New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe

 (Image Source: Ebay.com)

When many expected Super Mario 3D World to be ported to switch we were given New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe first, and even though we now have both on the Switch, I decided to give the first of the two HD ports a look first. The Wii U launch title that has Super Mario Bros and Super Luigi U in one bundle, but is there a enough to warrant the sixty dollar price tag? Let's take a look.

The game includes New Super Mario Bros U our main quest, New Super Luigi U, a ton of challenge modes from speed runs and coin collection, all starring  five playable characters, Mario, Luigi, Two Toads, Toadette who I will cover later, and Nabbit who can take no damage at all. You can take on the main story which is classic Mario fare of saving the princess or do a ton of challenges. This game does have a good amount of content, especially if you did not play the original or Super Luigi U on the Wii U which were sold separately. There is a ton of gameplay with a nice variety of stages and power ups. My main for this game Toadette , because she is the only one who can get the super crown and turn into Peachette, which gives you an amazing double jump. There are a ton of other great power ups for the whole cast besides Nabbit, such as flying squirrel suits, fire and ice flowers, Yoshi, and this games exclusive, Baby Yoshi. These little dudes have a variety of different moves and variations and each is a delight to use, Baby Yoshi is my favorite part about this game. 

The presentation has me mixed, the graphics look fine but they are just a touch up of the Wii U graphics and the music is not Mario's best. The music has a couple of fun songs, but most of them are forgettable, and ton are recycled throughout the game. There is a ton of variety for exploration and short cuts, as well as incentive to collect all the star coins, there is a ton to do if if you love 2D Mario. This is in my opinion the best of the New Mario Bros series, I had fun but the presentation is so safe and so samey that I find myself playing this in smaller chunks. Lack of variety is one of this games biggest detriments, but the gameplay is solid. There is a game, a speed run mode that is essentially an entire other game, and a ton of challenges as well. There is a solid amount of content in this collection but the presentation and music can make the whole game blend together. All the staples of the environments are there in terms of locales to traverse, and there is multiplayer if you want to bring some friends along. I did this game in single player and I had fun most of the time. I just found myself going through the motions as I played because even though the name is new and there is some new here, there is a ton of old. 

The boss battles are a joke, if you get the bosses in a certain patter they can be defeated in seconds before even repeating their attack cycles. It does not help that boom boom is at almost every mini castle in the game which is the half way point. And that cycles back to what I mentioned before, the game has a standard formula and it repeats for the whole game from start to finish with little surprises. This game is pretty fun but for 2D Mario and could be some good chaotic fun with friends in the same room. The game has a ton of content but the gameplay is rinse and repeat from start to finish, but there are challenge modes to break away from the norm and those are plenty fun. I did find this game used and on sale and I recommend that for someone who wants to play a 2D Mario game on Switch, could be fun with friends, and is fun in short bursts.

 (Fun gameplay in short bursts, lackluster presentation, tons of content, is fun but can get samey fast, could be fun with others, tons of other modes, a ton of variety in some places but variety was needed in some other places)