New Super Mario Brothers Wii

[Trainman]

All right, another thread to kinda join any NSMB Wii talk into one thread. Discuss, speculate, etc.

Okay, so we already know that the Toads as P3 and P4 is lame, blah blah blah. We already heard that bit.

I'd like to address the new power-ups suits; I kind of don't like them.

For Ice Mario, couldn't they have just done a white shirt/hat combo with an ice blue set of overalls instead of a penguin suit?
Also, for.... eh... "Propeller" Mario, couldn't they have maybe just thrown wings on Mario's hat and let the players figure out what it does instead of a suit that makes him look like the Great Gazoo?

Seriously, look at both suits. Why does he have huge helmets for each one like he's about to pilot an F16 or something?

[Weegee]

As cheesy as the Penguin suit is, couldn't your argument also be applied to the Frog, Raccoon and Tanooki suits in that case? Nintendo is actually keeping with tradition by including a full-body suit in Mario's power-up repertoire. But I'm with you on the Propeller suit: a cape, tail or winged cap could've gotten the point across while being alot less childish.

[BP]

The only things about it that are bothering me are

-The mode that makes the game play itself
-The two Toads.
-The title.

The former: In theory it'll allow the developers to make merciless levels and feel no remorse. But will they do it?
The second one: This might sound ridiculous, but it's mostly the idea of these two nameless Toads using powerups and riding Yoshis that just unnerves the heck out of me. I thought that jumping high and the ability to use powerups were like Mario's superpowers. Luckily I never really have players three and four so I won't see those dorks often. Still, having different, established characters in the game would've been much more comfortable.
The last: I never really liked the name "New Super Mario Bros." and also hate it when they just add "DS" or "Wii" to the title. It was awesome for the Super NES, cool for the 64, never happened with the GameCube, and should have stopped there.

The rest: It's a classic-style Mario game on a console. I'm happy about that. I hope it's not as gimmick-laden as NSMB though. Like, NSMB had physics almost as good as World's, and Mario could run really fast... but when could you? There was too much crap in the way to run, ever.

[ShadowBrain]

Dang, you're kind of right... I always thought those suits seemed more Tellytubby-esque, really.

As for the game itself... well, the Toads as accomplices thing doesn't really bother me--honestly, who else makes sense? Bowser and Peach are in their usual positions as kidnapper and kidnappee, respectively, and Wario... well, he's not the type (Waluigi fans, I don't want to hear a word out of you). Besides, it's been way longer since we've played as Toad than we've ridden a Yoshi--and Super/Fire Toad look awesome.

The new suits: Somewhat infantile, yes, but unique? So far as I can tell from the videos, the Penguin Suit is a mix of the Ice Flower and the Koopa Shell, while the Heli-Suit is either a gimped Wing Cap or the essence of every hovering videogame vehicle/character we've come to loathe at some point. As for Yoshi, well, some people keep acting like it's been forever since he's been playable (well, ridable), but it hasn't been long enough for me to get incredibly excited about this.

[Trainman]

As cheesy as the Penguin suit is, couldn't your argument also be applied to the Frog, Raccoon and Tanooki suits in that case? Nintendo is actually keeping with tradition by including a full-body suit in Mario's power-up repertoire.

Well, yeah, I forgot to add that in the original post because I wasn't thinking about it.... but I dunno. The reason I don't mind those suits:

-The Frog Suit made you hop like a frog: hilarious. Also, it was justifiable to have a full suit to let you know the capability of it and because there's really nothing to portray you as a frog when you get it. Frogs don't have ears to strap on Mario, or tails, so I think the only thing they could do was put him in a frog suit.

-The Tanooki suit is fine because...who knew what a Tanooki was anyway? If they hadn't put him in a full body suit, players might've had a hard time catching on to what it could do since it would've probably heavily resembled Racoon Mario. (Hell, even the Tanooki suit has the racoon tail on it.)

-Racoon Mario...hmm, I don't really consider a tail and ears to be a suit.

Point being, I think Nintendo puts Mario in suits only when they have no idea how to portray the power-up. When the power-up gets a little harder to understand than say, Cape Mario, or Racoon Mario, or there's no way to really portray it simply (Frog Mario, Tanooki Mario), they'll throw a suit on him.

