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New Super Luigi U (JP) (stylized as New Super Luigi Bros. U and also called NSLU, New Super Mario Bros. 5, or NSMB5) is the fifth installment in the New Super Mario Bros. series and an expansion pack for the 2012 game New Super Mario Bros. U. Both games were released for Wii U and are a follow-up to the Nintendo 3DS game New Super Mario Bros. 2 (also released in 2012). A port to both games, titled New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, was announced on September 13, 2018 and was released on the Nintendo Switch on January 11, 2019.
It is described by Satoru Iwata as "Full-Scale DLC similar to the production of full software". This is one of the 3 projects released for The Year of Luigi. It has been released as DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U and as a stand-alone retail title. The title was first released on the Nintendo eShop on Wii U for region price as downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U; the game must be updated to version 1.3.0 before New Super Luigi U can be accessed in-game, and requires 731.4 MB of memory to be installed. Once downloaded, the prompt to access the Nintendo eShop to download the expansion is replaced with a prompt to go to the main menu for New Super Luigi U. Support for the Wii U Pro Controller is also included in addition to Wii Remote and the GamePad controls in New Super Mario Bros. U. The game was later released at retail as a standalone game for region price, not requiring New Super Mario Bros. U to play. Both the games were later released in a compilation known as New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U, initially included exclusively in the Mario & Luigi Wii U Deluxe Set bundle, but later released as a standalone Nintendo Selects disc at a price cheaper than either game individually (the precise price is dependent on the region).
Gameplay[]
The main focus of the game is to guide Luigi to the end of each level. The levels are shorter compared to New Super Mario Bros. U, but are also more challenging.
Each level has a 100-second limit with no checkpoint available. An additional 100 seconds is rewarded before beginning a boss fight in a tower or castle level (150 seconds is given before an airship boss fight).
Multiplayer mode gives players the option to play as Blue Toad, Yellow Toad and Nabbit, playable for the first time. Mario is excluded from the game.
As with New Super Mario Bros U., an additional player can play in boost mode while the rest of the players complete the level. Boost mode allows someone to place boost blocks inside the level through the Wii U GamePad touchscreen.
Characters[]
- Luigi - Luigi is the title character and central protagonist of New Super Luigi U. Just like Mario in the previous game and every other game in the Mario series, Luigi has to rescue Princess Peach after Bowser manages to throw him and his friends out of her castle. Unlike Mario, Luigi has unique jumping abilities that might be helpful to him. Luigi can jump much higher than Mario and all of the characters. Luigi also has a fluttery jump that allows him to sail through the air much longer than anyone else. When Luigi lands on the ground he tends to slip and slide a bit, though, so caution is necessary around pitfalls and small platforms.
- Blue Toad and Yellow Toad - Blue and Yellow Toad return as playable characters for play sessions with more than one player. They are exactly the same as they were in New Super Mario Bros. U.
- Nabbit - In New Super Mario Bros. U, Nabbit was essentially a kleptomaniac who players had to chase through levels that they had already beaten. In this game, Nabbit has seemingly turned to the side of good and now helps Luigi and his friends save Peach. Nabbit has the ability to run through enemies without getting hurt, which might helpful to young or inexperienced players, though he is still vulnerable to hazardous terrain such as lava lakes or pitfalls. Unlike Luigi and the Toads, Nabbit is not able to use power-ups and any of those that he does get turn into 1-ups. Oddly enough, Nabbit will still appear on the map in single-player mode as a thief you have the option to chase through numerous levels.
Power-Ups[]
- Super Acorn - Turn into a Flying Squirrel with this.
- Super Mushroom - Grow to super size when grab this classic item.
- Fire Flower - Shoot Fireballs
- Ice Flower - Shoot Iceballs
- Mini Mushroom - Turn Mini and run into tight spaces and tiny pipes you couldn't get into otherwise.
- Starman - Allows you to be invincible for brief period of time.
- Propeller Mushroom - Making a return to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, use this item to shoot up into the air and casually float down.
- Penguin Suit - Use the penguin suit to slide across land and water.
