigi, collaborate to collect double the loot. Both players need a 3DS and a copy of the game, and you need to be in the same room to team up.

Despite the “New” in its title, the latest Mario game is more of a look back to the 1980s, when we were all enjoying his antics on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Nostalgia aside, it just doesn’t offer the innovations and rewards of last fall’s “Super Mario 3D Land.”

Game review

“New Super Mario Bros. 2″

Price: $39.99, Nintendo, for the 3DS

Rated: E for everyone, with comic mischief

★★

★★★★ Excellent ★★★ Good ★★ Fair ★ Poor

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On this week’s Game|Life video show, I make a plea: Please, Nintendo, let Mario kick off his boots and take a rest already.

New Super Mario Bros. 2, released on Sunday, is a pretty cool game, you know? But it’s not as innovative and exciting as Super Mario 3D Land, from nine months ago. And then there’s New Super Mario Bros. U on the way, probably around November. That’s not even including the spin-offs! That’s three main-series Mario platforming games in the span of around 12 months.

Nobody wants Mario to become Call of Duty. Nintendo needs to get these games out there for the benefit of its fledgling hardware platforms, but each rapid-fire sequel burns away a little more of its fans’ goodwill.

If the original 3DS seemed a little puny for a games handheld touting “glasses-free 3D,” Nintendo’s new, almost paperback-sized $200 3DS XL expands your range of options to two: pint-sized or big gulp.

If you already own a 3DS, on the other hand, that choice may feel like a pain point: Live with the perfectly decent, pocket-sized handheld you might have paid as much as $250 for (before Nintendo dropped the price last August), or cough up another $200 for extra eyeball room.

Though we’re not talking just eyeball room — like the DSi XL, the 3DS XL is a king-sized 3DS that folds in subtle but gratifying refinements.

(MORE: Is the Handheld Video Games Market Shrinking? Or Just Changing?)

The 3DS’s clamshell exterior was a glossy fingerprint lure, whereas the 3DS XL employs a smudge-resistant matte finish that feels sleek and clean (and less like a grease trap after extended play). The “Select,” “Home” and “Start” buttons along the bottom edge of the 3DS’s lower screen are now discrete rectangles with the labels chiseled into the plastic instead of the 3DS’s flat, barely depressible mono-membrane. It’s now much easier to hit these buttons without looking at them.

The diamond five-point stereo speakers are now nine-point circles, though whether that improves acoustics is difficult to say (if anything, the 3DS XL at max volume sounds a little softer than the 3DS). The 3DS XL’s bottom corners now sport fuller curves, nestling more comfortably in the center of your palms.

Where the 3DS had three lid positions: closed, 160 degrees and 180 degrees, the 3DS XL has four: the 3DS’s three, plus a new 110-degree angle, laptop-style, which seems geared for use while resting on a flat surface. And the stylus now slides easily from the right-hand side, instead of its awkward position along the top/back next to the game slot on the 3DS.

There’s nothing subtle about the 3DS XL’s screen upgrades, of course. The top one — the wide-angle, autostereoscopic 3D centerpiece — now stretches an impressive 4.88 inches, a 38% improvement over the 3DS’s comparably anemic 3.53 inches. It’s tantamount to switching from Apple’s 3.5-inch iPhone to Samsung’s 4.8-inch Galaxy S III. The bottom 4:3 aspect touchscreen, which on the original 3DS was actually smaller at 3.02 inches diagonally than the DSi’s 3.25 inches, is also a third bigger here, expanded to a more-than-comfortable 4.18 inches. Pull up Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the new system and, proportionally speaking, it’s a lot more like gaming in front of a big screen TV.

Which isn’t to say playing with the 3D slider cranked to max feels any less gimmicky. It’s still more a special effect that strikes me as running counter to Nintendo’s “no frills” design philosophy. And the 3DS XL doesn’t solve the 3DS’s most serious flaw: Move your head even a fraction to the left or right (from centered and perpendicular) and the screen image darkens or doubles as you expose the “seams” in the autostereoscopic field.

