Will Nabbit be a star character?

With launch less than three weeks away for lucky North American gamers, Nintendo has revealed some details for New Super Mario Bros. U. Some are well known and have previously come to light through magazine previews and other sources, such as the fact that the World Map will have a number of routes and secret exits — similar in concept to Super Mario World — as well as news of the various games in Challenge Mode and a Coin Battle multiplayer option.

One new snippet of information, however, relates to a creature called Nabbit, which is a thief that steals items from Mario's trusted Toad friends. Nabbit will appear on the World Map and trigger a chase on various stages; if you catch it you'll receive a P-Acorn, which like the iconic P-Wing will give you continuous flight through a stage. Nintendo's official details are below.

  • Challenge Mode: Challenge Mode tasks players with completing specific objectives, such as clearing a course without touching a single coin or touching the ground. There are four single-player Challenge categories: Time Attack, Coin Collection, 1-Up Rally and Special (miscellaneous challenges). Boost Mode Challenges require two players, with one player using the Wii U GamePad controller and the other using a Wii Remote controller. Once players complete a Challenge, the game saves a replay of the action so players can show off their accomplishments.
  • Coin Battle: Up to five players can play together and compete to see who can collect the most coins. One player will use the Wii U GamePad controller while the other four players use the Wii Remote controller. The player using the Wii U GamePad controller in Boost Mode can place Boost Blocks to help grab hard-to-reach coins. Players can also use the GamePad to edit and customize the coin layout in courses found only in Coin Battle. The coin layout can then be saved and played by the players using Wii Remote controllers.
  • World Map: New Super Mario Bros. U is the first side-scrolling Mario game since 1991’s Super Mario World that features a seamless World Map with named worlds and courses. The map contains many secret exits, which might change the map and cause shortcuts to appear. The worlds are interconnected, so people can play through the game in a nonlinear fashion.
  • Nabbit: From time to time, a creature named Nabbit will appear on the world map. Players must enter the course and catch the speedy Nabbit to recover items stolen from Toad. If Nabbit is nabbed, players receive a powerful P-Acorn, which will allow them to fly continuously through an entire stage. The only way to obtain a P-Acorn is to catch Nabbit.

It looks like Nabbit stages could take the place of the Toad rescue equivalents in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and the P-Acorn certainly sounds like a worthwhile prize. So, do these details interest you, and is this one on your list of day-one Wii U purchases?