New Super Mario Bros. U

Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD4
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
Wii U	NA: November 18, 2012 JP: December 8, 2012 EU: November 30, 2012 AU: November 30, 2012
Wii U	NA: November 18, 2012 JP: December 8, 2012 EU: November 30, 2012 AU: November 30, 2012
Platform(s)
Classification(s)	This game uses the Nintendo Network This game has playable Miis Miiverse
Accessory(ies)	This game is compatible with the Nunchuk This game is compatible with the Classic Controller
Sales	5.80 million (15.45 million combined with Deluxe and Luigi U)
Genre(s)	Platformer
Rating(s)
ESRB	03
PEGI	01
CERO	01
USK	01
ACB	01

New Super Mario Bros. U <sup>(JPJapanese: ニュー・スーパーマリオブラザーズ・U

Romaji: Nyū Sūpā Mario Burazāzu Yū)</sup> (also called NSMBU, New Super Mario Bros. 4, or NSM4) is the fourth installment in the New Super Mario Bros. series for the Wii U. It was officially revealed at Nintendo's 2012 E3 conference on June 5. The game allows for up to five players to play at the same time; One with the Wii U GamePad, and four others with Wii Remotes or Wii U Pro Controllers. It is a sequel to the 2009 Wii game New Super Mario Bros. Wii and a follow-up to the Nintendo 3DS game New Super Mario Bros. 2 (which was also released in 2012 and is a follow-up to the 2009 game). An expansion pack for this game was later released in June 2013, titled New Super Luigi U which was also released on Wii U. A port to both Wii U games, titled New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe was announced on September 13, 2018 and released on the Nintendo Switch in January 11, 2019. It includes new game modes and features Toadette as a new playable character. She also has her own Power Up, the Super Crown, which turns her into a Peach-look-alike named Peachette.

Like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, players have the option to play as either Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, or Blue Toad, but players also have the option to play as their Mii characters.

Plot

Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, and Blue Toad are in Peach's Castle having lunch together. Bowser arrives in his airship. The airship, now armed with a giant mechanical fist, smashes the four and throws them far away. With the Mario Bros. out of the way, Bowser hijacks Peach's Castle. Mario and the gang land in a giant acorn tree, launching Super Acorns throughout the area. When the four get back onto solid ground, they realize they are now in Acorn Plains, far from Peach's Castle. The four run back to save Peach once more.

Gameplay

Screenshot.

New Super Mario Bros. U iterates on the gameplay featured in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The objective of each level is to reach the goal flag at the end while avoiding enemies and hazards. The game can be controlled either using Wii Remotes or the Wii U GamePad, the latter of which allows play separate from the television screen. Like the Wii game, up to four players can play simultaneously, choosing from Mario, Luigi, and two toads colored blue and yellow, same as in New Super Mario Bros Wii.

Certain game modes also allow players to play Mii characters saved on their console. New to this version is an asymmetric multiplayer experience called Boost Mode. In this mode, an additional player using the Game Pad can use the touchscreen to place blocks on the screen or stun enemies to aid the other players. This can be used to both assist amateur players and allow expert players to perform speed runs.

Along with returning elements, such as Ice Flowers and Yoshi's, New Super Mario Bros. U introduces new power ups, such as a flying squirrel suit that allows players to glide across long distances or slowly descend down vertical paths and cling to the side of the walls. Baby Yoshi's, which last appeared in Super Mario World, can be carried by the individual players. Each Baby Yoshi has a special ability based on its color, such as inflating in midair magenta, blowing bubbles to attack enemies blue, and illuminating dark areas yellow.

Some older power-ups also have new abilities; for example, the Mini Mushroom now allows players to run up walls. Unlike New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which had separate maps for each of the game's worlds, New Super Mario Bros. U features one large map containing all the game's worlds and levels, similar to that of Super Mario World. Some levels have multiple exits that lead to different areas on the map.

