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Toads helping the Mario Bros? What sort of madness is this?!
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a 2009 Platformer Video Game for the Wii, and the sequel to New Super Mario Bros. on the DS and the second overall New Super Mario Bros. game. It's the second Super Mario Bros. Video Game for the Wii, the first being Super Mario Galaxy. Unlike Galaxy, it is a side-scrolling Mario game, and plays like its predecessor, Super Mario World, and Super Mario Bros. 3, while having a mixture of 3D and 2D graphics. It's the first Mario game since Mario Bros. to let multiple people play cooperatively at the same time (for a certain definition of "cooperatively"), with this game being the first to allow up to four players at once in side-scrolling levels, and the first 2D Mario platformer for consoles since World. New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS allowed competitive play in a set of competitive-only levels, but did not allow players to take on the levels of the main game together.

It starts out at Princess Peach's birthday party, which features an unusually large cake. It turns out that The Cake Is a Lie, and the seven Koopalings plus Bowser Jr. jump out of it. They kidnap Peach (again), taking her into an airship. They fly across the Mushroom Kingdom, with Mario, Luigi, and two Toads taking chase.

A slightly Updated Re-release of the game was released on December 5, 2017 for the Nvidia Shield TV only in China, featuring high definition 1080p graphics and a slightly redesigned UI.


New Super Mario Bros. Wii provides examples of the following Tropes:

  • Absurdly Short Level: The cannon "levels" only have one point of interest: a huge cannon in the center. All Mario has to do is enter the cannon and the level is finished, and it takes him a few worlds ahead.
  • Absurdly Spacious Sewer: World 6-3. It's an underground sewer where Mario and his friends have to press switches to raise the water's level and reach new places. It is infested by large Piranha Plants and Buzzy Beetles.
  • Advancing Boss of Doom: Bowser, when he grows giant. His enlarged size makes him impossible to attack directly for Mario and company, so they have to move away from him while dodging his fireballs and jumping through the platforms before he breaks them with his moves. They only manage to defeat him by pressing a large switch that lowers the lava's level and sends him down into a pit.
  • Advancing Wall of Doom: A pyroclastic flow in World 8-1. If it's touched, a life is lost. And since it's gradually taking over the level, the characters have to advance constantly to avoid being caught by it.
  • Advertised Extra: Yoshis prominently appear on the cover, but the number of levels they actually appear in can probably be counted on one hand (and you can't keep them).
  • Ageless Birthday Episode: Begins with the Opening Narration, "Today is Princess Peach's birthday!" After the opening cutscene, birthdays become irrelevant for the rest of the game.
  • Air Jousting: The World 6 boss battle involves the player(s) and Bowser Jr both riding Clown Cars like the one from Super Mario World and trying to send each other flying into electric fences in mid air.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: Inverted: Mario loses his hat if you have 99 lives (he gets his hat back should he lose a life). Nothing happens to Luigi or the Toads, though (even though Luigi does take his hat off briefly whenever he wins).
  • Anti-Frustration Feature: Failing a level at least eight times activates the "Super Guide"; selecting it will let you watch a CPU Luigi play through the level. The player can resume control at any time, or let Luigi finish the level and then choose to either try it themselves or advance to the next stage. It does come at the cost of a 100% Completion, as if you cause the block to appear (by losing eight times) the stars you get on your save file won't twinkle.
  • Asteroids Monster: The larger Goombas. One stomped, they'll split into two regular-sized Goombas.
  • Auto-Scrolling Level: Quite a few of them, particularly the airship levels. One of the levels, the World 2's Castle, mixes it with Unnaturally Looping Location, as the characters have to choose the right paths while the screen is scrolling forward and, if they miss, they'll have to replay the current section.
  • Big Bad: Bowser, per usual. Though it's his high-ranking minions (Bowser Jr., Kamek, the Koopalings) that do more of the work, though.
  • Big Boo's Haunt: The Ghost Houses. In addition to featuring Boos, they also have an illusory design, requiring Mario and his friends to solve some sort of puzzle in order to find the standard exit (and look closer at the surroundings to find the secret exit).