For games that don’t require you tilt the handheld, you can make do for shorter sessions (though you’ll eventually tire of having to hold the system perfectly steady). But for motion-sensing games that require you move the handheld rapidly, keeping your eyes aligned is a challenge unto itself — to the point that you might as well turn 3D off entirely. The good news: That’s even easier than before. Unlike the 3DS, the 3DS XL includes a switch to lock 3D off, so you can pull the 3D “depth” down to minimum, then over a fixed threshold into the “off” position. And with 3D disabled, you’ll get much better battery life.

Speaking of, you’d think that given the 3DS XL’s size, we’d get a better battery in the bargain, but even Nintendo’s official 3DS XL rating is glum: 3.5 to 6.5 hours versus the 3DS’s three to six hours — a meager 30 minute uptick. In my tests, running Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D nonstop with 3D fully engaged, I managed to squeeze a paltry three hours and 45 minutes of battery life from the handheld. That’s a shame, because the larger screens really do make you want to play this thing longer since you’re worrying about eyestrain less.

Why didn’t Nintendo include a second thumb nub? It’s hard to say. There’s certainly space for one here, just below the face buttons (or above, if you moved those face buttons down an inch). I’d venture it’s because almost nothing supports it at this point. I count eight games that work with the Circle Pad Pro — the bulky undercarriage that adds a righthand analog nub to the standard 3DS.

Those who don’t find the second nub’s absence troubling seem to be missing this point: If, as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata claims, the purview of dedicated gaming handhelds is a “richer” experience — especially where the games literally pivot on 3D graphics — the twin-analog-stick control approach’s ability to navigate 3D-space is unsurpassed. Take a game like Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, where the camera auto-swivels to track your movement, Mario 64-style: I’ve always wanted independent camera controls in these games, say I accidentally slash past an enemy who then disappears from view, or the camera’s bopping around erratically because I’m in a cramped spot, say a house or dungeon. And that’s to say nothing of the limitations it imposes on modern first- or third-person games.

Maybe you’ve heard Nintendo plans to offer an XL-sized Circle Pad Pro later this year, but it’s hard to see the sense — you really don’t want to make something that already weighs 336 grams any bigger. (By comparison, the regular 3DS weighs 235 grams, the PS Vita with Wi-Fi weighs 260 grams and an iPhone 4S weighs just 140 grams.) It’ll also be supremely annoying if we have to buy the 3DS all over again in a year or two, say Nintendo decides to reboot the system DS Lite-style and make that its — pun intended — doubling-down point.

Still, if you have $200 to burn, don’t already own a 3DS or have yet to play the platform’s better-than-average fare like Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Kid Icarus: Uprising or Resident Evil: Revelations, then spring for the 3DS XL. It’s officially the 3DS to beat.

MORE: The 3D Hype Bubble Is Now Completely Busted

GAMES  REVIEW

New Super Mario Bros. 2
***½

by Mike LeChevallier on August 24, 2012

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Straightforwardly speaking, just how much you’re going to enjoy New Super Mario Bros. 2, the sequel to the chart-topping shining star in the Nintendo DS’s library, depends on how great your affinity is for unmitigated familiarity and accumulating coins. The most masterly Super Mario games combine reminiscence with reinvention to form a contemporary, series-reinvigorating experience (Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario 3D Land); New Super Mario Bros. 2 goes almost entirely in the opposite direction, providing not a whole lot more than a furbished renovation of its A-1 predecessor with a central focus that’s purely antiquated to its very foundation. This is a bit of a disappointment, yet New Super Mario Bros. 2 is still, unsurprisingly, the strongest 2D platformer the 3DS has to offer at present. Amassing 1,000,000 sparkly gold floating circles may seem like a tedious task, but Nintendo has once again packed the newest entry in its flagship franchise with weakness-cushioning bonus content that verges on boundless, so that the game, while hardly earning the “new” within its title, will unremittingly pry incalculable hours from your precious free time with you being none the wiser.

