The review scores of 9 or higher given for NSMB U are way too generous. The game is pretty much the same thing as NSMB Wii and NSMB 2. This is the third time Nintendo used the same music for almost the whole game with the exception of the main overworld theme. The graphics style are identical to the last two games, the plot is the same, enemies are virtually the same. Challenges (star coins) are not much different than the previous games. And the map system... Connecting the worlds together like SMW is nice but connecting the desert, snow, and tropical water worlds together next to each other makes no sense. This game's average score should be 7 to 7.5, not 9 or higher. Otherwise future Mario games will continue to use the same stuff. This game should really be called NSMB Lost Levels as it's pretty much an add on to NSMB Wii and NSMB 2.

Opinions. I love the music, so i'm OK with it being more or less the same. Every Mario game has more or less the same plot and enimies. And are you seriously questioning the logic... in a Mario game? You can't really say a game doesn't deserve a certain score because everyone has different opinions. For me its at least a 9/10, for you it's a 7/10.

(Have you played the game BTW? I personally think that even though the game is similair to the other games it does still feel fresh.)

I don't have the game personally, but played it with a friend, I played all "New" games on their various platforms and all I can say is, there are still people, like me, who prefer 2D platforming over 3D platforming and yes you could argue that it all feels the same in a way, but it's a bit like complaining about a car manufacturer bringing out a new model every 4-or-so-years. The foundation will always be the same (its a car, it drives, it has 4 wheels, it costs money, it needs fuel - of whatever sort) and yes as I wouldn't give NSMBU a rating of 9 or higher for innovation I would still give it an 8.0 overall as it feels fun playing it, regardless of whats new and what not. But of course that's everyone's personal opinion.

The gameplay is fun. Hence it deserves a high review score.

Seriously, I find it very depressing how people value things like story, setting and graphics over gameplay. I may not have particularly liked even New Super Mario Bros 2, but that doesn't mean I consider it a terrible game deserving of less than a 50% score.

And hey, New Super Mario Bros U is arguably the most original 2D Mario platformer in years. The bosses are different and new. The graphics are much better, the music is new in many areas, the basic storyline is different (saving Peach from her own castle rather than Bowser's). It should get a better score than the Wii game for that.

Ive not played a Mario game since the Gamecbe, and cudnt wait to get my hands on this. found it great its a fusion of super Mario world and super Mario 3......also found it quite a challenge to find all the star coins and secret exits which is great. I aggree with the music, considering its next gen i was expecting far more variations of music on each of the levels. I have not played any of the other 2D marios on the wii but from what im hearing its very much the same which is a shame. so i can see why you wouldnt give it a 9, im really enjoying it but ide only give it about a 8, I expect a little more with an opening cut scene with some (voice acting).....isnt it about time, and not to much to ask???
I was disappointed with the ending aswell, i wanted to see a list of all the characters in the game, which tends to happen. Overall tho very pleased with the game.....need a 3D Mario game now like!!

New Super Mario Bros. games may not really be new, but they are the pinnacle of Mario level design and downright fun.

I'm pretty happy with what they've added to the game.
The New Super Mario Bros. series has been starting to feel a bit stale, but this seems to actually feel pretty fresh and different.
I haven't found it that exciting personally, but that's just because for me any 2D Mario game is pretty boring compared to amazing 3D Mario games like Galaxy 1 + 2.
As far as 2D Mario games go, it seems to be pretty good and I can definitely see why it'd get high scores.
Plus Challenge mode is awesome.

I always found it funny when people bashed CoD for being more of the same, but than defend the NSMB games.

It got higher than scribblenaauts, which got an 8. i think thats a load a shaving cream

I don't have the game but I think NSMBU deserves rating 9 new super Mario bros serie is great and this new game is even better. Everything is great except the orginality. 9 is the average of all aspects

I always find it funny when people bashed NSMB games, and then defended CoD.
Or you know, defended both. Or bashed both.

Because all of those things also happen frequently.

You know, no one, not even Nintendo, can make something groundbreaking every year or two for eternity. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is one of my favorite games of all time. It has some of the most precisely-crafted platforming gameplay I've experienced... maybe ever. The art style nailed the Mario "feel." The music was memorable and added a nice "bounce" to the levels.

A lot of people feel the same about Call of Duty. They feel like Activision hit it right on the head and made the exact shooter that they wanted. So why not add some things, give it a new story and give it another? It would be stupid to do anything different. People want more, they don't want different.

Are you angry, also at Coca-Cola because Coke still tastes the exact same as it did 25 years ago? No. You're glad that they're still doing the same thing because it's delicious and you love it and you don't want to get something DIFFERENT every time you go to a vending machine, you just want MORE of what you already know you love.

