Para a minha surpresa, New Super Luigi U é um game essencialmente novo, não um mero remix de New Super Mario Bros. U como eu temia. Os assets e os temas dos mundos são os mesmos, mas os níveis são completamente originais - e, criticamente, bem melhores do que na campanha original de Bros. U.

O ritmo é mais frenético, com um limite de 100 segundos para concluir cada fase (apesar de que os segundos de Luigi são maiores que os de Mario; ainda assim, é um tempo mais curto). Com isso, os níveis são bem mais direto ao ponto. O padrão de lentamente introduzir uma nova mecânica ou gimmick e reiterá-la repetidamente é quebrado, com novas ideias sendo usadas de forma rápida e o desafio às vezes te pegando de surpresa, sem preocupações em te dar tempo para se acostumar. Some a isso os controles contraditoriamente ao mesmo tempo mais imprecisos e perdoáveis do Luigi (ele parece que tem sabão nos pés, mas pula mais alto e pode até flutuar um pouco), e temos o platformer mais intenso que qualquer um da série New Super Mario Bros - e, ouso dizer, o melhor!

... O que nos dá uma idea do beco sem saída que essa série se encontrava. Se esse era o melhor e mais criativo que Mario 2D conseguia ser desde o SNES, o negócio tava tenso mesmo. Ser perfeitamente competente e razoavelmente divertido é pouco demais para os padrões de Mario.

I was itching to play Mario Bros Wonder but since it wasn't coming out for a little while (when I started playing this) I decided to sit down and play this, and I'm glad I did. Luigi is one of my favorite characters in any game or medium. I remember having it as a kid but I don't remember beating it, I'll remember beating it now though.

First off, the most important thing in a Nintendo Platformer, the level design. I was honestly a little surprised how good it was, since the game is presented as "New Super Mario Bros U" but without Mario. The design of the levels are much more challenging and a lot smaller than the original game, and if they didn't do that this game would have no way of distinguishing itself from the other games. Luigi's movement is much more slippery and different from Mario's, and though it can make some sections of levels very frustrating, it's a breath of fresh air to play the games in a new way like this.

Of the all "New Super" games, this is maybe the most unique (besides New Super DS). It's 100 second time limit, different movement, and level design, you really have to play it to see what I mean. The other games in the series don't have this unique of levels, nor this level of difficulty.

Speaking of difficulty, this game has it, a lot. I found it way harder then I thought it would be, and honestly it's one of the most difficult Nintendo platformers I've ever played. I had to set my controller down and walk away multiple times do to how pissed off this game would make me. Luckily the difficulty isn't horseshit, it's actually fair and the challenge is what keeps you coming back.

The Music is still absolutely amazing. I know people don't like how much music is reused in this series, but the music is just so damn good I just don't care about it's lack of originality.

I'm fairly certain that the map lay-out is the same in "New Super Mario Bros U" as it is here. I just find it interesting since usually smaller, shorter levels means that there will be more levels, but there seems to be the same amount. I would usually not like this, but for this game it works really well in it's favor. It works well because it makes it so you can sit down and blast through it in a few hours, and I feel like it ended when it should have, and if it went on with a bunch more smaller levels it would have felt like a drag to get through. With this level of difficulty, I enjoy how short it is.

I know that the world map is identical to the Wii U, but damn they just look so good. I honestly think these are the best worlds (appearance wise) in any 2D mario game. The overworld music is really great too. My personal favorite world is probably the Desert or the Cloud area.

There really isn't a story like in all these games, but the cutscenes that there are I really enjoyed. The best parts were when you go through the castles and have to climb up the stairs as you watch one of the Koopalings ships in the distance, and then launch yourself in from a canon to go and kick their asses.

The boss fights are nothing special as per usual. I have no problem with the Koopalings, but their fights have barely changed since Super Mario Bros. 3. It's still the same old jump on their head three times and you win. Bowser Jr still has the best fights in the game as usual, but compared to "New Super Mario Bros. Wii", the bosses leave much to be desired. Bowser's Bossfight was cool, but compared to Wii, it's night and day, Wii is way better and way more memorable.

Not much I don't enjoy about this game, it's really frickin awesome. The boss fights leave much to be desired, the feel of Luigi can be frustrating in certain levels, and not being able to die and keep the stars you collected before dying is really stupid. Despite those things, it's a Nintendo platformer, and Luigi's in it! So that makes it a masterpiece, and a must play for anyone who like videogames.

Score: 4.3/5
Letter Grade: A

An interesting release from Nintendo featuring Luigi's own entry in the "New" Super Mario Bros platforming games.

The game features the same assets that have been used throughout the New series but more specifically the Wii U launch title New Super Mario Bros U which is a good thing since they feature colorful and crisp characters and backgrounds.

Thankfully, this is not a copy-paste from the Mario games and features its own gameplay quirks such as having to beat the levels under 100 seconds and physics that are particular to Luigi (longer higher jumps). While the gameplay variety was a welcomed addition, I ended up wanting more of a traditional platforming experience since I've never been a huge fan of speedrunning Mario games and more so the ones that have challenging levels like this game.

New Super Luigi U's tighter levels and somewhat higher difficulty in the context of barely coherent 4-player co-op is an absolute riot and a great way to spend an evening. It's also just an affirmation of everything tired about NSMB as well as what makes it remain great. Like Mario U beside it, Luigi U suffers from formulaic design and its status as one of Nintendo's very first HD titles, but it nonetheless remains a truly solid platformer. Hopefully once Wonder's out we can reevaluate this series for the polished if overly familiar adventures it has in store

Ending the 'New' series on a high note at least. The series overstayed it's welcome ALOT but this Luigi standalone expansion really shows itself as the best of the bunch.