  • Big "NO!": Lemmy, Iggy, and Bowser let one out when you defeat them at the end of their respective worlds.
  • A Birthday, Not a Break: Dick move, Bowser, kidnapping poor Princess Peach on her birthday.
  • Blackout Basement: A number of levels. In them, there's usually an object or item that illuminates part of the path, and they become essential to avoid touching unseen hazards.
  • Blatant Item Placement: Oddly enough for the franchise, Justified. The Toads who stayed at the castle aided Mario, Luigi, and the Blue and Yellow Toads on their mission by shooting power-ups throughout the land out of a cannon, scattering them across the lands.
  • Boring, but Practical: Shaking the controller in midair makes your character spin and keeps them in the air slightly longer. It's not a spectacular difference by any means, but it's absolutely vital to controlling your jumps and making those tough landings. (The same action triggers propeller flight when Mario has the Propeller Suit.)
  • Boss-Arena Idiocy: Bowser Jr. has propeller blocks that can be used to reach his head in his first fight, electric fences that you can knock him into for his second fight, and a floor that can send his bombs into his vehicle in his third fight.
  • Boss Remix: The music for the initial battle with Bowser is a heavily arranged version of the ground theme.
  • Brutal Bonus Level: World 9, which features levels based on previous worlds, but mixed with new gimmicks to further increase the challenge. World 9-7, for example, adds meltable ice blocks and Piranha Plants that constantly spit fireballs, so the characters have to get through the level quickly to avoid reaching an Unwinnable situation.
  • The Bus Came Back:
    • The Koopalings appear in a game for the first time since Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and in a platformer for the first time since Super Mario World.
    • Classic Spikes show up for the first time since their debut in Super Mario Bros. 3. While variants have been shown in other games, such as Clubbas in the Paper Mario games, Tolstar in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and most notably the Snow Spikes in the previous game, this is the first time the originals reappear, and they also come back with a new blue variation called Stone Spikes.
  • Busman's Holiday: The game's story starts with the heroes at Princess Peach's birthday party. Cue attack by the Koopalings and Bowser Jr.
  • Butt-Monkey: Larry is portrayed as this. He gets crushed under the cake in the opening cutscene, is the first boss of the game, and is forced to walk all the way back home only to watch the rest of the Koopalings and Bowser get crushed by their castle in The Stinger.
  • Call-Forward: In the credits, you can hear Peach say she'll wait for Mario at the Star— before being cut off. This implies that this game might take place before Super Mario Galaxy, set at the Star Festival, although SMG2 also has one. Considering what happened during the first game, though, it might be the same event.
  • Can't Drop the Hero: Even when playing multiplayer, player 1 always has to play as Mario.
  • The Chase: Mario and company chase the Airship throughout the game, but on two occasions, you end up chasing Bowser Jr. back into it.
  • Chasing Your Tail: The rematch against Iggy. Unlike the other Koopalings, Iggy makes use of a large Chain Chomp which repreatedly try to charge at Mario and company, forcing them to travel around the battlefield to catch and hit Iggy while staying away from the Chain Chomp's maws.
  • Checkpoint Starvation: 2-Castle, 8-4, the Ghost houses and all of World 9 lacks checkpoints.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Toadsworth, at least in this game. In the original NSMB, he appeared in the Toad Houses. Here, however, he makes no appearance, not even in Peach Castle.
  • Clamshells as Mouths: The Clampy enemy mentioned below is drawn with eyes and has its shells depicted as mouths.
  • Clam Trap: There is a rare enemy called Clampy, a beautiful shimmering clam that opens its mouth to reveal a coin. But if a player swims in to grab it, Clampy can snap shut, trapping the player inside for a few seconds before spitting them out, causing the player to take damage.
  • Color-Coded Multiplayer: Downplayed. Mario is typically red, but Luigi (who would normally be green) and the two Toad colors (usually blue and yellow) are interchangeable.
  • Combination Attack: If two or more players ground pound at the same time, a massive shock wave will defeat all enemies on screen.
