Review - New Super Mario Bros. 2

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the sequel to the Nintendo DS's New Super Mario Bros. and Nintendo Wii's New Super Mario Bros. Wii... obviously. What did Nintendo do to make New Super Mario Bros. 2 a new experience from that of the other two games, and how does it fare as a game on its own?

Story - Does it really need to be said? Princess Peach gets kidnapped again. How?

The intro of the game says it all, and it doesn't say much at all than the usual, except...

Gameplay - New Super Mario Bros. 2 is strongly about collecting coins. Coins are in abundance throughout the entire game. The game keeps track of how many coins you've collected throughout the game, as well as keeping your high score of how many coins you've collected in each stage. Due to the nature of the game being focused on collecting coins, most stages are heavily focused on farming coins and hunting down hidden coins more than new and unique level design gimmicks. Simply put, without the coins in New Super Mario Bros. 2, the levels will feel rather simple compared to the levels in the other two games.

All the power-ups found in NSMB2

Little is changed other than the focus on coins. Similarly to the other two NSMB games, each level has 3 Star Coins to collect. Star Coins are used to unlock new paths in the world map. There is a new power up in New Super Mario Bros. 2, which is highly over-powered, the Golden Fire Flower. It allows Mario to shoot Golden Fireballs that explode upon collision with enemies, blocks, or even a wall with a fairly large blast radius, granting coins for every kill made, and turning breakable blocks into coins or opening the contents of ? Blocks. Granted, the Golden Fire Flower is hard to come by, but not necessarily rare. When you complete a level with the Golden Fire Flower, you'll turn into the normal Fire Flower Mario, similarly to how you turn back into Super Mario after using the Mega Mushroom to turn giant. The Block-Head Mario makes a return from Super Mario 3D Land and is commonly found throughout the game. It will provide coins as you move around and offer extra protection from bad guys when you get hit with it on as well. It doesn't last forever, but long enough to make a difference in both coins gained and making it through tough levels.

Other than power-ups, there is a Golden Ring you can go through, similar to the Red Ring that activates the 8 red coins, that turns all enemies golden for a short while, making them worth more coins when defeated, as well as having additional effects that grants further coins, such as turtle shells leaving a trail of coins when kicked, or Boos fly away from you, leaving coins in their trail as well.

Aside from playing the game normally, the game also provides a Coin Rush Mode, where you are given three levels with a shortened time limit where you rush through while collecting as many coins as you can. Your high score can be saved to compare with other players through Street Pass, and other players can challenge your high score by playing through the same level as well. For those of you that have trouble playing under pressure of the shortened time limit can choose to play as White Raccoon Mario, giving you invincibility throughout the levels. However, that also means you can't use Golden Fire Flowers to collect more coins quickly as well. This mode can test your skills as a Super Mario player by requiring speed, accuracy, map knowledge, and skill to make the high scores to brag to other players through Street Pass.

One new thing about the New Super Mario Bros. series, or any Nintendo game in fact, is how New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the first Nintendo game to incorporate Download Content. DLC in NSMB2 provides new Coin Rush Mode course packs. Most of which are unique levels designed around Coin Rush Mode. They require an additional purchase to be able to download them to use however, most of which costs $2.50 for each course pack.

As for the length of the game, it depends. It took me roughly 12 hours to finish all the levels with all the Star Coins collected. However, I didn't spend too much time focusing on collecting coins while playing through the Single Player campaign. Instead, I find myself spending more time playing Coin Rush Mode for the faster paced action and improving my high scores. It is clearly the more fun feature of the game than the main game itself, IMO.

Graphics - The graphics in New Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't that different from the other two games. In fact, it would be hard to tell the difference between them graphically. The worlds even look the same with the same themes from previous games. Heck, even the 3D feature of the 3DS doesn't add too much to the game as not many things pop out due to the 2D level design. That of course, doesn't mean that it's bad, but it leaves very little to impress you with graphics. I personally don't see any problems with it since things are colorful as usual and they provide the proper environment for each level. Just that if you're looking for something new in the series graphically, you won't be too impressed with what NSMB2 has to offer.

Sound - The same can be said about the sounds in New Super Mario Bros. 2; it is hardly different from the other NSMB games. In fact, the music in the game are the same from previous titles, with two new audio tracks that plays over the music when you have the Raccoon Leaf power-up and when the Golden Ring effect is in play.

Replay Value - The game having a high score system for coins collected adds some replay value. The game also encourages you to collect over a million coins, and playing more beyond finishing all the levels will be required to achieve that goal. However, without the challenge of Coin Rush Mode, the levels feel hardly worth playing over again for. If you were to play the game more, Coin Rush Mode is where you'll be spending most of your time at, probably to challenge other people's high scores from Street Pass.

Overall - New Super Mario Bros. 2 mostly offers the same experience as New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS for the most part. The focus on collecting coins is there, but not necessary, and yet, without it, the game feels rather lackluster. In the end, the game is all about Coin Rush Mode, and that alone may not be quite worth $39.99 to some; plus additional $2.50 for each DLC course if you're interested enough to. If you enjoy the NSMB gameplay enough though, you might want to pick this title up. Otherwise, you won't be missing out on too much by not playing this game.

An important note though, the best-rated DLC Course Pack, the "Gold Classics Pack", can be downloaded for free until January 31st, 2013. If you're going to pick up this game, it may be wise to get it before then to get the free download, unless you wish to wait for the game to drop in price greater than $2.50. I have to say that the Gold Classics Pack is filled with many secrets and surprises that it is worth paying $2.50 for if you miss out on the free download.