It solves the biggest issue i've had with the console 'New' games in that no level ever lasts too long. The levels are short and sweet and lend themselves to a much faster pace of gameplay which i enjoyed. Luigi himself takes some getting used to but after a while i was really enjoyed the different levels of jump height you could get to speed through levels faster.

Not to be derogatory, but this is not a proper Luigi game (as the title and Nintendo's marketing campaigns would have you believe), this game is essentially an official New Super Mario Bros. U hackrom.

There is nothing that makes me say that this is a new game, there are no new mechanics, and both the graphics, music, gameplay, bosses, powers and world theming are exactly the same, in fact, the world map literally has the same design, they didn't go out of their way to present a new map, they just replaced the levels and called it a day.

The only thing that makes this game Luigi's, is that the character control was slightly altered, now you jump little more and will slip on the ground if you have too much acceleration, similar to how it happens in Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2. Oh, and that there are a lot of Luigi renders scattered throughout the levels, but they look a bit cheap as they are not special new illustrations for the occasion, but are the same recycled renders that we have already seen ad nauseam in Nintendo marketing.

Fortunately, just like the base game, where this game excels quite a bit is in its level design, which is still quite creative and unique, making each level feel different, and in this case ends up being a bit more memorable as the levels despite being noticeably shorter, are also more intense by having a higher difficulty. The star coins and secret exits are also harder to find, which makes the process of completing 100% of the game a bit more challenging. I honestly loved this and it reminded me a lot of the kind of level design that Mario games had in the NES/SNES era, but which they eventually dropped in pursuit of levels more suitable for today's audience.

Conclusion
While it presents a very good new set of levels, I also think it was a very wasted opportunity to bring a new platformer game starring Luigi. In a way it simply feels like a “hard mode” of the original game, and what I find worse, is that Nintendo originally sold this title as a separate game, when these levels should have been something that New Super Mario Bros U. should have had included from launch, similar to how Super Mario 3D Land included 8 alternate worlds after completing the game.

I've heard people call this one of the better NSMB games, but I just don't see it.

It's pretty much a carbon copy of NSMBU, which itself is a carbon copy of NSMBW. The game is pretty uninspired, and the Luigi physics and strict time limits really didn't add much to the challenge.

However, it's fine as some mindless fun, especially with friends or family.

Luigi doesn't deserve this. What happened here. This is even worse than New Super Mario Bros U. Did you ever play that game and wondered "man I wish levels ended super quickly and the controls were slippery and atrocious to play with" well congratulations, you got this game. Don't get me wrong, I understand the whole point was this central gimmick and Luigi more closely controls to his Mario 2 counterpart, but that doesn't make this experience any less tiresome. I've completed every single NSMB game to this point and call it burnout but this one did NOTHING for me. It's the same world map, the same uninspired visuals, the level design is different but it doesn't make it good. I did like how there's a hidden Luigi in every level but that was kind of it. I don't know why people actually like this one but to each their own. If you want to play this pick up the Switch port of NSMBU and you'll have it available from the get-go.

Wenn man New Super Mario Bros. U gespielt hat, was bei Spielern dieses Standalone-DLCs durchaus sehr wahrscheinlich ist, dürfte man ein wenig enttäuscht sein. Denn auf den ersten Blick hat sich absolut nichts verändert, die Weltkarte ist identisch und einfach vom Hauptspiel kopiert worden.

Fängt man jedoch mit den Leveln an, wird sofort klar, dass es deutlich schwerer wird und immer ein Zeitlimit von 99 Sekunden vorhanden ist; wobei die schweren Stellen fast immer fair und verständlich sind, ganz im Gegenteil zu einigen Sternmünzen-Verstecken in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Außerdem spielt man nun Luigi, wie der Titel sicherlich schon verrät. Marios Bruder besitzt eine etwas andere Sprungphysik und schlittert länger über den Boden, was sich spätestens in den Eis-Leveln als grausige Eigenschaft erweist. Die Steuerung bleibt dennoch sehr präzise, da man auch gefühlt langsamer nach Sprüngen fällt und mehr Zeit hat, nachzujustieren. Das hat zu wirklich schweißtreibenden Rettungsversuchen geführt, von denen erstaunlich viele mit Ach und Krach geglückt sind.

Darüber hinaus gibt es eigentlich keinerlei Neuigkeiten; Musik, Grafik, Modelle und Aufbau sind gleich, es gibt aber keinerlei Checkpoints mehr. Ganz besonders schlimm war das 6. Level („Brandheißer Hürdenlauf“) der geheimen Sternwelt, an das sich wahrscheinlich alle 100-%-Spieler erinnern werden. Um die letzte Starcoin zu sammeln, muss man dort mit höchstens einem Treffer ganz zum Ende kommen, während man ohne Verschnaufpause rennend unter und über große Feuerräder springt.

Vielleicht hat sich das Spielen aller anderen je erschienenen 2D-Mario-Teile (bis auf Lost Levels bisher) auf mein Geschick ausgewirkt oder Elden Ring hat mich „good“ werden lassen; jedenfalls gab es für mich bei Weitem nicht so viele Probleme, wie ich vorher vermutet hatte. Einige schwere Level konnte ich sogar beim ersten Versuch mit allen Sternmünzen abschließen!