New Super Mario Bros. 2

Console: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Platformer

Release Date: August 19, 2012

Date Reviewed: Feb. 1st, 2013

Gameplay:

New Super Mario Bros 2 is the second game for New Super Mario Bros. The original game debuted on the Nintendo DS hand helds. This one however is now on the Nintendo 3DS. The original NSMB was a huge hit on the DS because it was Mario, but Mario remade. It's basically Super Mario Bros. Remade onto the hand held systems. Everyone loved it. Now we have NSMB Wii and NSMB WiiU. The game play is your basic Mario plat former. You go through worlds, each world has a castle with a boss and when you beat the boss you move onto the next world. Not really much to explain more about the game play. However I had a few issues with it. Now it is a fun game don't get me wrong. But this game is missing a lot. The point in this game is to collect as many coins as possible. This is a nice new twist on a Super Mario game. They also introduced a coin rush mode into the game where you play a few levels that have a lot of coins to collect and a short time limit. The other nice thing about this one is it has DLC. The DLC content are new coin rush maps, one they included for free. When you get your one million coin goal all that happens is you get a new background on the game menu, that's it. Not really much of an award.

The Tanooki Suit is back!

The issues I have with this game is it is so plain. The backgrounds, the level designs, and the overall game play lasts only a couple of hours. Sure if your a perfectionist like me then you want to try and unlock all the levels and the star coins. But while your playing through the worlds or even navigating each world to your next level it's just so plain compared to NSMB for the Wii or even the WiiU. The environment in the Wii and WiiU titles are fun, interactive, and adds some life to the game. Compared to the first one on the DS, they really didn't change anything at all besides collecting coins. This I found was very disappointing. It's like they didn't care all to much about this game because they wanted to boost sales on the 3DS system because it is a Mario game. Maria game = sells a lot of consoles.

However when you complete the game you unlock Star world. I like the levels in Star World but when you beat the game and didn't really focus on collecting the star coins it's frustrating to try and go through these levels because it costs a butt load of star coins just to even go to the first level in star world. I do like how they added that feature to the game though. They do have a co op mode within the game as well where you can a friend can connect locally and play the game together collecting your coins or just plain and simple beating the game. I am happy they are sticking with the co op route of things even on the DS systems. Overall the game play is fun, just a bit upsetting with the lack of effort put into this game and the boring environments. I would recommend picking up Paper Mario Sticker Star before this game.

Graphics:

The 3DS uses the graphics very well in this game. The textures are crisp and it looks really good. The only problem which was mentioned up above is the plain environments and bad level designs. Almost all of the levels had a plain background and was really fast and easy to run through. Not a whole look of level creativeness in this version of the game at all. The animations on all of the enemies are great. Like in the first one the enemies dance to the beat of the music as they are walking. I still think it's funny when they hop around or swing their arms to the music.

Co op Style!

Audio:

The soundtrack is basically the same one used in the DS title. Most of the levels have a good soundtrack and goes well with the game but it is all just from the original game. All of the audio in the game is what you'd expect from any Mario plat former game.

Conclusion:

Overall the game is fun, just upsetting on the level design and environments. I mean go watch a video on NSMB for WiiU and compare it to the 3DS version. I wish I was playing the WiiU version is all I am saying. I do like the co op mode in the game and how you can also play as luigi. I also enjoyed the Coin Rush mode which you unlock after the first world is beaten. They have also included a free DLC coin rush map pack for free for a limited time to celebrate the anniversary of Mario. This map pack is known as the “classic map pack” because you play re designed levels from the original Mario games. They are also fun. If you are debating between NSMB or Paper Mario Sticker Star I recommend you pick up Sticker Star before this game.

