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 will separately be released on August 24, however, the release date has been anticipated to Europe's release date, but only for the digital download. 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. 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 purchased and digitally downloaded through the Internet. The game can be stored onto an SD card, along with multiple other games, and be played on the Nintendo 3DS, but they can't be shared with other Nintendo 3DS handhelds. This game seems to be mainly based on the concept of coins, and the game's overall goal is to collect one million of them.

Story
Description from the American website:

Trouble always seems to find its way to the Mushroom Kingdom! Just as Mario™ and Luigi™ go off on a coin hunt in the sky, their beloved Princess Peach™ is kidnapped by the dastardly Koopalings. The brothers have to venture through over 80 stages to rescue her, grabbing an endless deluge coins across land, water, air, and snow along the way.

Description from the European website:

On a lovely day in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi head out for a coin-hunting cruise through the sky. While their trip is a big success, when they touch down on solid ground it's clear that all is not well – Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser's minions! As usual, this kidnapping business has big ol' meanie Bowser's name all over it, which means it's Mario and Luigi to the rescue!

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 many coins at once, such as golden items that award the player many coins. 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 9 Worlds, 6 main worlds and three special worlds. The item storage reappears too. Each world contains a random 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. 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 1000 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. The reward for collecting 1 million coins is a new title screen featuring a Gold Mario statue. Paid DLC will be available just after the launch of the game.

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 (Second player in Co-op mode, and unlocked for Solo mode after beating Bowser by holding +  at the title screen)

Bosses

 * Reznor
 * Koopalings
 * Roy Koopa
 * Iggy Koopa
 * Larry Koopa
 * Wendy O. Koopa
 * Morton Koopa Jr.
 * Lemmy Koopa
 * Ludwig von Koopa
 * Bowser
 * Dry Bowser

Supporting Characters

 * Princess Peach
 * Toad

Worlds

 * World 1 (Grass)
 * World 2 (Desert)
 * World Mushroom (Special World)
 * World 3 (Beach; Forest)
 * World 4 (Snow)
 * World Flower (Special World)
 * World 5 (Mountains; Sky)
 * World 6 (Volcano)
 * World Star (Special World)

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.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Raccoon Mario, the P-Meter 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.
 * 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 64: Whomps and Scuttle Bugs return. The Wall Jump and Triple Jump return.
 * 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. 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 are fought similarly to New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
 * 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. + Clocks return with similar functions. The maximum number of lives results in crowns like in this game. 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 around the same time as 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).
 * The game's music can slightly change depending on the gameplay:
 * When playing as Raccoon Mario, a drumbeat is added to the music, similar to how a drumbeat is added while riding Yoshi in other Mario games.
 * Also, when using a Gold Ring, twinkling noises are added to the music.
 * If Mario goes to the very top of the screen and out of sight, the music gets quieter.
 * 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).
 * This is the only New Super Mario Bros. game to date not to feature Bowser Jr..
 * 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 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.