New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U

Description

New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U is a comprehensive 2D platforming compilation released for the Wii U in 2013. Originally appearing as a retail bundle and a pre-installed title for the Mario & Luigi Premium Pack, it combines the original launch title with its high-difficulty expansion. The original title was a major success, returning the New Super Mario Bros. series in high-definition, with the update celebrating “The Year of Luigi.”

The experience contains two distinct campaigns accessible from a shared menu, both set across a sprawling, interconnected world map featuring themed regions like Acorn Plains and Meringue Clouds. While the base game follows Mario and his companions on a quest to reclaim Peach’s Castle from Bowser, New Super Luigi U replaces Mario with Luigi, offering 82 redesigned courses characterised by a strict 100-second time limit and increased environmental hazards. The tone across both titles remains bright and rhythmic, maintaining the clean readability and tight controls that define the 2D Mario lineage.

The gameplay emphasises momentum and precision. Players utilise the Super Acorn to transform into Flying Squirrel Mario, enabling controlled gliding and vertical bursts. A significant functional suite is the inclusion of Boost Mode via the Wii U GamePad, which allows an additional player to place platforms and stun enemies to assist others in real-time. The games leverage the Wii U’s hardware to deliver 720p visuals and smooth 60FPS animation, which look crisp for the stylised modern 2D Mario presentation. In the Luigi expansion, the physics are notably altered, giving Luigi a higher jump and less friction on the ground to heighten the platforming challenge.

At the time of this compilation’s release, it was praised for providing an immense amount of content on a single disc and for the clever, condensed level design of the Luigi stages. Reviewers highlighted that while the base game offers a classic cooperative experience, the expansion provides a genuine test of skill for veteran players. Today, it is regarded as a standout 2D entry of the modern era, later serving as the foundation for the Deluxe port on the Nintendo Switch.