Paper Mario Sticker Star (3DS)

Console: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Adventure RPG

Release Date: November 11, 2012

Date Reviewed: January 30, 2013

Gameplay:

Paper Mario Sticker Star is for the 3DS system. Paper Mario Sticker Star is not like the original Paper Mario for the N64 or the Wii versions. This version of Paper Mario is a new and fresh approach to the series. I personally loved the original for the N64 because of the RPG style. With Sticker Star there is still the RPG battle system but it's not nearly the same. With Sticker Star you actually go around peeling, buying, and finding stickers, You use these stickers as your battle commands. You have your basic stickers like the shoe (jump), and your hammer. But there are also a lot of different variations of these stickers like the fire hammer which does damage to all enemies. These stickers can also be powered up or you can even find them. These are known as shiny stickers or even flashy stickers which are much more powerful version of other stickers. There are a total of six worlds and each world has it's own different theme and style like with most mario games. Sticker Star does stay to it's routes by adding a lot of humour within the game. There were several times in the game where I had a good laugh.

So of coarse your roll is to save Princess Peach from Bowser once again. Basically what happens (without giving away spoilers) is everyone is at the sticker festival. While everyone is paying attention to Mario and Peach talking about the royal stickers Bowser sneaks in and steals one of the royal stickers. These royal stickers have great power within them and Bowser uses it to capture Peach and wipe the floor with Mario. Of coarse it is up to you to recover the seven missing royal stickers and rescue Peach.

The Battle System

With Sticker Star I found there was a lot more puzzle work to do than any other Paper Mario. What I mean by that is you have to do a lot of back tracking to other levels to progress. I did enjoy this aspect of the game but some of the times you have no clue where to go or what to do next. There were to much hidden paths to find to advance to the next level. I did enjoy that there was lots to do. If not rushed it is a 12 hour+ game. No replay value but it is longer than most recent Mario games out currently. The exploration is a huge part of the game which makes it even more enjoyable. Most of the bosses are challenging but have the option to make it easier if you know what stickers to use. I do wished they kept how the original one was. You get into a battle, earn XP, gain levels, etc... I am very happy that they added something new to the series but I missed the original game play style.

Sticker Star does stay true to the series of being a fun 2D style game with 3D environments and objects. These objects can be turned into super stickers which can deal a lot of damage or be a good support tool. Some of these include a fan or a vacuum or even a baseball bat. Each has it's own unique purpose. Overall the game play is as fun as it's always been and if your a Paper Mario fan I would check this game out you will have some fun. It is probably the worst one out of the three but still a lot of fun.

Graphics:

Paper Mario Sticker Star has your same 2D graphics as any other Paper Mario game in the past. You play as Mario who is made of paper and talk with NPC's who are also made of paper. Almost everything in the game is made of paper. You play as 2D but the environments are 3D. The game is very colourful and has a lot of variety. Each world you enter is a completely different environment. A little feature that I found really neat was whenever you got a shiny or flashy sticker and moved your 3DS around the stickers will shine as you move it around.

Water coming out of a cardboard bowser mouth?

Paper Mario Sticker Star also has a lot of great battle animations. The animations on the enemies and environment are very well done. They really did stay to the name of “Paper” Mario.

Audio:

The sound track for the game is what you would expect from any Mario game in the series. So catchy and soothing for the most part. When you go underground they did re use the classic soundtrack from Super Mario Bros. The audio is what you would expect from any Mario game. Never bad, always good, and always catchy. It seems to relate to the game very well.

Conclusion:

Overall Paper Mario Sticker Star is a very fun and enjoyable game. There are some things that do affect the overall score. Some of the younger audiences may find this game confusing at some parts and well get lost and will not be able to figure out where to go next. Most of the time they do not tell you where you need to go, it's basically go and figure it out for yourself. There were a couple of times I needed a small walk through to figure out where I needed to go next. I also believe they really didn't need to add the RPG battle system in this version of the game. Yes, battling with the stickers is a cool and new concept but when you win a battle it doesn't really feel like you've accomplished anything from doing it. Yes, you may earn coins or health when you defeat them but I missed when you gained experience, levelled up Mario, use badges, etc... That was very fun to me. Overall Sticker Star is a fun and enjoyable game but if your looking for the “old” Paper Mario this is not it. But try it anyways, you may have a good time as I did with it.

