New Super Mario Bros. Wii First Impressions

Video games, how I have missed you!

In student life, it's hard to maintain that balance of work and play, and for weeks on end I have only depended on my iPod touch to give me those short bursts of entertainment, but a capacitive touch screen can only get you so far...

For so long have I wanted to just touch a controller-- any controller-- but since I only have the Wii for a primary console, I didn't really have many games to choose from.

Maybe I could just play Rock Band again. Maybe I could complete the Luigi levels of Super Mario Galaxy. A versus match online in SSBB? As if I could find anybody to play with!

No, I needed something new.

So I got New Super Mario Bros. Wii. And it's frigging awesome.

Granted, I've only gotten past the first world, and while I'm not playing it right now, I sure am craving to get into the game again.

It's easy to get into the groove of things, I mean, come on, it's a traditional Mario game! Anyone who can't familiarize themselves with the classic control scheme must be living in a friggin cave. Basically, you hold the Wiimote sideways and control it as you would control the old NES games. Still, since it has Wii in the title (as well as a glaring lack of Classic controller and Gamecube controller support), motion control is bound to be an integral part of the game. The new propeller suit requires you to shake the Wiimote so you can fly for a short period of time, some platforms are operable by you tilting the Wiimote left or right, they can carry stuff by you holding the 1 button and shaking the Wiimote, and inspired by Super Mario Galaxy, the boys now have a spin attack.

But what are controls for if there wasn't smart level design?

This early in the game, a sense of something special already simmers in me. There is some ingeniously brilliant level design, and I have yet to even get into the second world. Surely, things can only get better from here?