It's the same idea. The Super Mario series has a pretty strong habit of mixing things up from entry to entry (Super Mario World- Super Mario 64- Super Mario Sunshine- Super Mario Galaxy- Super Mario 3D Land). The Super Mario BROS. series and New Super Mario BROS. series are all about giving you MORE of the gameplay you've loved since you were a kid. They're still fantastic. But if you've stopped loving that gameplay, that's not Nintendo's fault, it's yours. If you enjoyed Modern Warfare and no Call of Duty after that, you have only your own, personal, changing tastes to blame for that, as well.

It's fine to not like it. You're under no obligation to buy. But the fact is, Coke is still a fine product, even if you've now decided you prefer Dr. Pepper.
You can't dock it points for that.

Exactly. Nintendo are usually better than this, and its this kind of unacceptable redistribution of the same unoriginal game that's really holding them back. This is the longest series of Mario games yet and its built on one of the worst initial games. Nintendo COULD just keep releasing NSMB games, and yes they would sell, but it's the fact that they don't pull this kind of stuff that many people like their work in the first place.

No other games in the Mario franchise have used the same framework to make more than 2 games, so no - it's not just about Nintendo not being able to innovate that often:

Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2
Super Mario Bros. + Lost Levels

Truth is, we'll never get an amazing Mario game like SMB3, SMW, SMW2, SM64, SMG while Nintendo are chugging out NSMB games instead of making new ones. Compare Super Mario 3D Land and then NSMB2 and question why Nintendo are taking steps backwards.

Simply beautiful...tears up

OPINIONS!!!

That's all that needs to be said, really.

Nah, it's well deserved. I'd give it a 9 as well.

Definitely the best game in the NSMB series by far, IMO.

No. They're not as good games. From a level design perspective mainly.

Granted, I've heard the latest game actually does have some worthwhile level design that actually feels like a Mario game instead of trying way too hard to be a Mario game. And of course if you want to point out that Nintendo fans buy this game yet complain about creativity, I'm more than happy to agree but you can't be like "oh well it can't be an actual problem with the game". Because that's false.

The good news is that at least going by Metacritic, there's like 6 Wii U games with better scores. Kinda like how PushMo had a higher score than 3D Land.

@kkslider5552000: I loved New Super Mario Bros. Wii's level design. It is the easiest Mario I've ever played BY FAR, but there is so much more to it than that. It's the same thing I loved playing Rayman Origins. The levels are more like courses than stages. Unlike the classics, each level is designed with a certain "flow" to it. Watch the Super Skills videos to see what I mean. Levels that can be completed without ever breaking out of a full sprint, that one with the Yoshis where they pass Luigi around for the whole level, not allowing him to touch the ground even once before spitting him onto the flagpole... it's a completely different beast than the old, but there's almost a rhythm to it all and everything about the game coalesces to make that come about. Even the way that koopa's stop and dance every few feet is designed specifically to maintain that rhythm so that if you time it just right, they'll be exactly where they need to be to get their head's stomped in. Some may prefer the older style, while others like myself love the subtleties of the new. But it's still a very similar gameplay and even if one is not quite as good as the other, it's still more of (somewhat the same.)

I haven't yet played New Super Mario Bros. U, so I am certainly not going to say "it can't be an actual problem with the game." Maybe it doesn't deserve a good score because it just downright isn't good. I don't know enough to say any differently. I am saying, though, that you can't say it's bad because it's is overly reminiscent of its own series. Nobody complained about Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi or about Lord of the Rings: Return of the King saying that they should be docked review points because their art direction is the same as the previous two movies.

A review is designed to tell a consumer what they need to know to decide if they want the product. The review score was created to provide a very quick means of comparison to tell you how good the product is. If the reviewer feels the game is similar to previous titles, he or she should surely mention it in the text of the review. But the score should be based on nothing more than the quality of the item itself. That means, "if no other Mario game had ever been made, how good would this game be on a 1-10 scale?" Chances are, if someone is just plain sick of Mario and wants nothing more to do with it, they'll ignore it despite the 9/10 NintendoLife gave it. If they're on the fence, they'll read the review and see that perhaps its similarity to New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2 will keep them from fully enjoying the game. Maybe for others, that's a major selling point. All I'm really expressing is my disagreement with the original post on the fact that a game should be judged not on the merit of its own strengths and shortcomings but on the inspiration of its predecessors.

That, to me, seems utterly unfair.

I love this and it deserves the high score because of the replay value, it has challenge modes which are real fun.

Hopefully DLC will include more challenges.