  • Continuity Nod: Barrels, POW Blocks, rotating fire bars, the first Bowser battle, the wind, a secret ninth world, the ability to play as Toad, carrying things over your head, the Map Screen, the Koopalings, their Airship, the Spin Attack, Yoshi, Porcupuffers, aquatic animals that wear goggles and act as stepping stones for the player, Kamek enchanting boss battles (including the last one, in which Bowser is hugely enlarged), multi-player characters in floating bubbles after defeat, the coin switch collection music and sounds, mini mushrooms, dancing enemies, etc. Also, the sting that plays when Kamek's magic starts doing its stuff in the boss battles shows up in Yoshi's Island under the exact same conditions.
  • Continuity Porn: There are many nods to earlier Mario games.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: Everything ELSE about lava and volcanoes is portrayed somewhat realistically in this game, down to wrinkly, rippling air from rising heat and World 8-1 going so far as to sic a rapidly-advancing ash cloud on you, but Mario still doesn't get hurt from lava unless he directly touches it.
  • Co-Op Multiplayer: The game features Co-Op Multiplayer for the first time in the mainline Mario games, something Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to do since the NES days. With teamwork, you can do lots of things that would otherwise be impossible to do alone (without a specific power-up, anyways). Without teamwork, see Video Game Cruelty Potential.
  • Corridor Cubbyhole Run: Several instances. Most notably, a few of the towers and castles have long spiked pillars which appear at regular intervals, and safe spots must be used to take cover.
  • Cover Version: The music in this game mostly, though not exclusively, consists of remakes of pieces from the previous episode.
  • Creative Closing Credits: Every letter of the credits is a unique brick block. You can destroy them for points, and compete with other players to see who can find the most coins during the credits' run.
  • Cumulonemesis: The Foos, which are enemies exclusive to the 5th level of World 7, are clouds that blow opaque fog at Mario to blind and disorient him.
  • Cutscene Incompetence: Mario not using the Propeller to get on the airship if he has it upon beating a world's Koopaling in the rematch.
  • Damn You, Muscle Memory!: One may get into the habit of shaking the controller if he or she plays a 2D Mario game after this one, due to the vital spin move that is activated this way.
  • Damsel in Distress: Peach, who isn't even safe during her birthday from Bowser's nefarious plans. The only variation is that it's the Koopalings who bring her to Bowser, instead of the Koopa King coming to her in person.
  • Death Mountain: World 6, which brings back the spiral mountains from the original New Super Mario Bros.. These mountains are overrun by Bullet Bills, Buzzy Beetles and Monty Moles, and one of the levels has ledges that need to be traversed carefully to avoid falling.
  • Dem Bones:
    • The Dry Bones as always.
    • World 8-7 introduces the Spine Coaster, which takes you for a roller coaster reminiscent ride through the stage, and the head screeches every few seconds as well.
  • Developer's Foresight: In multiplayer, at the end of the final boss chase, if Mario loses a life before/is still respawning when Peach comes into view, and if Luigi is present (Or if you're using Super Guide), she will instead cry out Luigi's name (Also taken from Super Mario Galaxy). If this happens to both brothers, thus only leaving the Toads, she will simply shout her default "Help!".
  • Disc-One Final Dungeon: The Airship levels. After each castle, it becomes clear that Peach is aboard Bowser Jr.'s ship, but you never find her on the ship levels. After beating Bowser Jr. for the third and final time, Peach gets taken away again just as Mario and/or the others reach her.
  • Disc-One Nuke: The Propeller power-up is incredibly useful for many of the later levels, including the final boss — and it can be acquired easily in level 1-1!
  • Divergent Character Evolution: Inverted. Mr. Green's Luigification was revoked so that all four characters would play identically.
  • Double Jump: The function of the propeller suit is to essentially gain a second jump in midair.
  • Dramatic Choir Number: The phase 2 music for the final boss, Giant Bowser, is an epic theme with a choir melody and orchestral accompaniment.
  • Easy-Mode Mockery: If the Super Guide was made available to you for any level (even if you don't actually use it), and then you save the game afterwards, the stars you earn on your save file after beating the game will no longer sparkle. This was done so the Super Guide could be both a tool to assist newer players, and a goal to avoid for the better ones. And if you use it to the end of a level, it skips the level for you, which means it doesn't count as being completed. Which means using it on castles and towers, which are the most common places to use it, will result in the victory flag not being there afterwards.
