New Super Mario Bros. U

New SMB U is a lot like the Wii version. It looks better, it has different powerups, and there's the additional Gamepad helper functions (which, honestly, I never even tried). But the premise of the game is the same -- do some Mario stuff with your friends.

It's more of the same, but that same is still pretty good. And while the game's earlier levels are rife with the kinds of casual, family-friendly obstacles that Mario stalwarts groan at, later levels offer genuine, hardcore challenge. The same goes for the boss fights: while they start out as rote jump-on-head, dodge-spinning-shell routines, later encounters become exceptionally tricky with volatile platforms and roaming projectiles.

Unfortunately, I can't comment on the special world, because - as before - unlocking those stages requires collecting all the goddamn star coins, and I ...don't feel like doing that.

Better than: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Not as good as: Super Mario Galaxy
Still a good formula: but Nintendo's gonna have trouble stretching it much farther.

Progress: Beat Bowser (skipped world 4), mostly with two players