The game features two new modes of play, Challenge Mode and Boost Rush. Challenge Mode adds unique challenges to various levels, such as clearing them in as quick a time as possible or earning as many 1-UP's in a row as possible without touching the ground. Boost Rush takes place on an automatically scrolling level which increases in speed as players collect coins, with the goal to clear the stage as quickly as possible. The game will also utilize Miiverse, allowing players to share comments or feelings about particular levels with one another.

History

Rumors about a New Super Mario Bros. title being in development for the Wii U had circulated since the Wii U tech-demo New Super Mario Bros. Mii was playable at E3 2011. In early 2012, Nintendo confirmed that they were indeed working on a new game based on that tech-demo. On Sunday, June 3, 2012, during a Nintendo Direct live video stream, video of the game was shown, though not directly confirmed to be an actual game in development.

The video focused on showing how the Wii U's social network Miiverse might be used while playing a game. The video showed comments from players around the world appearing when Mario failed a level as well as on the over-world map. The game was officially announced and named at E3 2012, as well as a trailer.

Playable Characters

• Mario
• Luigi
• Yellow Toad
• Blue Toad
• Mii
• Yoshi's

Power Ups

• Super Acorn
• Super Mushroom
• Fire Flower
• Ice Flower
• Mini Mushroom
• Starman

Post game

• Propeller Mushroom
• Penguin Suit

Worlds

Acorn Plains	Layer-Cake Desert	Sparkling Waters	Frosted Glacier	Soda Jungle	Rock-Candy Mines	Meringue Clouds	Peach's Castle	Superstar Road
1-1: Acorn Plains Way	2-1: Stone-Eye Zone	3-1: Waterspout Beach	4-: Spinning-Star Sky	5-Airship: Mighty Cannon Ship	6-1: Fuzzy Clifftop	7-1: Land of Flying Blocks	8-1: Meteor Moat*	9-1: Spine-Tingling Spine Coaster
1-2: Tilted Tunnel*	2-2: Perilous Pokey Cave	3-2: Tropical Refresher	4-2 Cooligan Fields	5-1: Jungle of the Giants	6-2: Porcupuffer Falls	7-2: Seesaw Shrooms	8-2: Magma-River Cruise	9-2: Run for It
1-Tower: Crushing-Cogs Tower	2-3: Fire Snake Cavern	3-Tower: Giant Skewer Tower	4-Tower: Freezing-Rain Tower	5-2: Bridge Over Poisoned Waters*	6-Tower 1: Grinding Stone Tower*	7-3: Switchback Hill	8-3: Rising Tides of Lava	9-3: Swim For Your Life!
1-3: Yoshi Hill	2-Tower: Stoneslide Tower	3-Ghost House: Haunted Shipwreck*	4-3: Prickly Goombas!	5-3: Bramball Woods	6-3: Waddlewing's Nest	7-Tower: Slide Lift Tower	8-4: Firefall Cliffs	9-4: Hammerswing Caverns
1-4: Mushroom Heights	2-4: Spike's Sprouting Sands*	3-3: Above the Cheep Cheep Seas	4-4: Scaling the Mountainside	5-Tower: Snake Block Tower	6-4: Light Blocks, Dark Tower	7-Ghost House: Spinning Spirit House*	8-Castle: Red-Hot Elevator Ride	9-5: Spinning Platforms of Doom
1-5: Rise of the Piranha Plants	2-5: Dry Desert Mushrooms	3-4: Urchin Shoals	4-5: Icicle Caverns	5-Ghost House: Which Way Labyrinth*	6-5: Walking Piranha Plants!*	7-4: Bouncy Cloud Boomerangs	8-Bowser's Castle: The Final Battle	9-6: Fire Bar Cliffs
1-Castle: Lemmy's Swingback Castle	2-6: Blooming Lakitus	3-5: Dragoneel's Undersea Grotto	4-Ghost House: Swaying Ghost House*	5-4: Painted Swampland*	6-Tower 2: Screwtop Tower	7-5: A Quick Dip in the Sky	N/A	9-7: Lakitu! Lakitu! Lakitu!
1-Secret Stage: Blooper's Secret Lair	2-Castle: Morton's Compactor Castle	3-Castle: Larry's Torpedo Castle	4-Castle: Wendy's Shifting Castle	5-5: Deepsea Ruins*	6-6: Thrilling Spine Coaster	7-6: Snaking Above Mist Valley	N/A	9-8: Pendulum Castle
N/A	2-Secret Stage: Piranha Plants on Ice	3-Secret Stage: Skyward Stalk	4-Secret Stage: Fliprus Lake	5-6: Seesaw Bridge	6-7: Shifting Floor Cave	7-Castle: Ludwig's Clockwork Castle	N/A	9-9: Follow That Shell!
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5-7: Wiggler Stampede	6-Castle: Roy's Conveyor Castle	7-Airship: Boarding the Airship	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5-Castle: Iggy's Volcanic Castle	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	5-Secret Stage: Flight of the Para-Beetles	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Extra Modes