Mario Kart 7 (3DS)

Console: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Racing
Release Date: December 4, 2011
Reviewed: Feb. 2/12

Gameplay:

Mario Kart 7 is the seventh instalment in the Mario Kart series. This time it is coming to the handheld, the Nintendo 3DS. May I add that it is a fantastic addition to the series. Mario Kart 7 plays like all other Mario Kart games ever released. There are a couple of new additions to the game like parachutes or para sales. These are only activated when driving over a rainbow colored (<----Canadian) boost arrows. When driven over you sore in the air and your parachute is activated and you take the race into the skies for a few seconds anyway. There are other great features added to the game to keep the interest level high. You can use the built in gyro controls within the 3DS system to steer in Mario Kart 7. While your racing in some of the courses you will notice that there are coins scattered everywhere throughout the entire track. You can only get 10 coins per track but these coins to provide a use for the game. When a certain amount of coins are collected you unlock extra vehicle parts to customize your kart. Each unlockable part provides some sort of stat to your vehicle such as speed, handling, weight or even drifting. There are some pretty awesome unlockables like the mushroom wheels. That is not all you can unlock though. In addition to unlocking vehicle parts you can also unlock additional characters, up to eight to be exact. Some of these characters include Metal Mario, and Wario. The other characters are up to you to find out ;). As usual there are 16 new maps added to the game and 16 old maps from previous mario kart games added to the game as well. I was pretty happy to be able to race on Koopa Beach again. With the old maps added they didn't just port over the old maps over they actually added boosts or updated some of there areas on the map. They even added some shortcuts. 

Once you have received all of the trophies in the game and unlocked all of the characters they brought the famous and flawless multiplayer back. With this multiplayer they added features like creating or joining community groups and racing with people in the group. Overall the online experience in Mario Kart 7 is as fun as it's always been with the previous Mario Kart games. There are only a couple of things that annoy me in Mario Kart 7. When your racing on 150cc or Mirror Mode the computers are constantly using Blue Shells which just urks you especially when your right in front of the finish like and you lose due to the shell. Another thing is the shortcut people like to take when your racing with them online in the map Maka Wuhu. You can take a shortcut on this map which skips over half of the course. One other thing is the overall music quality in the game isn't all that impressive compared to the other Mario Kart games. One of the maps "Neo Bowser City" takes a msuci from past games and combines them into one.

Graphics:

The graphics in Mario Kart 7 are great. The game really uses the power of the 3DS to make the game lively and colorful. The graphics are roughly the same as compared to the Wii version but much better than the DS version by far. Of coarse you have your occasional 2D background environments but most of it is all in 3D and looks fantastic. The 3D is something I would not recommend. With the 3D you will be moving your head a lot with the game due to the racing, especially if your using the gyro controls. It will end up giving you a huge headache and hurting your eyes. It's nice to have on once in awhile just to see the 3D but it is not recommended that you keep it on for long especially when your racing. Overall the graphics are great.

Audio:

The Audio in Mario Kart 7 overall is well done. There are some courses where the music just makes no sense and drives you crazy because of the annoyance but overall the music experience is pretty good. One level I mentions above earlier "Neo Bowser City" takes some music from previous games like "Toad's Turnpike" from the N64 version and combines them into one for "Neo Bowser City". The other maps are retro maps so they have the original music from the previous Mario Kart Games. Overall excellent audio.

Conclusion:

Mario Kart 7 is a fantastic addition to the Mario Kart series. As always there is lots to do. Mario Kart 7 will keep you occupied with it's time trials and multiplayer for awhile. I highly recommend this game to anyone, especially the Mario Kart fans. Other then some small minor issues like the shortcut glitch in Maku Wuhu or the endless blue shells of death it is a great experience for anyone. The 3D is not recommended for this game while racing but it is nice to turn on once in awhile to just look at the 3D.