Upon first getting our highly excited mitts on the game a severe feeling of concern washed over the office. Would it be the same Mario we have known and loved for so many years? Or would it be changed, twisted in to something else, something, un “Mario-ish”!? To our, and I'm sure your, relief, we are happy to report that the former is indeed the case. Mario moves identically to his previous outings, his fireballs bounce in just the same way they always had, and the run button makes Mario speed off in, well, “almost” the same way he always has. Not that there is a drastic difference; it may even be that there is no difference at all. But for some reason we can't help but feel the world’s most famous plumber is just a bit slow on the uptake.
The reason we feel that we may be misjudging is because the run button is integral to the use of the new blue Koopa shell. While wearing the shell Mario behaves exactly as he would otherwise unless you get him up to top speed, at which point he will suck into the shell and slide around, unstoppably plowing through everything in his way. This continues until you either drop down a hole or let go of the button. The trick with this is that often times, especially in later levels, it becomes more and more difficult to find any real use for the item as there is a good number of jumps, holes and more elaborate obstacles slowing your progress. While this is certainly not an over-bearing issue, it is a bit of a downer that one of the few new power-ups is somewhat reduced in efficiency for many parts of the game. Previous powers-ups, like the Tanooki leaf and super cape feather, not only allowed Mario to fly/glide but also gave the ability to attack without jumping. A minor gripe, nonetheless.
Two more new features of the game are the Mini and Mega Mushrooms, which, as I'm sure you can guess, make Mario either extra big or extra small (that’s the equivalent of venti and tall for the Starbuck’s minded gamers out there). Just as one would expect from such drastically different items the effects and uses of each are completely at odds. While the mini-mushroom allows Mario to shrink down much smaller than usual to fit in usually inaccessible spaces designed just for him (i.e. tiny pipes), the Mega-mushroom actually allows Mario to pretty much run through the mushroom kingdom Godzilla style, crushing and smashing everything in his path. As an interesting twist, while mini, Mario is unable to kill enemies by stepping on them (or at all really) but is able to get a nice boost by bouncing off their backs. Meanwhile Mega Mario can not only run right through basically anything, but he can also do butt drops to smash pipes down to be level with the ground. He is also rewarded with extra lives, once the effects of the mushroom wear off, based on how much damage he actually causes. No the mini mushroom doesn’t wear off like the mega, but it does leave you in a very weak state as you are unable to kill enemies at all and can be killed in one hit yourself.
Then, there are of course, Mario’s new moves. While nothing new to those of you who have played the more recent 3D outings, these are all firsts in the 2D field for our little overall wearing friend. First is the aforementioned butt drop, which allows Mario to do basically everything he used to do from below, from above (sounds naughty). By jumping and then pressing down Mario will perform a brief flip in the air and then slam his posterior into whatever happens to be in the way. This can be used to take out Koopas in a single shot, to activate/break blocks from above, or if you are at least super, to continually pound down on the multi-coin blocks. By doing so you can get as many coins as possible from each multi-coin block, as well as a free super mushroom for your trouble. This is a useful and well-implemented move that, while not really standing out as an amazing new feature, feels instantly natural within the control scheme and will make you wonder how previous iterations survived without it (the spin jump in SM World worked similarly but required a separate button and couldn't blast through multiple blocks in a row like this can).
Then there is the triple jump that can, if timed properly, allow Mario to reach usually inaccessible areas. Simply jump three times in a row and each will be higher than the previous. While a useful addition it is probably the least used of the three new moves and we at SPOnG often found we forgot that it was even an option while playing. Imagine our occasionally surprise when Mario decided to do a somersault mid jump for no apparent reason!
Last and certainly not least, in the new features list, is the Ninja Gaiden like wall jump. Now whenever Mario jumps into a vertical surface he will try to cling to it a bit and will fall slower as he drags along the side of it. Then by pushing the jump button again the player is able to send Mario leaping in the opposing direction. Not only does this make for some interesting level design it also allows you, if you're quick, to occasionally save yourself after falling into one of the mushroom kingdom's many bottomless pits. We cannot emphasize enough, how much of a relief/thrill it was the first time you miss time a jump, but then are able to redeem yourself with some fancy footwork on the edge of the void. This was always great fun to do in the 3D Mario games but seems to hold, in this reviewers humble opinion anyway, a lot more importance for those who have played the previous 2D outings. Again, if you try and go back to previous Mario games after playing this you'll instantly wonder why this option wasn't there from the get-go. Of course for those of you who have not played previous Mario games this will seem pretty standard and probably not cause quite the excitement it does for those of us who have braved Bowser’s perils without it.