Level	Difficulty
Time Attack
Time Attack Trial	1 Star
Acorn Plains Speed Run	1 Star
Full Speed Ahead	2 Stars
Stone-Eye Desert Dash	2 Stars
The Boo Ballet	2 Stars
The Boo-Ballet Encore	2 Stars
Icicle Skating	2 Stars
Huckit Hustle	3 Stars
Mini Mountaineer	3 Stars
Lurchin' Urchins	3 Stars
Penguin vs. Torpedo	3 Stars
Slick Slopes and Bullet Bills	3 Stars
The Haunted Propeller	4 Stars
Fliprus Crossing	4 Stars
Rickety Sprint	4 Stars
No-Cash Dash	4 Stars
Poison-Swamp Scramble	5 Stars
Swing into Action	5 Stars
Stoneslide Tower Climb	5 Stars
Screwtop It Up	5 Stars
Coin Collection
Triple-Jump for Coins	1 Star
Hot Hidden-Coin Hunt	1 Star
Stingy Big Piranha Plants	1 Star
Lakitu's Cloud Heist	2 Stars
Hot-Air Yoshi Ride	2 Stars
Ghost House Coin Curse	2 Stars
Perilous Coin Dodge	3 Stars
Waddlewing Wipeout	3 Stars
Prickly Goomba's Coinless Run	3 Stars
200 Clifftop Coins	3 Stars
Dark Dark Coaster	3 Stars
Cloud Top Coin Evasion	3 Stars
Attack of the Bob-ombs	4 Stars
Spine Coaster Coin Cruise	4 Stars
Castle Coin Bypass	5 Stars
Don't Touch Anything	5 Stars
1-Up Rally
The Goombrat Stomp	1 Star
Stone-Eye Koopas	1 Star
Goomba Bounce Bash	2 Stars
Penguin Bowling	2 Stars
Three Dry Bones	3 Stars
Bullet Bill 1-Up Bounce	3 Stars
Star Connection	4 Stars
Big Goomba Bounce Bash	4 Stars
Airship 1-Up Rally	5 Stars
Paratroopa Panic	5 Stars
Special
Fire, Bro!	1 Star
Graceful Glide	1 Star
Mole to Goal	2 Stars
Marathon Glide	2 Stars
Bubble Up	3 Stars
Nonstop Flight	3 Stars
Be Gentle to Giants	3 Stars
Big Air at Sundown	3 Stars
Balancing Act	3 Stars
Bowser's Airship Sneak	3 Stars
Larry's Groundless Battle	3 Stars
No Climbing Allowed	3 Stars
The Trial of Bullet Bill Hill	3 Stars
Spin Jump, Get Dizzy	3 Stars
Mole to Goal Returns	4 Stars
Wobble and Rock	4 Stars
Seriously! Fire, Bro!	4 Stars
Elevator Out of Service	4 Stars
Castle Crawl	4 Stars
Express Elevator	5 Stars
Cashless Castle Crawl	5 Stars
Boost Mode
Piranha Plant Hideaway	1 Star
Coins in the Forecast	1 Star
When Waddlewings Attack	2 Stars
The Perpetual Shell	2 Stars
Boost Block Coin Stalk	3 Stars
Icicle Falls	3 Stars
Fuzzy Alert!	3 Stars
The High Road	3 Stars
Three-Legged Lava Race	4 Stars
Fuzzy Cliff Climb	4 Stars
Thwomp Castle Cash Flow	5 Stars
Cloudy with a Chance of Fire	5 Stars
Ultimate Boost Blast	5 Stars

