New Super Mario Bros. U continues the New Super Mario Bros. series by doing the same exact thing that every other game in the franchise has done. It follows the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality just as the games before it. This game came in an era where Nintendo was doing everything they could to make the most profit with the least amount of risk and did so by mimicking its most popular franchise at the time. This game is not bad but it has nothing going for it that was not already done by every other 2D platformer made at the time.
Obviously, the presentation for this game is pretty. It has a pleasant art style and bubbly sounds that call for a comfortable and warm experience. Then you keep playing and you realize how samey everything looks. The music is the same from the 2006 game, as are the graphics and the sound effects, even some of the level designs and power-ups are the exact same. One of the most unique things about the presentation is that the game is in HD which makes everything even worse when you realize how little of a graphical jump SD to HD was when comparing this to the Wii version. The presentation is pretty but it is nothing to brag about.
Speaking of nothing to brag about, how about the way the game plays? Well it plays exactly like every other game, but at least the controls are refined. Really nothing has been added to Mario's moveset here except the Racoon mushroom to let him glide but everything else feels just like the Wii version. No new moves have been added, no new jumps or flips. However, keeping everything the same has helped a ton with level design. In my opinion, most other New Super games have flawed level design at best and some really poorly designed stages at worst but U has almost none of that. Sure this means the game is easy compared to most of its predecessors but it also makes the game a lot more fun. I got really tired of finding some of the dumbest secrets in the older games but here the game lets you figure out where to go, how to get there, and what you need to collect the star coins.
Star coins have made the same contribution they did in Wii and it feels much more worthwhile here. While I still believe that the handheld games have the best system for the coins, the fact that the coins here still feel like they unlock something does leave some kind of feeling of progression.
I feel that I have said all I can about New Super Mario Bros. U without repeating myself. The game is incredibly generic and does nothing to push the series to the heights I know it could reach but with excellent level design and satisfying progression, this game is no doubt the best modern mainline 2D Mario game in a vacuum. Although, that would leave out New Super Luigi U and Super Mario Maker which completely lowers the bar on what the best "modern 2D Mario" is.
Obviously, the presentation for this game is pretty. It has a pleasant art style and bubbly sounds that call for a comfortable and warm experience. Then you keep playing and you realize how samey everything looks. The music is the same from the 2006 game, as are the graphics and the sound effects, even some of the level designs and power-ups are the exact same. One of the most unique things about the presentation is that the game is in HD which makes everything even worse when you realize how little of a graphical jump SD to HD was when comparing this to the Wii version. The presentation is pretty but it is nothing to brag about.
Speaking of nothing to brag about, how about the way the game plays? Well it plays exactly like every other game, but at least the controls are refined. Really nothing has been added to Mario's moveset here except the Racoon mushroom to let him glide but everything else feels just like the Wii version. No new moves have been added, no new jumps or flips. However, keeping everything the same has helped a ton with level design. In my opinion, most other New Super games have flawed level design at best and some really poorly designed stages at worst but U has almost none of that. Sure this means the game is easy compared to most of its predecessors but it also makes the game a lot more fun. I got really tired of finding some of the dumbest secrets in the older games but here the game lets you figure out where to go, how to get there, and what you need to collect the star coins.
Star coins have made the same contribution they did in Wii and it feels much more worthwhile here. While I still believe that the handheld games have the best system for the coins, the fact that the coins here still feel like they unlock something does leave some kind of feeling of progression.
I feel that I have said all I can about New Super Mario Bros. U without repeating myself. The game is incredibly generic and does nothing to push the series to the heights I know it could reach but with excellent level design and satisfying progression, this game is no doubt the best modern mainline 2D Mario game in a vacuum. Although, that would leave out New Super Luigi U and Super Mario Maker which completely lowers the bar on what the best "modern 2D Mario" is.