When NSMBU was announced as a launch title for the Wii U, it was met with a lukewarm reception. The Wii U was already not received in an overtly positive light, and this game likely contributed to that reception. With the system juggling with its identity between a successor and a peripheral to the Wii, Nintendo making their flagship Mario game look and sound nearly identical to their Wii Mario title no doubt contributed to that. Reviews seemed pretty middling as well, many rightfully claiming that it is a largely similar experience to the previous 2D Mario games.
So, 7 years after release, how is this purportedly mediocre Mario?
NSMBU has aged exceptionally well, and likely will continue to do so. From day 1 the visual style and music have been unambitious, but at least pertaining to the former I truly don't mind. Visually everything is incredibly clean and easy to read; the game looks undoubtably "Mario," like Super Mario World in HD with absolutely no risks taken to change up the visual style. The lighting is great and makes the flat level geometry pop in a way to fool you into believing it has more than two dimensions to it. Artistically, the music is truly the biggest offender. The music is awful. While melodically not the exact same as the previous NSMB games, the same, or at least incredibly similar instruments are used that would make you second guess if anything was changed at all. The main melody is very boring too. That being said, the music choices make sense to me with this being a very relaxed game. It's incredibly inoffensive and I can see why Nintendo made the choices that they did, as much as I would have preferred something with the slightest inkling of ambition behind it.
So, looking past this games presentational "ambitions," how is the game itself?
I started playing this again to gain a bit of insight on Mario level design. I have been making levels in Mario Maker 2, and needed some inspiration. Considering this, I couldn't have asked for a better side-scroller to get inspiration from. NSMBU is teeming with ideas in every level. Despite being largely derivative of its previous incarnations in almost every facet, the level design on display here is pure 2D Mario. In fact, it's probably the best 2D Mario game period. What impresses me so much about the level design is its multifaceted, multi-tiered nature. The levels are busting with multiple routes and secrets at every corner. You're rewarded for exploration, executing tricky platforming, and so much more. Obviously the Star Coins are the main motivator to explore and traverse levels, but they didn't stop there. Secrets can be found in almost every level, which included desirable items, Yoshis, 1-ups, etc. Obviously it's rewarding to get all the Star Coins, but it's a real treat when you discover a Yoshi you didn't know existed, or a secret room to net some 1-ups from.
I believe that if two things changed pertaining to NSMBU it would have been received significantly better.
1) The game released later into the Wii U's life, or on Switch
2) The game had more ambitious production values
The presentation of the game is so derivative and bland that it's hard to separate it from the previous NSMB games, but the level design is true master class stuff. The game is nothing short of a great, if nearly perfect 2D Mario experience, and really should be played by anyone who loves platformers.
