New Super Mario Bros. 2

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a side-scrolling platform game for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in Japan on July 28th, 2012, in Europe on August 17th, in Australia on August 18th and in North America on August 19th, while in Italy the game was separately released on August 24 for the retail cartridge. It's the thirteenth title in the main Super Mario series, the eighth title to be a Super Mario Bros. installment, the third in the New Super Mario Bros. line after New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS and New Super Mario Bros. Wii for the Wii and the sequel to New Super Mario Bros. The game was announced by Satoru Iwata in a Nintendo conference in April 21, 2012. Like Super Mario 3D Land, the game seems to be partly based on Super Mario Bros. 3, as it features Raccoon Mario, the P-Meter, and the Koopalings, all of which were introduced in said game. It also combines elements from New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, as this is a follow-up to those games.

According to Nintendo, New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the first Nintendo game (and specifically the first Mario title) to be available for purchase in both packaged (retail) and digital (downloadable via the Nintendo eShop) versions. The game can be stored onto an SD card, along with multiple other games, and be played on the Nintendo 3DS, but they cannot be shared with other Nintendo 3DS handhelds. This game is based around coins, and the game's overall goal is to collect one million of them.

Story
Before the events of the game, Mario and Luigi visit Princess Peach in her castle to talk about their adventures together. Sooner, they leave the castle by flying away in raccoon suits, happily collecting coins in the air. However, as soon as they land, the Koopalings suddenly appear, crashing their Koopa Clown Car onto the ground, as well as damaging the brothers, making them lose their raccoon power-ups. Roy Koopa reveals Princess Peach from his back. They soon flew away in their Koopa Clown Car, and Mario and Luigi chase after them.

When Mario and Luigi arrive at Bowser's Castle, they find Bowser and Peach, who is locked up in a cage. One of the duo has to step on the ! Switch behind Bowser, making the bridge collapse and sending Bowser to his doom. Just before when the bros. can celebrate their victory, Peach's cage gets pulled off screen. After riding some bony platforms, Mario and Luigi find the Koopalings in their Koopa Clown Car. They power Bowser up and Bowser transforms into a gigantic size. He attempts to use his massive hands to destroy the path, but the bros. still manage to climb up and press a giant ! Switch. The giant Bowser then falls through the floor, and Princess Peach is released from her cage. The bros. then carry her back to the castle, with coins sprouting from different places along the way.

During the credits, the Koopalings can be seen in the background carrying the giant Bowser with the Koopa Clown Car. However, Bowser's massive size exceeded its capacity, therefore the Koopa Clown Car crash-landed, scattering everyone throughout the ground.

Gameplay
The gameplay is very similar to previous the New Super Mario Bros. games. However, New Super Mario Bros. 2 focuses on collecting Coins, with many and varied ways to collect a plenty of coins at once, such as golden items that award the player with them. Like New Super Mario Bros., the bottom screen displays a kind of map, showing the length of the level and where the player is. There are nine worlds: six main worlds and three special worlds. The item storage reappears too. Each world contains a different number of levels, including Ghost Houses, Fortresses and Castles. Reznors and Koopalings are found at the end of each fortress and castle, respectively.

A two-player mode is available, and the second player plays as Luigi normally through the stages alongside Mario. This mode can only be played with two Nintendo 3DS consoles and two game cards.

Other details in gameplay were added in New Super Mario Bros. 2. Among these details is the game's music that slightly changes depending on the situations, for example, when playing as Raccoon Mario, a drumbeat is added, similar to how a drumbeat is added while riding Yoshi in other Mario games. Once activated a Gold Ring, twinkling noises appear. Another example is that if Mario goes to the very top of the screen and out of sight, the music gets quieter.

Coin Rush
Another mode, the Coin Rush, challenges the player to collect the most coins they can in three randomly-selected levels through three different options. The Mushroom opition will choose three levels from the starter worlds and a special world, the Fire Flower option chooses three levels from the middle worlds and the Star opition choose three levels from the final worlds. In other words, Mushroom is the easy difficulty choice, Fire Flower is the medium choice and Star is the hard choice.

Also, Coin Rush records can be exchanged via Streetpass and challenged. Beating another player's record results in getting a Crown Coin (worth 1,000 coins). SpotPassing allows the player to put their total into the Worldwide Coin Total.

