Solid and well-made NSMBU, perhaps too safe for a launch title. Competent level design, fun co-op up to 5 players with GamePad as Toad. Less innovative than other Mario entries but a solid WiiU foundation.
Your verdict
Category
Platformer4 players3+
Co-op
Description
Mario, Luigi, the Toads, and Princess Peach traverse the Mushroom Kingdom invaded by Bowser in this return to the franchise's 2D side-scrolling roots. Published by Nintendo, released in 2012 in Japan, the United States and Europe. Flagship Wii U launch title featuring local co-op for up to 5 players via the GamePad, the new Balloon and Acorn power-ups, varied aerial and underwater levels, and an interconnected open world.
New Super Mario Bros. U review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
The entire world fits on a single map with no loading screen, which requires visually joining very different regions, plain, desert, glacier, volcano, through drawn transition zones. The backgrounds abandon the series' flat areas for paintings in blended colours, where distant relief and moving clouds can be made out.
The orchestration calls on brass and recorded voices rather than synthesis alone, and the score reacts to play: mounting a steed adds a rhythmic line, approaching an enemy brings in an extra percussion. That layered writing turns a fixed accompaniment into a continuous commentary on what happens on screen.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Running, jumping and outsmarting traps across stages of exemplary precision, up to four players on one screen: 2D platforming finds all its purity and energy here. Co-op quickly turns to outright laughter, between helping hands and accidental trips. Readable, generous and superbly paced, a 2D Mario built for shared fun.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Running, jumping and hoarding coins through finely-cut levels reignites an immediate platforming pleasure on every board. Secret exits, star coins and full completion push you to replay a world you've already cleared, alone or four-up. The formula purrs along without much surprise, but its precision and rhythm keep a hook few platformers match.
New Super Mario Bros. U, the console's launch 2D platformer that extends the classic formula in high definition with a continuous world and an assist mode. Widely distributed, its desirability rests on its role as a platforming showcase at the machine's start and a lasting demand rather than scarcity, the run staying relatively accessible. A solid piece for a Mario set on the console.
Better with friends
A platformer for up to four where you leap together through trap-laden levels, carrying one another as much as accidentally getting in the way. Cooperation dominates, but chaos is never far: a clumsy jump that bumps a buddy into the void draws as many groans as laughs. A few tough stretches widen the gap between players, yet the collective momentum makes every run joyfully unpredictable.
Is New Super Mario Bros. U still worth playing in 2026?
A 2D platformer by Nintendo EAD, New Super Mario Bros U offers a classic 2D adventure with Mario and his friends facing Bowser in varied levels and four player cooperative mode. The colourful art direction faithful to the saga, accessible handling and level richness make it an absolute Mario platformer reference on Wii U. The New Super Luigi U version enriches the content. For anyone fond of Mario or seeking an absolutely essential cooperative platformer, an absolutely essential recommendation today still truly here indeed.