Enemies

• Goomba
• Koopa Troopa
• Piranha Plant
• Fire Bro.
• Boney Beetle
• Boos
• Paragoomba
• Urchins
• Waddlewing
• Boom Boom
• Koopalings

Reception

New Super Mario Bros. U has received generally positive reviews. The game currently maintains an 84 average on both Metacritic and GameRankings. Also on whatoplay.com, this game holds an aggregate score (playscore) of 8.48 based on 18 critics and 72,900+ gamer ratings. GameXplain gave the single-player and multi-player modes 4 stars out of 5, IGN gave it a score of 9.1 out of 10, EGM gave a score of 9/10, Joystiq gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, Polygon and Destructoid gave the same score of 8.5/10, VentureBeat gave it a score of 83/100 (83%), Games Radar gave it 4 stars out of 5, and Gamespot gave a score of 8.5.

The game has been praised for its balanced gameplay and challenge mode, with IGN's Rich George describing it as "the best thing to come to Mario's world since 3D", while criticizing it as not pushing the Wii U's visuals and audio potential. He also stated, "though it doesn't necessarily redefine Nintendo’s iconic hero, it still manages to capture the sense of carefree adventure that many of us felt as kids." He also criticized the game's "weak graphics and audio, plus the return of the irritating chaotic, bouncy multiplayer mode". He praised the progressing difficulty in the game and the additional difficulty of Challenge Mode.

Legacy

Eventually this game got DLC in the form of New Super Luigi U. This game was included in a Wii U bundle that started in August of 2013. The bundle included a black Deluxe Wii U and a disc containing both New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U.

As of March 31, 2014, this was the best selling Wii U game at 4.16 million units sold until March 31, 2015, when it became second best-selling Wii U game behind the latest Mario Kart game Mario Kart 8.

Development

As stated above, New Super Mario Bros. U was based upon the New Super Mario Bros. Mii Wii U experience demo shown off at E3 2011. A translation of a Spanish online magazine revealed that the new title was in development and would be revealed at E3 2012, with the game fully revealed to be New Super Mario Bros. U during the E3 trailer.

New Super Mario Bros. U began development soon after the completion of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, using pre-existing elements from the Wii game, as development equipment for Wii U did not exist at the time. The game's singular, interconnected world map was inspired by the one seen in Super Mario World; Masataka Takemoto desired to take the map from that game and use the Wii U in order to recreate and expand upon the concept. The map being seamless also had a role in Miiverse integration, as with the setup of the map it was possible to display comments across each of the levels. The concept of drop-in play with one player on the Gamepad placing blocks was brought up early in development. When the Wii U Gamepad was brought up during development, the team began to conceptualize ways to use it, talking specifically about the drop-in play. Wanting to make a feature with "controls that you can understand right away with no explanation," the concept of using the GamePad to place blocks the other players can jump on went through.

Challenge Mode was based upon the idea of setting a self-challenge in previous games, as well as the challenge site for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Because of ideas like this, the developers decided to put the Challenge Mode into the game from the beginning. The challenges were created with all types of skill levels in mind.

Boost Rush Mode was based on the Free-for-All Mode featured in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, in that they wanted a similar mode for playing the main game stages in short bursts. The developers tried connecting courses together and playing them through, but found it uneventful; they then added the concept of collecting coins resulting in the screen scrolling faster, and found it to fit a Super Mario-style of gameplay.

Pre-release and unused content

Miis were originally going to be playable in the game's Story Mode. In the final game, Mii playability is restricted to the bonus modes. Additionally, Boost Mode was also originally titled "Assist Play". The Acorn Plains map as seen in the E3 showcase for the game is also very different from the version seen in final game.