The game's overall objective is to collect a million coins, and coins collected in levels are added to a total that is shared by the game's three save files. The reward for collecting one million coins is a new title screen featuring a Gold Mario statue. If the coin counter maxes out (9,999,999 coins), the reward is a Gold Raccoon Mario Statue. Paid DLC will be available just after the launch of the game.

Main Menu

 * Select an option: /
 * Confirm:
 * Go back a step:
 * Delete all save data: Press and hold +++ (when the Nintendo 3DS logo disappears after launching the game)

Basic Controls

 * Move: /
 * Dash: Press / while moving
 * Jump/stomp: /
 * Crouch:
 * Ground Pound: (in midair)
 * Wall Jump: / (while pressing / in the direction of a wall, while sliding down it)
 * Double/Triple Jump: / (when landing after a running jump)
 * Pick up/throw: Press and hold /
 * /: Pause menu

Nintendo eShop Description
''The bros are back for an all-new adventure worth its weight in gold!


 * ''Jump, bounce, and power-up through visually stunning side-scrolling worlds as you race to save Princess Peach.
 * ''Gold Flowers, Gold Blocks, and Gold Rings make collecting coins more fun than ever before! Can you collect a million coins?
 * ''Use all your speed-running and coin-collecting skills to best your friends in the new StreetPass-enabled Coin Rush mode.
 * ''Team up with a friend and play through the entire game via Local Wireless. (Requires two copies of the game.)

Playable

 * Mario
 * Luigi (Player 2 in Co-op mode, and unlockable for Solo mode after beating Bowser by holding +  at the title screen)

Bosses

 * Reznor (All towers)
 * Koopalings (All castles except World Star and World 6
 * Roy Koopa (W1)
 * Iggy Koopa (W2)
 * Larry Koopa (WSHROOM)
 * Wendy O. Koopa (W3)
 * Morton Koopa Jr. (W4)
 * Lemmy Koopa (WFlower)
 * Ludwig von Koopa (W5)
 * Bowser (World 6)
 * Dry Bowser (World Star)

Supporting Characters

 * Princess Peach
 * Toad

Returning Enemies
Note: Enemies turn golden when Mario/Luigi touches a Gold Ring. In this state, the enemies will produce coins.

Worlds

 * World 1: The basic field world. Many first worlds have a similar, grassy layout. The boss in this world is Roy Koopa. If Mario reaches the secret exit of the tower, he unlocks the cannon to World Mushroom.
 * World 2: The desert world, similar to World 2 of Super Mario Bros. 3. The boss in this world is Iggy Koopa.
 * World Mushroom: A special world. The boss of this world is Larry Koopa. If Mario finds the secret exit in the Ghost House, he can go to the cannon, which goes to World Flower.
 * World 3: The ocean and forest world. It has beach-like levels, underwater levels, and jungle levels. The boss of this world is Wendy O. Koopa. This world's cannon leads to World Flower.
 * World 4: The ice world composed of snowy grounds, with Morton Koopa Jr. as the boss.
 * World Flower: Another special world. The boss is Lemmy Koopa. If Mario finds the cannon, he'll find World 6.
 * World 5: The sky and mountain world, with Ludwig von Koopa as the boss.
 * World 6: The volcanic world. The boss for this world is none other than Bowser.
 * World Star: The final special world which is unlocked by defeating Bowser. The boss is Dry Bowser.

Add-On Content
Downloadable content will be available for purchase in the near future from the in-game shop. Once the DLC is ready for buying, a SpotPass notification will tell the players when the in-game shop is available. While no explicit details were given, this content will be exclusive levels for use in Coin Rush mode.

