New Super Mario Bros. U is an amazing multiplayer game to gather with friends.
Presentation - The story in New Super Mario Bros. U hasn't changed a bit because it's about Mario saving Princess Peach from the evil Bowser and his koopalings once again. It's not an actual flaw with the game because Nintendo always wanted Mario games to be more focused on the game play and not the story so much. There are a total of eight worlds to explore that range from the Acorn Plains to the Rock-Candy Mines. The majority of the level design was heavily based off of Super Mario World because the baby multicolored Yoshis return and you can have Mario carry him to eat up the enemies that come toward you. Also, some of the mountains and levels were taken and remade from Super Mario World which is pretty cool for the old school Super Nintendo fans to marvel at.
The difficulty level has been increased somewhat faster than New Super Mario Bros. Wii especially on the final boss levels at the end of each world. It's not overly difficult, but not exactly easy at the same time because there is some strategy involved with collecting three large coins at each level and using your power up and dodging tactics to defeat the mini-bosses. The overall difficulty on the game is medium and the difficulty curve steeps faster than the Wii version which can certainly offer more of a challenge for hardcore gamers.
Although the propeller power up is absent, the latest power up is the flying squirrel suit. You can glide across the stage temporary and even shake the Wii u pad or Wii remote once to have Mario stay in the air a tad longer. The super guide returns in the single player mode. You can also play as Luigi in the Super Guide mode if you die on the same stage too many times in a row, but keep in mind that the level will be labeled as unclear. That means you have to clear all of the levels as Mario without using the super guide mode.
There are a few other modes besides the single player mode. You can have up to five players play on any one of the three save files. Unfortunately, you can't play as your mii avatar in the file saves mode. You can only play as Mario, Luigi, Blue and Yellow Toad by using the standard Wii remotes. In the multiplayer mode, you can use the boost mode while using the Wii U pad. It allows you to place bricks on the stage to be able to jump and reach on tough areas. Be careful not to place too many bricks at one time because they can diminish a lot faster.
The three extra modes that are also available are the challenge, boost rush, and coin battle modes for single and multiplayer modes. In the challenge mode, you can either do single player or play with two people. In Boost Rush mode, you can play alone or play with up to five people. Finally in Coin Battle mode, you can have up to four players and Boost Mode is still available. In these three extra modes, you can also play as your mii avatar along with the same available characters from the standard multiplayer mode.
In the challenge modes, you can beat time attack, collect coins, 1-Up rally, special, and boost mode. In boost rush mode, you can complete from a variety of courses by completing certain tasks such as the flying squirrel course.
Graphics - Since the Wii U has updated graphics to feature HD or high definition, the visuals will appear to improve over the Wii version. Everything looks a bit more realistic than its predecessors. The character animations are still fluid and the koopas (turtles) even do a short dance sometimes. Overall, the graphics are improving visually, and the animation is still about the same as before. There are also no signs of glitches or slowdowns except the game can slow if the Wii U pad is too far away from the Wii U console and the connection might even disconnect on you.
Sound - There is finally a bit more variety to the music especially in the main menus. The music from the actual levels and some of the map over world sounds exactly the same from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Some of the map over world music has a bit more variety especially on worlds one and three. The character voice samples from the characters are still the same from the Wii version. Overall, the music has improved in the sound department.
Game play - The controls are still one hundred percent accurate, and are easy enough for casual and hardcore gamers to pick up and play.
Lasting appeal - Although there is no online mode still, the extra content and variety in the single and multiplayer will make you and your friends to play a bit longer.
The Good - the graphics are improving visually, the music has a bit more variety, extra content in single and multiplayer modes, more challenging, super precise controls
The Bad - no online mode
Presentation - 9
Graphics - 10
Sound - 10
Game play - 10
Lasting appeal - 9
Overall 9.6 out of 10 GameSpot Score 9.5 out of 10