References to other games

• Mario Bros. - Coin Courses-2 is based on the levels in this game with similar platforms and Koopa Troopas acting like as Shellcreepers.
• Super Mario Bros. - In the final battle with Bowser, when Mario hits the switch, it causes an axe to fall and break the bridge. Sprites from this game are used in the game menus.
• Super Mario Bros. 3 - Boom Booms are fought as the mid-boss of each world. The Super Acorn is comparable to the Super Leaf as it has a P-variation. The Koopalings, which originated from this game, have airships once again. When the player(s) go to the cannon to blast onto a Koopaling's airship, the airship theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 plays in the background.
• Super Mario World - The world map is connected again and a ghost ship, similar to the Sunken Ghost Ship level, appears in this game. The Warp Pipes have a similar structure to the ones in Super Mario World. Most of the worlds are named after food again. Some of the world's features are similar to those found in Dinosaur Land (e.g. Acorn Plains having jagged mountains or Soda Jungle being one-third based on the Forest of Illusion). Super Mario World has the exact same number of exits this game has: 96.
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - The name of the Challenge "Spin Jump, Get Dizzy" is a reference to that of a level from this game, Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy. Bubble Baby Yoshi's abilities maybe a reference to how Yoshi can shoot bubbles in this game including how the player can bounce off the bubbles.
• Mario Kart Wii - The Red Shell and Green Shell use their artworks from this game, but the Green Shell's artwork is mirrored.
• Super Mario 3D Land - Boom Boom's voices are reused, as well as the motion patterns of some of the enemies.
• Mario Kart 7 - The Miis reuse their voice clips from this game.
• New Super Mario Bros. 2 - New Super Mario Bros. U is a follow-up to this game. The Jump Block sounds are reused. The Goal Pole also produces the flag containing the emblem of the topmost character, also seen in this game.
• Paper Mario: Sticker Star - The Ghost House doors use the design from The Enigmansion in this game rather than the one from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The Bony Beetle's design is reused. Also, Bowser Jr. uses the same glass dome in his clown copter as in this game.

References in later games

• Mario Kart 8 - Mecha Cheeps reappear in the underwater sections of Water Park.
• Mario Golf: World Tour - Layer-Cake Desert, Sparkling Waters, and Rock-Candy Mines appear as downloadable courses in this game. Some pieces of Mii gear are based upon both Nabbit and the Boss Sumo Bro, both of which originate from this game. Nabbit returns as a downloadable playable character.
• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U - A stage based on New Super Mario Bros. U, Mushroom Kingdom U, appears in this game. It returns in Ultimate
• Mario Party 10 - A few of the minigames take place in areas that resemble some of the worlds in New Super Mario Bros. U, such as Cheep Cheep Leap taking place in Sparkling Waters and Fruit Scoot Scurry taking place in Layer-Cake Desert.
• Super Mario Maker - The fourth game style in these games is based on New Super Mario Bros. U.
• Super Mario Run - The graphics and most of the music is based on New Super Mario Bros. U.

Trivia

• If the Miis are selected as P1, they will be colored like Mario. If P2, they will be colored like Luigi. If P3, they will be colored like Wario. If P4, they will wear blue shirts and dark blue overalls, similar to Luigi's light blue alternate costume from the Super Smash Bros. series. However, this could be a reference to the player 4 in some of the Wii U Virtual Console ports of the Game Boy Advance iteration of Mario Bros.
• When the Mario Bros., Toads, or Miis are not moving, they stop and stare at the screen until the player starts moving them again.
• Sometimes, on the title screen, Luigi almost trips over instead of jumping and ground-pounding the ground.
• Bowser transforming Peach's castle into a stronghold of his in this game is similar to the climax of Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!.

Music/Audio

• After working on the 3D games since Galaxy, this is Mahito Yokota's first (and, to date, only) work in a 2D installment.
• Shiho Fujii, the lead composer, would later work in Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario Odyssey.

External links

• Official American Website for New Super Mario Bros. U
• European Website for New Super Mario Bros. U
• Japanese Website for New Super Mario Bros. U
• Official YouTube channel of New Super Mario Bros. U
• The Main ground theme from the game.