Do you have what it takes to get a review published right here on Kotaku? Jon does, as he butt stomps Nintendo’s latest retro throwback.
Yes, that’s right, we’re now publishing reader reviews here on Kotaku. This is your chance to deliver sensible game purchasing advice to the rest of the Kotaku community.
And thanks to the very kind chaps at Madman Entertainment, purveyor of all kinds of cool, indie and esoteric film, the best reader review we publish each month will win a prize pack containing ten of the latest Madman DVD releases.
This review was submitted by Jon Phillips. If you’ve played Super Mario Bros., or just want to ask Jon more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Super Mario Bros. (Wii/Virtual Console)
Nintendo have decided to edge in on the current retro-revival that Capcom have been riding the wave of, and are showing that they too can play the retro game, by re-imagining their game New Super Mario Bros. Wii as an old school 8-bit game.
Loved
The Simplicity: Run to the right hand side of the screen and jump over holes and onto enemies. No convoluted control schemes and hour long tutorials.
Retro Styling: Seriously this game looks like it was dragged straight through a rip in time and space from the ’80s. They even went so far as to release it on the Virtual Console rather than WiiWare just to add to the retro feel.
Music: Super catchy. I can see this being remembered for a long time to come. Doo doo do de doo be doo…
Secrets: I found several secret rooms and even a “Warp Zone” that allowed me to bypass whole sections of the game. I wish more games these days had this sense of fun.
Price: You can download it for the super low price of 500 points; that’s like $7. Talk about a bargain, especially when compared to the 1000 point ($15) Mega Man games.
Hated
Retro Styling: While I also loved it, I also found it to be a hindrance at times. I’ve certainly seen other games from the retro-revival that look better than this. It’s almost as though Nintendo weren’t quite familiar with how they are supposed to do this. And in the end it ends up looking like something that would have been released at the start of a console’s life.
Repetitiveness: Come on, the same enemies endlessly recycled through the whole game? I understand that they are going for the old school look but a couple more enemies wouldn’t break the game. And don’t even get me started on the fact that they kept re-using the same boss over and over.
No Online: This game would be the best thing since sliced bread if they had just implemented some online functions… you know some leader boards, downloadable content… something!
Overall it’s a very simple game with lots of hidden depth to it, but I don’t think that Nintendo have quite managed to grasp the 80’s feel in the same way that Capcom did with Mega Man 9 and 10. However being as cheap as it is, it’s definitely worth a look if you’re into this whole retro-revival thing that’s going on. I’m expecting much better from them next time, which shouldn’t be too far away as I’ve heard rumours on the net that they are working on a retro sequel already, and the graphics are quite a step up. Not quite sure what all the vegetables in the screens are about though. Certainly a series to keep an eye on.
Reviewed by: Jon Phillips
You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 500 words – yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get and the best of the month will win a Madman DVD prize pack.
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