  • Escort Mission: Escorting those Toads in single player. Mercifully, they are completely optional. And if you really want to be a jerk, you can toss Toad into a pit and be on your way.
  • Faceship: The airship that the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. ride in has Bowser's face at the front.
  • Failed a Spot Check: Seriously, how did the Toads not notice that the cake they brought to Peach in the intro included several suspicious "decorations"? Sure enough, the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. were hiding in it.
  • Fantastic Light Source: World 8-4 is a dark underwater level lit intermittently by Jellybeams, bioluminescent jellyfish that produce lamp-like cones of light from their undersides.
  • Five-Second Foreshadowing: During the initial Bowser fight, "Peach" is visibly crying (something that the real Peach wouldn't do), and she is notably much shorter. Turns out it was Kamek in disguise.
  • Floating in a Bubble: One level in World 7 has water bubbles you can swim in. This is also a game mechanic in multiplayer: pressing A locks you in a bubble, allowing someone else to do a tough part of the level. If every player does it at once, you're all booted to the map screen.
  • Fragile Speedster: As in the DS version, the Mini-Mushroom makes you a One-Hit-Point Wonder, but it greatly increases your mobility.
  • Frozen Foe Platform: The Ice Flower powerup allows its user to throw ice balls that can freeze some enemies into platforms.
  • Geo Effects: Just like in Yoshi's Island, Kamek swoops in during each Koopaling rematch to sway the odds in their favor by enchanting the battlefield somehow. He also does this during his own boss fight.
  • Giant Mook: Nearly every classic enemy can be found supersized. Some even have multiple levels of it.
  • Gimmick Level: A curious example, as nearly every stage features one or two level-specific enemies or gimmicks.
  • Green Hill Zone: World 1 even starts as a Nostalgia Level, but also introduces you to many of the new elements and features.
  • Griefer: Admit it, you picked up one of your teammates and threw him into a pit or into lava or purple slime, didn't you? And between players stealing power ups from each other, bumping players into enemies, and so on, many players will spend more time trolling each other than making any actual progression.
  • Grimy Water: In the forest levels, there are large expanses of purple-coloured water (presumably a nod to World 4 from the game's predecessor). Much like lava, touching this purple-colored water spells instant death.
  • Ground Pound: An ability brought back from the first New game, and is useful to break blocks from above (though it doesn't work if the character is small).
  • Guide Dang It!: In order to unlock the world 9 levels, one must find all three Star Coins in every level in an earlier world. These coins can be very hard to find or acquire without help. Most of them do have subtle hints that mark them out from the rest of the level, but how to get them is another trick entirely.
  • Hailfire Peaks: World 9-7 is a bizarre mix of jungle and snow themes, combining the lush plant life of World 5 with the icy ground and snowfall of World 3. For an extra element of weirdness, there are dozens of fire-breathing enemies throughout the level.
  • Hard Levels, Easy Bosses: Getting to the boss of a tower/castle/whatever is generally most of the challenge. The rest is usually dealing with Kamek's Geo Effects.
  • Hat of Flight: The Propeller Suit has a helmet with a propeller on it, and serves as the game's signature flight powerup. Instead of a prolonged diagonal flight like the Racoon Leaf (Super Mario Bros. 3) or the Cape Feather (Super Mario World), or a long jump with slow descent like the Carrot (Super Mario Land 2), it focuses on a rapid elevation in the air to reach high spots or grab items that wouldn't be accessible otherwise.
  • Healing Checkpoint: If Mario is in his small form when reaching the checkpoint, he will automatically change into Super Mario.
  • The Heavy: Even though Bowser is the game's Big Bad and Final Boss, he's only seen at the very end of the main game in his castle. That being said, Bowser Jr. and Kamek are the game's most active threats, the former of which leads the chase for the princess (and is fought in his airship thrice), while the latter appears in every castle level (as well as his own tower level in World 8) to make the boss battle much tougher.