Worlds[]
| Acorn Plains | Layer-Cake Desert | Sparkling Waters | Frosted Glacier | Soda Jungle | Rock-Candy Mines | Meringue Clouds | Peach's Castle | Superstar Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1: Waddlewing Warning! | 2-1: Spike's Tumbling Desert | 3-1: Huckit Beach Resort | 4-1: Broozers and Barrels | 5-Airship: All Aboard! | 6-1: Mount Fuzzy | 7-1: Frozen Fuzzies | 8-1: Magma Moat | 9-1: Spine Coaster Connections |
| 1-2: Crooked Cavern | 2-2: Underground Grrrols | 3-2: Urchin Reef Romp | 4-2: Cooligan Shrooms | 5-1: Giant Swing-Along | 6-2: Porcupuffer Cavern | 7-2: Wiggler Rodeo | 8-2: Magmaw River Cruise | 9-2: P Switch Peril |
| 1-Tower: Flame-Gear Tower | 2-3: Piranhas in the Dark | 3-Tower: Shish-Kebab Tower | 4-Tower: Icicle Tower | 5-2: Dancing Blocks, Poison Swamp | 6-Tower 1: Smashing-Stone Tower | 7-3: Rainbow Skywalk | 8-3: Hot Cogs | 9-3: Star Coin Deep Dive |
| 1-3: Rolling Yoshi Hills | 2-Tower: Wind-Up Tower | 3-Ghost House: Haunted Cargo Hold | 4-3: Fire and Ice | 5-3: Heart of Bramball Woods | 6-3: Spike's Seesaws | 7-Tower: Stonecrush Tower | 8-4: * | 9-4: Hammerswing Hangout |
| 1-4: Pirahna Heights | 2-4: The Walls Have Eyes | 3-3: Waterspout Sprint | 4-4: Weighty Waddlewings | 5-Tower: Stone-Snake Tower | 6-4: Light-Up-Lift Tower | 7-Ghost House: Vanishing Ghost House | 8-Castle: Current Event | 9-5: Under Construction |
| 1-5: Piranha Gardens | 2-5: Stone Spike Conveyors | 3-4: The Great Geysers | 4-5: Ice-Slide Expressway | 5-Ghost House: Boo's Favorite Haunt | 6-5: Rising Piranhas | 7-4: Above the Bouncy Clouds | 8-Bowser's Castle: The Final Battle (New Super Luigi U) | 9-6: Fire Bar Sprint |
| 1-Castle: Lemmy's Lights-Out Castle | 2-6: Spinning Sandstones | 3-5: Dragoneel Depths | 4-Ghost House: Peek-A-Boo Ghost House | 5-4: Painted Pipeworks | 6-Tower 2: Sumo Bro's Spinning Tower | 7-5: Flame Chomp Ferris Wheel | N/A | 9-7: Cloudy Capers |
| 1-Secret Stage: * | 2-Castle: Morton's Lava-Block Castle | 3-Castle: Larry's Trigger-Happy Castle | 4-Castle: Wendy's Thwomp Castle | 5-5: Deepsea Stone-Eyes | 6-6: * | 7-6: Three-Headed Snake Block | N/A | 9-8: Impossible Pendulums |
| N/A | 2-Secret Stage: * | 3-Secret Stage: Beanstalk Jungle | 4-Secret Stage: Fliprus Floes | 5-6: Sumo Bro Bridge | 6-7: Switch-Lift Express | 7-Castle: Ludwig's Block-Press Castle | N/A | 9-9: * |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5-7: Wiggler Floodlands | 6-Castle: Roy's Ironclad Castle | 7-Airship: Bowser Jr. Showdown | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5-Castle: Iggy's Swinging-Chains Castle | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5-Secret Stage: Para-Beetle Parade | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Changes[]
The world map itself is unchanged from New Super Mario Bros. U, but level designs have a drastic makeover. As mentioned above, playable characters and their abilities have changed. The timer for each level is also set to start from 100 seconds and a 100-seconds time bonus is added to the timer after going to the boss door in the towers and castles (150 seconds in All Aboard! and 250 seconds in The Final Battle). Items in red Toad Houses may vary as well. For example, a 1-Up Mushroom is in place of a Super Mushroom. Similarly, Enemy Courses contain only Mini Mushrooms and Propeller Mushrooms, as opposed to only Super Stars. There are no Checkpoint Flags. Many elements of the game are colored green to emphasize Luigi, and all of the levels have a hidden Luigi in a wall or platform (Flying Squirrel Ovation has two).
After the game is completed, a Mario Block appears at the beginning of each level. This allows the player to switch to the original game's physics, with lower jumps and better traction. Nabbit is not affected by the block. Nabbit is also playable in single player mode if the player holds down ZL Button/ZR Button on the GamePad/Wii U Pro Controller or B Button on the Wii Remote while selecting a level. If the same trick is done on the Flying Squirrel Ovation level in Superstar Road, the player's Mii is played as instead of Nabbit.
