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, and is set to be released in Europe on August 17th, Australia on August 18th and the US on August 19th, while in Italy the game will separately be released on August 24. 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 heavily based on Super Mario Bros. 3, as it features Raccoon Mario, and the P-charge bar, both 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 will be 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. It is also revealed that the game's overall goal is to collect one million coins.

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 of coins across land, water, air, and snow along the way.

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 castles, 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. The game's overall objective is to collect a million coins. Downloadable content will be available just after the launch of the game.

Worlds

 * World 1
 * World 2
 * World 3
 * World 4
 * World 5
 * World 6
 * World Mushroom
 * World Flower
 * World Star

Other

 * Toad Houses

Playable

 * Mario
 * Luigi

Other

 * Princess Peach
 * Toad

Forms

 * Small Mario/Luigi
 * Super Mario/Luigi
 * Raccoon Mario/Luigi
 * Gold Mario/Silver Luigi
 * Fire Mario/Luigi
 * Mega Mario/Luigi
 * Mini Mario/Luigi
 * White Raccoon Mario/Luigi
 * Invincible Mario/Luigi

Enemies/Obstacles
Note: Enemies turn golden when Mario touches a Gold Ring. In this state, the enemies can produce coins.
 * Goombas
 * Paragoombas
 * Goomba Towers
 * Micro-Goombas
 * Undead Goombas
 * Koopa Troopas
 * Koopa Paratroopas
 * Climbing Koopas
 * Dry Bones
 * Super Dry Bones
 * Hammer Bros.
 * Boomerang Bros.
 * Buzzy Beetles
 * Spike Tops
 * Spinies
 * Lakitus
 * Piranha Plants
 * Super Piranha Plants
 * Undead Piranha Plants
 * Super Undead Piranha Plants
 * Scuttle Bugs
 * Bloopers
 * Cheep-Cheeps
 * Mega Cheep-Cheeps
 * Deep-Cheeps
 * Cheep-Chomps
 * Spiny Cheep-Cheeps
 * Urchins
 * Mini-sized Urchins
 * Wigglers
 * Boos
 * Big Boos
 * Boohemoth
 * Peepas
 * Bill Blaster
 * Bullet Bills
 * Banzai Bill Blaster
 * Banzai Bills
 * Thwomps
 * Super Thwomps
 * Whomps
 * Podoboos
 * Pokeys
 * Fuzzies
 * Chain Chomps
 * Rocket Engines
 * Fire Snakes
 * Spiked purple blocks
 * Raining Debris
 * Spike Pillars
 * Boulders
 * Grinders
 * Spiked Balls made of ice.

Bosses

 * Reznor (Tower bosses, varies between 2 and 4)
 * Koopalings
 * Roy Koopa (boss of World 1)
 * Iggy Koopa (boss of World 2)
 * Wendy O. Koopa (boss of World 3)
 * Morton Koopa Jr. (boss of World 4)
 * Ludwig von Koopa (boss of World 5)
 * Larry Koopa (boss of World Mushroom)
 * Lemmy Koopa (boss of World Flower)
 * Bowser (boss of World 6)
 * Dry Bowser (boss of World Star)

Items/Objects

 * Coins
 * Red Coins (also in parachutes)
 * Blue Coins
 * Dash Coins
 * 10 Gold Coins
 * 100 Gold Coins
 * Star Coins
 * 1-Up Mushroom
 * Super Mushrooms
 * Mega Mushrooms
 * Mini Mushrooms
 * Fire Flowers
 * Gold Flowers
 * Super Leaves
 * Invincibility Leaves
 * ? Blocks
 * Brick Blocks
 * Coin Blocks
 * Note Blocks
 * Red POW Blocks
 * Dotted Line Blocks
 * Roulette Block
 * Assist Blocks
 * Wooden Blocks
 * Gold Blocks
 * Numbered Roulette Blocks that give coins
 * Donut Lift
 * Wide Donut Lifts
 * Red Rings
 * Gold Rings
 * Golden Mushrooms
 * Warp Pipes
 * Coin-spouting pipes activated with fireballs
 * P-Switches
 * Question Switch
 * ! Switch
 * + Clocks
 * Snake Blocks
 * Midway Flag
 * Flagpole
 * Doors
 * One-way gates from New Super Mario Bros.
 * Sinking Barrels
 * Sinking Crates
 * Beanstalk
 * Ropes
 * Trampolines
 * Cannons
 * A monster skeleton similar to a Bonecoaster which travels through lava.

Nintendo eShop Description
''This new side-scrolling installment in the fan-favorite Super Mario Bros. franchise launches Aug. 17, as the Mushroom Kingdom bursts with more coins and gold than ever before. Players can transform into Gold Mario and Raccoon Mario, and battle friends for high-scores in the new StreetPass-enabled competitive Coin Rush mode. Also, for the first time in a hand-held Mario title, players can enjoy a cooperative two-player mode for the entire game via a local wireless connection.

References to Other Games

 * Super Mario Bros.: In the first phase of Bowser's battle, Bowser throws sledgehammers and breathes fire, and Mario must wait for him to jump then hit a switch, very much alike to this game. Fire Mario returns.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Raccoon Mario and the P-Meter returns. Many enemies like Paragoombas and Dry Bones return. The P-Wing makes a cameo on the P-Meter.
 * Super Mario World: Chocolate Island backgrounds are used on one level. Reznors return. The Koopalings appear in their clown car.
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: The Ground Pound returns.
 * Super Mario 64: Whomps and Scuttle Bugs return. The Wall Jump and Triple Jump return.
 * New Super Mario Bros.: A sequel to this game. Mario's mini and mega forms return.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 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).
 * Super Mario 3D Land: The Invincibility Leaf returns, as does the Assist Block. Peepas and Goomba Towers return. During the credits, Mario carries Peach in a similar fashion to this game.

Trivia

 * In 'New Super Mario Bros. 2, the Super Leaf gives Luigi honey-colored ears and a different tail, resembling a Japanese fox (a kitsune) rather than a raccoon, similar to Super Mario 3D Land.
 * A special 'Gold Coin' cartridge case is available to those who preorder the game in Europe at GAME.co.uk or at EB Games in Australia.
 * 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 (i.e. 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).
 * Unlike other New Super Mario Bros. games the main game of New Super Mario Bros. 2 ends at World 6, with 3 special Worlds. However, in the first New Super Mario Bros., one only had to complete 6 Worlds to beat the main game, as is with this game.