References to Other Games

 * Super Mario Bros.: In the first phase of Bowser's and Dry Bowser's battles, Bowser throws sledgehammers and breathes fire, and Mario must wait for him to jump then get past him, very much alike to this game. Also, while the game loads (such as when starting up the game for the first time or looking for a second player in Co-op Play), the loading chime plays the first part of the Super Mario Bros. theme. Small Mario sprite from Super Mario Bros. appears in some parts of Coin Rush mode, such as to show which course the player will play or while counting the coins obtained in the levels. The maximum number of lives results in crowns like in this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Raccoon Mario, the P-Meter, Jump Blocks and Wooden Blocks return. The P-Wing makes a cameo, replacing the "P" icon of the P-Meter. The floor in Bowser's room is checkered, similar to those of several Fortresses in this game. Like in this game, Toad Houses feature a choice of three power-ups. Coincidentally, the king ruling Pipe Land of Super Mario Bros. 3 was transformed into a golden Piranha Plant, similar to those seen after touching a Gold Ring.
 * Super Mario World: Chocolate Island backgrounds are used in some of the levels. Reznors and the battle theme return from this game. The Koopalings ride the Koopa Clown Car. The moons on Moon Coins strongly resemble 3-Up Moons from this game. Also, when the bridge breaks in the Reznor battles it has a similar sound to the blocks when they break in this game, and when the player hits a switch, it makes the P-Switch noises from this game.
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: The Koopalings in the final battle aided Bowser by spraying magic from their scepters in a manner similar to Kamek in Yoshi's Island.
 * Super Mario 64: Whomps and Scuttle Bugs return. The Wall Jump and Triple Jump return. The sound effect heard when a + Clock is obtained in New Super Mario Bros. 2 is very similar to that heard after exiting a course in this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros.: A direct sequel to this game. Mario's mini and mega forms return. Dry Bowser also returns. The game's remix of the Super Mario Bros. theme is used during the Dash Mario stages, as well as the Mega Mushroom theme.
 * Yoshi's Island DS: Bowser is fought as a giant in the background, just as he was in this game.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Another sequel to this game. Numerous elements from the game return. The music and graphic style are reused from this game. The second phase of Bowser's battle can be compared to the second phase of Bowser in this game, except Mario needs to move from platform to platform vertically instead of horizontally. The bubble system returns, and the multiplayer gameplay is reused (though Mario and Luigi cannot pick up each other as before). The Koopalings also had the same voices from and also taunt the same way before they fight and are fought similarly to New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In addition, they also aided Bowser in a manner very similar to how Kamek aided Bowser in that game.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: The Super Leaf retains its look from this game, as it did in Mario Kart 7. The Invincibility Leaf also returns, as does the Assist Block. Peepas, Coin Coffers and Goomba Towers return. Toad Houses use the same music as in this game, which, in itself, is a remix of the theme from Super Mario Bros. 3. During the credits, Mario carries Peach in a similar fashion to this game, except he is not flying, but walking on the ground. + Clocks return with similar functions. Once again, items from Toad Houses work their effects immediately, rather than being placed in an inventory.

Reception
New Super Mario Bros. 2 has recieved average to positive reviews from critics. IGN gave it an 8.5/10 and Nintendolife gave it a 9/10. Most critics considered it a solid Mario game, though they also criticized its unoriginality.

As of August 18, 2012, New Super Mario Bros. 2 has recieved a 78% average on Metacritic, with 22 positive and 13 mixed reviews.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, both handheld New Super Mario Bros. games have been released around the same time as the variation of the handheld on which they were released, as New Super Mario Bros. was released around the same time as the Nintendo DS Lite, and New Super Mario Bros. 2 was released alongside the Nintendo 3DS XL.
 * American Club Nintendo members who purchase New Super Mario Bros. 2 from the Nintendo eShop by September 20th and complete the surveys within four weeks after downloading can receive double the amount of coins (for a total of 100 coins) as they would receive if they bought the game at retail (50 coins). . European Club Nintendo members that purchase the game from the Nintendo eShop will receive 250 free Stars. Likewise, Australian Club Nintendo members receive double the amount of Stars (i.e. 400 instead of 200).
 * A puzzle based off this game can be found at the StreetPass Mii Plaza.
 * Unlike the previous New Super Mario Bros. games, Mario does not take off his hat when a level is completed. Instead, he jumps in the air and salutes.
 * Nintendo made a special gold-themed week on the American Nintendo eShop to celebrate the release of the game, where every category's image was replaced with something from the game and the backgrounds were gold-colored; however, this did not occur in other regions.
 * The game's credits will not play if the game is beaten in solo mode with Luigi.
 * This is the only New Super Mario Bros. game to date not to feature Bowser Jr.