  • Homing Projectile: Ludwig Van Koopa can shoot homing fireballs (thankfully much slower than regular fireballs). The game also introduces the Bull's-Eye Banzai, a variant of the Bullet Bill that chases Mario and his friends like Bull's-Eye Bills do.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Kamek takes himself out by casting his magic on Bowser, as the hugely-enlarged King Koopa knocks him out of the air while rising up from the lava.
  • I Was Told There Would Be Cake: Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings hide in a birthday cake to nab Peach.
  • An Ice Person: The Ice Flower returns from Super Mario Galaxy. Although it's less "turns you into ice", and more "Fire Mario, but throws Ice instead of Fire". Penguin Mario can do the same thing, but he can also slide (and has normal traction on ice).
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: The Mini Mushroom, vital for reaching some secret areas, makes its return from New Super Mario Bros..
  • Infinite 1-Ups: A whole slew of ways to collect them, as shown in the Infinite 1-Up Hint Movies. The "World 2-3 Infinite 1-Ups" hint movie even shows Mario doing it to gain 30 lives.
  • Instant Runes: The Magikoopa's signature geometric shapes act as a giveaway to what stage feature they're enchanting.
  • Inventional Wisdom: Bowser's castle has two floors which fold in when a button's pushed. One of them is apparently designed to trap 50-foot tall Koopa Kings in a ton of lava, the other he decides to ignore. Even when it's right behind him. And you're on said floor.
  • Invincibility Power-Up: The Super Star, which not only grants invincibility, but also makes the characters run faster and amplify the visibility in dark levels.
  • Invisible Block: Some hidden ? Blocks exist in various courses in the game, which don't exist until the player hits the location where they're hidden.
  • It's All Upstairs From Here: All of the tower/fortress levels are upward-scrolling, with the player climbing up numerous platforms to reach the Boss at the top of the castle. Most of them also provide no means to go back down short of respawning, so good luck if you missed anything on the way up.
  • Jumping Out of a Cake: The Koopalings and Bowser Jr all jump out of a giant cake they used to get into the castle, before throwing it on top of Peach to kidnap her.
  • Jungle Japes: World 5, which also has elements of The Lost Woods. Features include toxic water, Wigglers, vines that can be used for swinging, and a new enemy called Bramball (which looks like a hybrid between a Pokey head and bramble branches).
  • Kaizo Trap:
    • The last fight against Ludwig is on shifting, slanting platforms over a bottomless pit. If you aren't careful, you'll fall off the stage after beating the boss.
    • It's possible to get crushed after delivering the last hit to Morton in his second battle, especially since it's easier to hit him just as he lands.
    • Roy Koopa's first battle averts it, as if you fall off the edge of the battle platform once you've beaten him, the quicksand will not kill you immediately, allowing you to jump free before you sink.
  • Kill It with Fire: The Fire Flower, unchanged from Super Mario Bros., grants the ability to fire fireballs at Mario's enemies.
  • Kill It with Ice: Inversely, the Ice Flower and the Penguin Suit grant players the ability to shoot ice from their hands to attack their enemies. However, there are some enemies that are resistant to ice balls which get easily taken out by fireballs instead, and vice versa.
  • Kung-Fu Sonic Boom: A Combination Attack Ground Pound produces one from every player.
  • Laughing Mad: Iggy Koopa laughs constantly and seems to be the most overtly unstable of the Koopalings. You can even hear his laughter from off-screen as you advance toward his bossfight in the Fortress/Castle levels of World 5.
  • Lava Pit: World 8's levels are riddled with pits and crevasses full of lava that will instakill the player if they fall into them. Justified, since it's set in a volcanic area.
  • Law of 100: Just like every other Mario game, 100 coins equal an extra life. In this version, all current players get this extra life and the coins are communally gathered.
  • Lead In: The intro is certainly this, as the birthday angle was never brought up again after the intro.
  • Lethal Lava Land: Most of the castles, and World 8. In addition to lava and copious sources of fire, the game introduces a cloud of volcanic smoke that becomes deadly upon contact, so the characters have to move constantly to avoid being caught by it.
