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New Super Mario Bros. U (JP) 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, 2012. 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.
Like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, players have the option to play as either Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, Yoshi, or Nabbit, but players also have the option to play as their Mii characters.
Plot
Mario, Luigi, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, and Yoshi 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 five run back to save Peach once more.
Gameplay
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, Yoshi, Nabbit, and the 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 GamePad can use the touchscreen to place blocks on the screen or stun enemies to aid the other player(s). 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 Yoshis, 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 Yoshis, 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-UPs 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
Transformations
- Flying Squirrel Mario
- Super Mario
- Fire Mario
- Ice Mario
- Mini Mario
- Invincible Mario
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 | 4-1: 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
Reception
The game received a 84 from Metacritic and a 84.48% from GameRankings. Famitsu gave the game out of 40.
In terms of sales, it sold 163,528 in its first week in Japan. In North America, it sold 243000 in its launch month of November 2012.
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. As of March 31, 2015, it became second best-selling Wii U game behind Mario Kart 8.
Videos
| E3 Trailer | E3 Demo |
|---|---|
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