New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)

Nintendo’s mascot goes back to basics in this side-scrolling platformer that allows up to four players to join each level.

Mario’s Nintendo DS outing, New Super Mario Bros., brought the famous plumber back to the platforming titles he helped create, using the DS’s extra juice to improve visuals and add some touch screen-based challenge to proceedings. Using this as its foundations, New Super Mario Bros. Wii brings the Mushroom Kingdom to Nintendo Wii, once more seeing Mario work his way through the green valleys of the Nintendo universe.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the first Mario Bros. title to allow multiplayer for up to four players, who can each take the role of a Mario character and work through every level. Players can either help each other throughout the multiple stages or compete for the various power ups on offer. Much like its DS incarnation, Mario now has a more complicated move set than in older Mario platformers, allowing players to perform wall-kicks and ground pounds more in line with 3D Mario titles.

By focusing on multiplayer for the first time, New Super Mario Bros. Wii transforms the platformer into a hectic side-scrolling free-for-all.