Nintendo had kiosks available after the press conference for attendees to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii before E3 opened, so we got a few minutes of gameplay in on the title.
NSMBW feels a lot like multiplayer LittleBigPlanet, and that’s definitely a good thing. The cooperative/competitive dynamic makes it interesting, and special “moves” are especially intriguing. Players can bounce off the heads of friends to reach new heights (literally), and these tactics combine with powerups. Added to the mainstays like the Fire Flower and Mushroom are the Penguin Suit and Propeller Suit.
Stages we saw included a cave level with spotlight controlled by the remote tilt of one player, an ice level(with lots of sliding and penguin action, and a Hammer Bros.-themed level with red and green Yoshis.
For now at least, it seems that characters control very similarly, so SMB2-style attributes may not be in the cards.
We wonder whether the fun will translate to a single-player experience, but for multiplayer, NSMBW looks good enough to anchor Nintendo’s holiday lineup.
