Topic: Got the new Nintendo Power today...NSMBW Preview sounds VERY promising!

I'll come back and add some quotes from the article later, but they had nothing but good things to say about the game--and remember people Nintendo Power has changed. They're no longer hopeless suck ups--if they don't like something, they tell you.
The most promising thing I read was that the game is really challenging. They said it might be the most challenging in the franchise history. They also said that this is not some watered-down wanna-be Mario party game--this is the real deal. In fact practically the entire preview was dedicated to the single-player experience which was said to be every bit as good as any of the past Mario Bros games.
Like I said, I'll add some quotes to this later when I get a chance, but it was an overwhelmingly positive preview.

And the teaser for next month is for an in depth preview of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, which they said is one of the best Zelda games yet. So...yeah that should be good.

Nah! Still don't trust Nintendo Power. Collectively, though, everyone else has been pretty much saying the same things about this game, so yeah, I'm hyped.

You don't say... Nintendo Power hyping up a first party Mario platformer? Cause that's virtually unheard of... Right? Or maybe it was the other thing...

I can't help but still doubt the neutrality of Nintendo's official magazine for a Mario game, at least. Also, most challenging? Unless there is some major change from what we've been shown so far, those levels show no evidence that the game is half as hard as either of the Mario 2's. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to this game more than any other game short of Other M, but this particular preview seems semi-dubious.

I have no doubt that Spirit Tracks will be a good game, but one of the best in the series? Hell no. PH is nowhere near the top dogs of the series, so I highly doubt Spirit Tracks will be.

No Mario game is more difficult than the Lost Levels

They said that Nintendo has been "crafty" with what they've shown of this game to the public. And now that I'm going back and reading it again it says "One of the most challenging" not "possibly the most challenging" as I thought.

Right, because you've played it so you have a pretty good idea of how great the game will be.

I believe I said I highly doubt it will be one of the best. Not there is no way at all it can be one of the best. The way the Zelda series has been going though I don't really see how it can top the good old days of the series back in the 2D days.

Now that sounds much more credible. Thanks for sharing. I miss the excitement of getting a new Nintendo Power in the mail.

Same here, looks like they've mixed in a lot of our favorite features from previous 2D Mario games and added more and whatnot...and with the difficulty, I'm gonna have fun next month.

EDIT: Only thing I didn't like hearing...is it true about the Mega Mushroom? I liked that item from the DS.

No megamushroom. AND if you beat a stage with Yosi, you can't take him to the next stage (as you could in Super Mario World). That's the only thing I've been dissapointed with--a small gripe, but a gripe nonetheless.

Also, I'm still confused about the whole saving thing. They say you can save only after you beat a castle or ghost house (as in past Mario games) but there's also a quick save feature so...I'm confused.

Didn't the previous one have a quick save, too? I'm sure what they mean is your standard temporary save state, which is erased immediately next time you play.

Yeah have you played Mario Golf or Tennis? How you have a couple little save slots that delete once you start the game? It sounds like that.

That's probably what they mean. I don't think it did, but I know the GBA remake of Super Mario Bros 3 had that temporary save feature.

I hope NSMBW is hard. I beat the DS one it 4 hours and did not get a game over screen untill the last world.

Yeah they said it starts off easy but the last few worlds are really challenging. And there are people who can beat the original Super Mario Bros in 3 minutes so...it's best not to measure how good a Mario game is by how long it is.

The 3 minute completion of SMB3 is tool-assisted. It's possible someone has really beaten it in that time, but to my knowledge it hasn't been done. Plus, he was saying his own personal time, which isn't really reflected in someone else's obsessive speed running. Complaining that someone else can beat a game in 3 minutes would be pointless, but if you yourself aren't entertained long enough... sounds like a legitimate complaint, though I personally enjoyed it for its brevity, actually.

i got it today and the pictures of the koopalings are just PLAIN AWESOME