  • Letting the Air out of the Band: Near the end of the game, when Kamek reveals himself after the Trick Boss battle against Bowser, the usual fanfare indicating that the mission is completed is gradually turned off, making clear that Mario and company haven't yet seen the last of Bowser. Also occurs during multiplayer, if all players put themselves in bubbles.
  • Level in the Clouds: World 7, which is set in the sky. In addition to classical staples like cloud platforms and flying enemies, the game introduces a dense mist that can be removed with the spin move (and doing so makes the location of Star Coins much easier).
  • Levels Take Flight: Two examples: One in World 5 involves Mario navigating across a flock of large flying manta rays going in his direction, and one in World 7 has Mario crossing a swarm of flying beetles smaller than the rays (but still very large for bugs) going in the opposite direction from him.
  • Literally Shattered Lives: Averted. Though you can freeze enemies in ice blocks and then shatter them, only the ice shatters - the enemy falls offscreen in the usual fashion.
  • Make My Monster Grow: As in Yoshi's Island, Kamek does this — once on a Chain Chomp during Iggy's rematch, and again on Bowser himself. It can also be said to happen to Lemmy's balls.
  • Memory Match Mini-Game: There's a Toad House minigame called Power-Up Panels, which offers a variation where flipped panels remain flipped, but there's still a memorization aspect in that depending on the world, the panel configuration is drawn from a common pool. You have a grid of panels where you can flip them over; match two of the same power-up and it goes in your inventory. If you match two Bowser or Bowser Jr panels, you lose the minigame.
  • Mercy Mode: Failing a level at least eight times lets you use the "Super Guide" feature, where a CPU Luigi runs through the level you're having trouble with. However, having the Super Guide appear on your save file removes the sparkles on your save file stars.
  • Mickey Mousing: Inverted. Some of the music is apparently so catchy that some enemies and even some power-ups and Yoshis (when players are not riding) will dance and sing along at certain cues.
  • Mini-Dungeon:
    • As usual, the mid-world Fortress levels must be defeated to advance past the middle of the map and reach the Castle where the world's boss awaits.
    • The World 4 and World 7 Ghost Houses also qualify - beating them is the only way to reach their respective worlds' Castle level ( unless you find the secret exit in the World 7 Ghost House, which opens an alternative route). The Ghost Houses in Worlds 3 and 5, by contrast, can be bypassed.
  • Musical Nod: The theme for World 9, Rainbow starts off as its own tune before it segues into Rainbow Road from Mario Kart 64.
  • Mythology Gag: As with the DS game, there is a homage to World 1-1 from the first Super Mario Bros. and a Bowser battle that can be defeated simply by breaking the bridge and dropping Bowser in the lava (or down a pit ala Super Mario Bros. 3), replacing the axe with a button.
  • Never Say "Die": The instruction manual refers only to "blunders" and "making mistakes" while still saying you "lose a life."
  • The New Adventures: The second title in the "New Super Mario Bros" series.
  • No Name Given: The two Toads, although the development team allegedly nicknamed them Ala-Gold and Bucken-Berry. And the fans called them Yvan and Wolley.
  • Nostalgia Level:
    • 1-1 starts off with that very familiar arrangement of blocks and a Goomba.
    • Coin Level 2 in the multiplayer Coin Battle mode is the original World 1-1, with a bunch of new coins and odd little toys.
    • Coin Level 1 starts off with an area based on the original Mario Bros arcade game.
  • Ominous Latin Chanting: The final boss theme doesn't feature this at first, but it does when you get to the lava portion.
  • Ominous Pipe Organ: The castle theme, the airship theme, and some of the boss themes all make heavy use of a pipe organ to emphasise the creepy nature of the level and the threat laying in wait at the end.
  • Opening Narration: "Today is Princess Peach's birthday!"
  • Painful Pointy Pufferfish: The Porcupuffer returns from Super Mario World, and just like in that game, it cannot be jumped on because of the dreadful spikes on its back.
  • Palmtree Panic: World 4, in which Mario and company have to explore levels set in small tropical islands. Huckit Crabs (crabs that look like the Sidesteppers from Mario Bros., but throw rocks like Clawgrip from Super Mario Bros. 2) debut here.