Development[]
During the development process of both New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Mario Bros. 2, the developers began to think of ideas for downloadable content for the two games. Both teams thought of expanding the secondary modes, New Super Mario Bros. 2 being Coin Rush, and New Super Mario Bros. U expanding on Boost Rush; in the end it was decided that 2 would be the game to receive content first, since it was being released first. However, during the development of the Coin Rush courses the team decided to scrap the idea of additional Boost Rush course packs and began to think of other ideas. The team then began experimenting with the idea of shorter, but more difficult courses to replace the ones in the original game.[4]
Originally, the downloadable content was being made with Mario in mind. However, when the Year of Luigi came up during a meeting, it was decided that Luigi would be the focus instead.[5] When it was decided to make Luigi the main character, the developers also decided that Mario would be kept out of the game. When deciding on a new fourth playable character, the original idea was to use three Toads, but when testing this it was deemed too confusing; the idea to use Nabbit as the fourth character then came up, reusing his ability to pass by enemies; around that time, the team had also been talking about adding something for beginners, and the idea to use Nabbit was kept.[6]
Reception[]
New Super Luigi U was mostly received positively by critics. The game holds a 77 average on Metacritic based on 59 reviews[7], and a 75.92% on GameRankings based on 36 reviews[8]. GameSpot's Peter Brown gave it an 8.5/10, stating, "Though the world map, themes, power-ups, and visual assets are 'old,' Luigi's physics and the level design at large rise to the top".[9] Chris Carter of Destructoid gave the game an 8/10. He praises the game's design, stating that, "There are a lot of new concepts and designs this time around, and even if a large portion of them are re-used assets, they're remixed in a way that makes its own mark on the franchise".[10] Vince Ingenito of IGN gave the downloadable content a 7.3/10, citing that, "Its smaller levels, restrictive time limit, and floaty physics work well as a challenge mode add-on to an already terrific game", but criticizing that it, "[it] still feels more like an addendum to NSMBU [...] rather than something that stands out on its own".[11]
Conversely, Chris Shilling of Eurogamer gave the content a 6/10, criticizing that, "It's not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination: the level design is still a cut above so many of Nintendo's peers. But by the series' consistently high standards, it qualifies as a disappointment".[12]. Edge also gave the game a 6, criticizing the game's stages by saying, "the quality of the level design is mixed: some stages feel claustrophobic yet others are surprisingly baggy, and few are considerate enough to accommodate four players". The writer goes on to say that, "At its best, New Super Luigi U is an exhilarating test of skill", but also criticizes the game by saying that, "on occasion it dangerously approximates a fan-made ROM hack", in the end saying that, "Some will undoubtedly find its challenge inviting, but others will rightly expect more ingenuity from Nintendo than this".[13] GamesRadar writer Henry Gilbert, giving the game 3/5 stars, also says that, "If you're ready for the heightened difficulty of solo play in New Super Luigi U, then you'll find it rewarding. Otherwise, it's a taxing platformer that's only made more rage-inducing in multiplayer".[14]
Sales[]
As of March 31, 2014, New Super Luigi U is the 5th best-selling game for the Wii U, having sold 1.76 million copies worldwide.
Credits[]
Gallery[]
| Main article: New Super Luigi U/gallery |
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Interestingly, the box case was colored green instead of the Wii U's corporate blue, since green represents Luigi.
- Like many old versions of Super Mario Bros. games, Luigi can jump higher than Mario in New Super Mario Bros. U.
- Even though Nabbit helps Luigi in multiplayer mode, Nabbit still steals items from the Toad Houses, and the players will have to catch him. It will not work when Nabbit is playing in Co-op mode, and in single-player mode if the player does the trick to play as Nabbit in the level where Nabbit went, the player will still continue playing as Luigi.
- An in-game time unit in New Super Luigi U is 1 second, while in New Super Mario Bros. U, an in-game time unit lasts only 0.75 seconds.
- Mario himself is not seen, but he is referenced in three ways; in the intro, in which his hat is on the table, and in the level Broozers and Barrels which features a Mario-based snowman at the beginning of the stage. Finally, the Mario emblem appears on the Luigi Block. This makes New Super Luigi U the only game so far where Luigi appears, but Mario does not.
- US and Canada Club Nintendo members who purchased New Super Luigi U from the Nintendo eShop by August 1, 2013 and completed the surveys within four weeks after downloading could receive double the amount of Coins (for a total of 40 Coins) compared to the original amount (20 Coins). They also had a chance to win 1 of 980 Luigi pins.[15]
- Marketing for the game included Finding Luigi - Legend of Parkour.
References[]
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ Iwata Asks : New Super Luigi U : Overtaken by New Super Mario Bros. 2
- ↑ Iwata Asks : New Super Luigi U : In on the Action
- ↑ Iwata Asks : New Super Luigi U : Nabbit Solves Multiple Issues at Once
- ↑ [4]
- ↑ [5]
- ↑ [6]
- ↑ [7]
- ↑ [8]
- ↑ [9]
- ↑ [10]
- ↑ [11]
- ↑ http://club2.nintendo.com/new-super-luigi-u-promo/
See also[]
External links[]
- New Super Luigi U at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- New Super Luigi U at GameFAQs
- New Super Luigi U at MobyGames
- Official Site