Gathering what stimulus it can from the series’s famed past is the game’s transparent plan of attack, and for the most part this method replicates the success of its counterparts. Choosing to recruit Bowser’s bumbling subordinate apprentices, known as the Koopalings, from Super Mario Bros. 3 as New Super Mario Bros. 2‘s stage villains is a cautious but ultimately intelligent move. True, it would be nice to see a slew of fresh boss characters waiting for you at the end of each booby trap-filled castle, but Nintendo imparts enough variation and modern-day aptitude into these battles that the need for a handful of potentially disappointing enemy creations is determinately lessened. Besides, the game requires you to dedicate the majority of your attention span to compiling clusters of gilded coins, so wasting precious side-scrolling hours bemoaning the lack of unaccustomed opponents is a conclusively senseless decision.

The importance of those petite annular yellowish discs is unprecedented, and this reflects tenfold in the gameplay as well as the items. Gold Rings, once activated, coat nearby foes in a sheet of the periodic table’s 79th element, and with each hit comes a multiplied intake of funds. Good old-fashioned Coin Blocks return, of course, here displaying enhanced versatility and usefulness by being able to be worn as headpieces, briefly exploding into geysers of riches as you negotiate each expertly crafted level. Perhaps most valuable of all is the Gold Flower power-up, which mutates our favorite fictional Italian plumber into a movable golden statuette (his brother, Luigi, turns a shade of silver that resembles his sibling’s metal form), giving him the faculty to transmogrify everything in the vicinity (not just assailants, but objects too) into sweet, sweet legal tender. Naturally, classic enhancements are represented in New Super Mario Bros. 2 as well: Mushrooms, Stars, Fire Flowers, and the Super Leaf are available, unchanged from their previous forms. As in Super Mario 3D Land, if the difficulty ever becomes too agonizing (which is a slight possibility near the end of the game), the Invincibility Leaf handicap appears after losing five lives in succession. Each item, whether recycled or newfangled, serves a distinct purpose that doesn’t feel like it’s been shoehorned in for the hell of it; this is Nintendo issuing immense respect to its product, to itself, and, most importantly, to its millions of allegiant fans.

Graphically, New Super Mario Bros. 2 scores high marks, that is, until the 3DS’s 3D function is triggered. In standard mode, the colors and textures are smooth and vivid, with not a single iota of visual softening or bedimming to be witnessed. However, once the 3D is switched on, those positives rapidly become negatives, as backgrounds become muddy and surface areas dull. Compare this with the excellent 3D effects in Super Mario 3D Land, and it’s painfully obvious that New Super Mario Bros. 2 wasn’t necessarily designed with the primary goal of taking advantage of the 3DS’s illustrative prowess. Conversely, controlling Mario is an absolute breeze under any circumstances. Never did I blame my failure on some in-game bugginess, any error I made was strictly my fault alone. Honing your coin-collecting skills is key to prevailing in the timed Streetpass scenario Coin Rush, a decent WiFi multiplayer option that has the potential to encourage heated online competitions.

With its platforming elements approaching a paragon (set to Kenta Nagata’s unpretentiously redolent harmonic arrangements, no less), as well as numerous secrets to uncover and a not-too-shabby cooperative mode, the lack of diagnostic newness in New Super Mario Bros. 2 is easily forgivable. At first glance it may seem like Nintendo has phoned this one in, and while it’s evident that all that glitters here isn’t quite gold, what remains is enough to transiently pay us off.

• Publisher:
  Nintendo
• Developer:
  Nintendo
• Release Date:
  August 19, 2012
• Platform:
  3DS
• ESRB:
  E
• ESRB Descriptors:
  Comic Mischief

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