  • Permanently Missable Content: The sparkling save file stars, if you ever make the Super Guide box appear on any level at any time, and then you save the game afterwards.
  • Plant Mooks: The Bramball is a sentient plant with a Pokey-like head and arc-shaped thorny legs and paws similar to suction cups. It moves around by carefully bowing the hind-placed leg forward, always make sure to step onto a ground that is at the same level as that where the enemy itself is standing. It makes a return in New Super Mario Bros. U.
  • Polar Penguins: This game introduces the Penguin Suit, a power-up based on penguins which gives the characters the ability to throw ice balls and freeze their opponents, as well as improving their ability to walk on ice.
  • Power-Up Mount: Yoshi, who can be mounted and ridden for the duration of the levels where he's found, eating enemies and taking the character into hard-to-reach places with his flutter jump in the process. Unlike in Super Mario World, however, players can't simply take Yoshi to other levels.
  • Press X to Die: In multiplayer, you can press A to enter a bubble, just like the one you end up in after dying in the level. Guess what happens if you press A while all the other players are in bubbles? However, no lives are lost directly — every player just gets thrown into small form and kicked out of the level.
  • Recurring Boss: Bowser Jr. in the latest model Clown Copter. Each Koopaling is also fought twice, with a different attack pattern.
  • Recurring Boss Template: When facing any of the Koopalings in the tower stages halfway through each world, every battle is a relatively straightforward affair of dodging their wand attack and then delivering a Goomba Stomp to the head (much like they were in Super Mario Bros. 3, for that matter). This is not the case when facing them again, in their castles at the end of each world.
  • Remilitarized Zone: Airships appear as a level a few times where you must battle Bowser Jr. Unlike in Super Mario Bros. 3, the first two airship levels appear after the boss levels were completed (the third and last one serves as the penultimate level of World 8, only followed by Bowser's Castle).
  • Remixed Level: A few of the exclusive Coin Battle courses are remixed levels from Super Mario Bros. updated for the Co-Op Multiplayer.
  • Ring-Out Boss: Inverted. Lemmy is incapable of actually harming you (unless you jump into his body like a moron), and instead tries to knock you into one of the bottomless pits on either side of the arena with his bouncy rubber balls. Bowser Jr. plays this trope straight during his second fight, which plays à la bumper cars.
  • Rise to the Challenge: World 8-6, in which lava will rise and so must the characters as they climb with the platforms to avoid being caught. Interestingly, this was exactly the same concept used in World 8-6 of the game's predecessor.
  • Rubber-Band A.I.: The volcanic smog in World 8-1. It is impossible to lose sight of it, no matter how fast one goes through the level.
  • Save the Princess: Well, it wouldn't be Mario otherwise.
  • Schmuck Bait: Yes, don't mind the cake with 6 different hair styles, a bow, and sunglasses on it....
  • Secret Level:
    • World 9 is hidden from the player until they defeat Bowser, and even then, they still need to find all the Star Coins in the previous eight worlds to unlock its levels.
    • In Worlds 4 and 6, there are only eight levels displayed in the Star Coin menu initially, but when you clear the castle of those worlds, a ninth level is suddenly revealed. Likewise, only nine levels are depicted in World 8's Star Menu until you clear the Airship level and a tenth level is revealed with much fanfare. World 7-6 and 8-7 are zig-zagged examples in that they're already on the Star Coin menu to begin with, but they are obscured on the map until you find the secret exits in World 7-Tower and 8-2 respectively.
    • The cannon levels are a zig-zagged example: while they aren't exactly secret due to appearing on the World Map, they're impossible to access without finding a well-hidden secret exit in a preceding level.
  • Shifting Sand Land: World 2, complete with fast-blowing sandstorms, a sea of quicksand, sand geysers, and a Egyptian pyramid-like structure on the world map.
  • Ship Level: The airship stages all take place on Bowser Jr.'s Airship.
