Despite being a complete throwback to the timeless gameplay of the original Mario Bros., New Super Mario Bros. on the DS ultimately left me feeling unsatisfied. The game was very good, sure, but it didn’t introduce enough interesting new elements to make me forget that I’ve been playing the exact same thing for almost 20 years. So, when New Super Mario Bros. Wii was first announced I was definitely interested yet decided to hold out on being fully excited until I got some hands on time with the game - which is exactly what I got each day during E3.

I explain why I wanted to go back and wait in line to play this game every day after the cut.

The first reason why I seemingly couldn’t get enough time with NSMB Wii is the most obvious: it’s a Mario game. Nobody ever needs a reason to just jump into a Mario game and get lost for a little while. Hell, the first night of the show Jamie and I sat through a half hour of watching Fearless Leader Nick lie on his floor playing the original game on the Virtual Console while we told him all about the latest and greatest games we saw that day. Mario games have always been the very definition of a video game; you run, you jump, you win or die–you have fun. This is the reason true Mario games have always sold a bajillion copies. NSMB Wii, like the original New Super Mario Bros. (”original New..” Man, these names can get confusing), is pure sidescrolling Mario goodness.

The second reason why I kept coming back to this game was something I didn’t expect to enjoy despite it being the point that Nintendo pushed most: multiplayer. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never felt the desire to have more people playing with me when I’m in the middle of an old-fashioned Mario game. I always thought that the sidescrolling platformer is a genre best enjoyed with one person on the screen at a time. However, having three other people crowding the area of play alongside me didn’t just clutter the screen, it more or less changed everything about how I played the game. Big statement, I know, but consider this: when competing with the other players your primary goal in the game changes from leisurely completing a level by finding every secret and hidden area/item to actually trying to win against opponents. There’s a very strong love/hate relationship among the players in this game. Sometimes they’ll steal power ups, race you to warp pipes, and use you as a platform to reach higher areas while simultaneously knocking you into a pit. Other times they’ll be saving you to ensure that first and foremost the end of the level is reached. There is very much a constant interaction among the players in the game that adds a greater dynamic than simply adding new items can achieve and that’s why I think that so far I’ve found this game much more appealing than the first New Super Mario Bros.

I know that a lot of people may be turned off by the fact that this game seems, so far, to be more about competition than the exploration aspect introduced back in classic Mario games, but this is where I feel it’s important to reiterate how much fun I had screwing over other players only to instantly find myself falling into a pit and my resurrection up to their discretion. Presently, my biggest concerns about this game are A.) will the fun last beyond the initial first week of playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii or will the experience of playing with other people reveal itself as a simple and fleeting novelty and B.) will the game improve enough upon the original NSMB to warrant a $50 purchase or will we find ourselves wondering why this wasn’t a WiiWare title with a similarly appropriate price?