They could've portrayed the ice power-up simpler than putting him in a penguin suit. If Mario finds an Ice Flower and his clothes transform to an icy theme like I mentioned in my first post, I think players would be able to understand what the power-up does. They didn't put Mario in a full flower suit when you got a Fire Flower back then, so they shouldn't put Mario in a full body suit when he gets an Ice Flower now.

Same goes for the Propeller suit. Throw wings on his hat or some variation of that (to distinguish it from the Wing Cap). Simple as that.

[Tv_Themes]

XD

The Great Gazoo.

[Kimimaru]

couldn't they have maybe just thrown wings on Mario's hat and let the players figure out what it does instead of a suit that makes him look like the Great Gazoo?

They already put wings on Mario's cap in Super Mario 64 for the Wing Cap. If they did the same thing here, it would only cause more confusion. Plus, wings don't resemble a propeller.

[The Chef]

Trainman's observation has me wondering about GCN-and-beyond Nintendo's design philosophy. These days it seems more like they design things just for the sake rather than practicality, and in other cases change things for no discernible reason other than wanting to change things.

XD

The Great Gazoo.

This was a necessary post.

[jdaster64]

They didn't put Mario in a full flower suit when you got a Fire Flower back then.

I'd like to see that depicted in GIMP.

But yeah, Frog Suit was definitely warranted, and the Tanooki as well, and don't even TRY to dis the Hammer Brother Suit.  I don't mind the design of the Propeller Suit so much, but I agree that the ice powerup could (and should) be more simply portrayed.

[Weegee]

These days it seems more like they design things just for the sake rather than practicality, and in other cases change things for no discernible reason other than wanting to change things.

Agreed. Why Nintendo would replace timeless elements with subpar copies is beyond me. Call me unoriginal, but I think that seeing a Cape Feather or Super Leaf would be a relief amidst the onslaught of p o i n t l e s s "replacement" power-ups we've been getting lately.

[BP]

I think all the recent power-ups have been pretty awesome.

Bee Mario: The Hover Nozzle in not stupid robot form.
Flying Mario: Was awesome, but not used enough. I bet it was added late. Trying to use it is problematic in most levels.
Shell: Don't you DARE dis the shell. That was the best new power-up since the Cape perfected flying.
Spring Mario: Answers the question, "What if Mario could not stop jumping?" An interesting concept with slick execution if you ask me.
Rainbow Mario: Obviously the rainbow Star was invented so you wouldn't get the Starman and Power Stars mixed up. It's the same basic thing.

I dunno what to say about the Propellor Suit (Bee Suit with water resistance?) or Penguin Suit... I mean, it does more than just let you throw ice.

[The Chef]

Flying Mario: Was awesome, but not used enough. I bet it was added late. Trying to use it is problematic in most levels.

I really would've loved the whole game to be free-roaming and enable you to fly to any planet like this power-up allows.

Spring Mario: Answers the question, "What if Mario could not stop jumping?" An interesting concept with slick execution if you ask me.

Sorry, but Bouncy Wario beats Spring Mario on any day of the week.

[Weegee]

Bee Mario: At least in keeps it theme with the world you first find it in.
Flying Mario: A gay Wing Cap clone, albeit with the ability to fly upwards forever. Why couldn't they have revived the Wing Cap, Super Leaf or Cape Feather instead?
Shell Mario: Could've been alright if you could manually enter and exit your shell slide with a button instead of replacing running with it. Wearing it in a new, unexplored level is practically suicide, exemplifying its gimmickyness. Sure, it kills everything in its path, but the Hammer Suit did so as well while remaining controllable. Please don't come back with something about you finding the Shell easy to control.
Spring Mario: An east contender for being the worst power-up in video game history. Aside from looking tacky, its ceaseless bouncing is quite possibly the only ability the player is relieved to lose.
Rainbow Mario: I suppose it could have been worse than a pointless aesthetic change from "regular" invincibility, but... yeah.

As for the upcoming abilities,

Penguin Mario: Not only would an Ice Flower have been a more sensible choice, but unlike the Penguin Suit, it also would have had potential as a permanent addition to Mario's power-up repertoire.
Propeller Mario: Why is Nintendo so reluctant to bring flight back into sidescrollers? I'm assuming that the Propeller will serve the exact same purpose as SML2's Bunny Carrot: to simply slow the player's descent without supplying any additional vertical height.

[Tv_Themes]

Penguin Mario is necessary for Ice Water stages.

[The Chef]

...It is?