New Super Mario Bros. U

New Super Mario Bros. U
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Wii U. Nintendo Switch
Release Date	New Super Mario Bros. U US November 18, 2012 PAL November 30, 2012 JP December 8, 2012 New Super Luigi U (DLC) All Regions: June 19/20, 2013 New Super Luigi U (physical) JP July 13, 2013 PAL July 26, 2013 US August 25, 2013 Mario Bros. + Luigi U US November 1, 2013 PAL November 7, 2013 Deluxe (Switch) January 11, 2019
Rating	ESRB: E

New Super Mario Bros. U is a platforming adventure game that was released for the Wii U in 2012 and stars characters from the Super Mario series. It is the fourth title to be released as part of the New Super Mario Bros. subseries and the only one for the Wii U.

Story

Bowser has taken over Princess Peach's Castle and kicked out Mario, Luigi and their Toad allies. The four of them go on an adventure across various areas to make their way to the castle, so that they can face Bowser once again and save Peach. Along the way, they have various enemies to face, such as Bowser Jr., Kamek and the Koopalings.

Gameplay

This game reprises the series gameplay and is particularly based on the gameplay of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, including the return of the Super Guide. Like in that game, this one allows for cooperative multiplayer, with players being able to play as one of the Mario Brothers or a Toad (or a Mii depending on the mode). New Super Mario Bros. U allows for up to five players, although a player using the Gamepad cannot control a character during multiplayer and instead can interact with the environment. The four players controlling characters need to use a Wii Remote or Wii U Pro Controller for them.

Various power-ups are reprised from previous games and a new power-up called the Super Acorn appears, which allows characters to don flying squirrel suits. Yoshis also return, with the inclusion of Baby Yoshis based on those from Super Mario World. They come in three different colored varieties which each have different abilities: blue ones (Bubble Baby Yoshi) can blow bubbles from their mouths, magents ones (Balloon Baby Yoshi) can expand like balloons and float in the air, and yellow ones (Glowing Baby Yoshi) can emit lights that brighten up dark areas and can stun enemies.

Additional modes include Boost Rush, where players try to complete levels as quickly as possible, and Challenge Mode, which contains both single-player and multiplayer challenges to complete.

New Super Luigi U

In 2013, New Super Luigi U was released in conjunction with Nintendo's "Year of Luigi" promotion. It was originally made available for purchase as DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U. It received a standalone physical release several months later, followed by the compiled release of New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U on one game as part of a bundle pack with the Wii U later that year.

This game features Luigi as the star and omits Mario completely. Instead, a Nabbit is included as the fourth playable character, who cannot be harmed by enemies but also cannot use items, although it can still collect them for 1-Ups. This version alters the gameplay of the characters to match Luigi's recurring gameplay style of having high jumps and low traction upon landing. The game also features different levels in the same worlds from the original game. These levels are shorter and more difficult, and they come with short time limits (usually starting at 100 seconds, the moment before the music speeds up). However, the boss levels are still the same, and players will receive a 100 second time boost when reaching a boss area.

Legacy

To date, New Super Mario Bros. U has been the last installment of the New Super Mario Bros. subseries. The influence of the New Super Mario Bros. games would later be reflected through its inclusion as one of the game styles in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2.

Ports/Remakes

• In 2019, it was remade for the Nintendo Switch as New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. This version contained both versions of the game (New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U) and retained Nabbit as a playable character for both modes while also adding Toadette, who has the unique ability to transform into 'Peachette' when exposed to a Super Crown.

Sequels

It has not had any direct sequels, but the next Mario platforming adventure game would be Super Mario 3D Land, which combined the 2-D and 3-D gameplay styles in a new way. Super Mario Run could be considered more of a follow-up, as it was made by the same team and featured the same visual style. It would later be succeeded by Super Mario Bros. Wonder for the Nintendo Switch in 2023, which carried over a few elements from New Super Mario Bros. (including Nabbit's playable attributes from New Super Mario Bros. U) while featuring a new style.