After expounding the glories of New Super Mario Bros. Wii in Part I of this feature, it’s time to take a look on the beneath the seedy underbelly of the mustache and explore some aspects of the game that could have possibly been better.

If you think these register mostly as minor complaints, you’re likely right. Even with what I consider to be flaws below, I still hold the title in high regard. Flaws make the masterpiece, they say — although maybe you should worry if people have always told you that a lot…

Things Done Wrong

Two Generic Toads

In case it didn’t come out boldly enough in the first half of this piece, I think the multiplayer aspect of New Super Mario Bros. Wiiis a pretty nifty in a cooperatively backstabbing kind of way. So with a team of four needed, Mario and Luigi are obvious choices, but why were the rest given to Nameless Blue Toad and Nameless Yellow Toad?

Let’s go so far as to buy the excuses given by Nintendo on why they didn’t make characters such as Peach or Wario playable. Even then, you could have thrown us some info; just a little bit of backstory on these guys. Are they secret agents? Have they given you a color and taken away your name?

Don’t get me wrong; there’s no need for anything elaborate like SEGA does as it continually drops new characters into the Sonic universe (the blue hedgehog’s Christmas card list has to read like an inventory of Noah’s Ark by now), but I’m sure there are some people out there who’ve picked one of these Toads as their favorite for one reason or another. It would’ve been a bit nicer if they at least knew what to call them.

Under-utilizing the Penguin Suit

Miyamoto loves him his penguins. This is fact, and there’s no way I’m getting between a genius and his desire to dress his flagship character up in an Antarctic tuxedo. I’m also not saying the Penguin Suit is a bad powerup. Considered on its own, it’s fun and useful in the water.

Unfortunately, once you get past World 3 and some of World 4, the suit doesn’t seem to play much of a factor and ends up feeling more like an Ice Flower with flippers than anything else. A unique element that could be applied in almost any world would’ve been fun. How about, for a quick example, being able to freeze the ground for a short distance in front of you, allowing you to slide and also possibly slipping the other players up? Or how about a stage that’s almost entirely made of sliding with automatic Penguin Suits? If you remember the skiing section of Yoshi’s Island, you know where I’m coming from.

The Infinitesimal Mini Mushroom

I’m fine with the Mega Mushroom getting kicked from the Wii installation. It was never much more than a Star on steroids. The Mini Mushroom is much more interesting and fun.

So…not many opportunities to use it, is there?

I’m glad it exists at all instead of being a complete no-show, and maybe it gets dicey with four little characters running around, but it still feels a shame that a power-up with several different uses at a simultaneous disadvantage wasn’t taken advantage of more often.

Yoshi Ends His Story Early

Wasn’t it so cool to be able to ride Yoshi again during the first half of the game? Well, he apparently doesn’t like mountains, clouds or magma pools. I can’t really blame him, to tell you the truth, but where did he go?

Shakedown

First of all, thank you Nintendo for not turning the game into an absolute waggle-fest. The simple tilting to control some platforms and other equipment is implemented beautifully.

But why, then, would you make us shake the remote to pick certain objects up or perform a spin jump? These aren’t super-new made-for-the-next-gen actions we’re talking about, here; these are moves that have required a one-button press ever since the first lifeforms crawled out of the primordial cream of mushroom soup. I want to run by and pick up a springboard like I could in Mario World. The shake… it works much of the time, but it can’t be fully trusted. It’s just awkward.

Kill the Clock

If anything I gripe about results in contention, it’s likely this. The clock has been a staple of every 2D Mario Bros. game with the exception of Super Mario Bros. 2, and it’s excused. Back in the original, the clock was a contributing element, providing that sometimes necessary drive to keep moving and blow past enemies instead of wimpily studying them.

As the series matured, however, more emphasis has been placed on exploration and away from simple level-clearing. Mario Bros. 3 introduced secret areas. Mario World added multiple exits and puzzle elements. And while I admit it can be a rush trying to figure your way out of a ghost house as the clock ticks down, the clock in Mario Bros. Wii never seemed to provide that feeling for me. The time limit in most stages seems ridiculously long to provide any sense of challenge and feel more like a nuisance on the rare occasion the seconds have nearly all ticked away.

Ultimately, with the Star Coins and multiplayer tomfoolery being main focuses of the game, why have a clock at all? Why not encourage free runs at all times? They wouldn’t keep it only to retain the potential for fireworks at the end of each stage, would they? That’s silly!

Although I would miss those fireworks…

…

OK, keep the clock.