  • Skippable Boss: Although all bosses except Iggy and Bowser Jr. can be skipped before Bowser via the Warp Cannons, the first battles with Wendy O. Koopa and Ludwig von Koopa can even be skipped within their residing levels. It turns out there's a secret exit to each of the relevant levels, the former leading to a cannon to World 6. The latter leads to a secret level that leads to a backdoor into Ludwig's castle, skipping most of the level and depositing you right at the door to the second fight with him, inverting the trope.
  • Slippy-Slidey Ice World: World 3, which is set in a snowy, frozen land of hills and glaciers. Features include ice ball-slinging Ice Bros, penguin-like Cooligans, and long plains of ice which you can slide around on to build up speed and jump large gaps. This world also introduces the Penguin Suit.
  • Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: More accurately Smashing Tower Trap of Doom. 6-Tower (Morton's) has some incredibly Freudian spiked pillars that repeatedly jam into each other. (Previous levels have similar large black spiked... protuberances, too.)
  • Smash to Black: Happens in The Stinger. Before Bowser's Castle colapses on top of Bowser, Jr., and the Koopalings. Doesn't stop you from hearing the castle land on top of Bowser.
  • Snowy Sleigh Bells: The map theme from World 3 uses extremely prominent sleigh bells. Also, the ground theme in icy levels is almost the same than the regular ground theme with added sleigh bells.
  • Socialization Bonus: If all but one player die, they can be resurrected by the one still standing. Makes beating some levels MUCH easier, and maybe even necessary.
  • Spin Attack: Spinning in the air gives you a tiny little bit more airtime (unless you have the propeller or are holding a propeller block/someone who does have the propeller, in which case you'll get a LOT more airtime and altitude.)
  • Spread Shot: Ludwig uses an Initial Burst in the second fight against him, with up to four fireballs (this contrasts his tactic in the first fight, where he shoots single-but-homing fireballs).
  • Stalactite Spite: Lots of icicles in the third world. In one level, the entire ceiling is full of them.
  • Statuesque Stunner: Peach is significantly taller than even Super Luigi.
  • The Stinger: The Koopalings helping Bowser up from his shell... And getting their castle dropped on them.
  • Super Not-Drowning Skills: A Mario Bros. staple. All of the characters can spend entire levels underwater without ever needing to come up for a breath or otherwise replenish their air. This is at its most obvious during World 4, where most of the levels are completely Under the Sea.
  • Super Title 64 Advance: Obviously.
  • Suspend Save: You can only truly save at fortresses and castles, but you can make a quick save at any time on the map if you need to quit.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The multiplayer was developed to allow for players to stand between this and Enemy Mine.
  • Title Scream: The Wii Disc channel banner sound. NEW SUPER MARIO BROTHERS WII-HEEEEE!!!
  • Those Two Guys: The two playable Toads introduced for the Co-Op Multiplayer: Blue Toad and Yellow Toad, who don't even have names.
  • Throw a Barrel at It: Some barrels appear in some courses here and work almost the same way as in Donkey Kong Country, being able to be pick up and thrown.
  • Trick Boss: The final boss. Bowser starts the battle like he did in the castle levels of the original Super Mario Bros. as well as in the first and eight worlds of the first New Super Mario Bros. But once he appears to be defeated, Kamek enlarges him, and the real battle starts.
  • Trojan Horse: Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings sneak inside Princess Peach's Castle by delivering themselves in a giant cake. When the birthday celebration reaches its peak, the cake breaks and reveals Bowser's minions, with them proceeding to kidnap the princess.
  • Turns Red: Iggy's Chain Chomp, after the former is hit twice. Its rage turns it orange and starts ramming at Mario and company more fiercely.
  • A Twinkle in the Sky: When using a warp cannon, it shoots the character(s) to the far reaches of the unlocked world this way.
  • Under the Sea: As usual, a lot of levels (particularly in world 4) take place partly or completely underwater. This being a 2D Mario game, Super Not-Drowning Skills are the norm.
  • Underwater Boss Battle: The second fight with Wendy, as it starts with the battlefield completely flooded, though water eventually lowers its level.
  • Unexpected Gameplay Change: The second Bowser Jr. battle has you flying around in little Koopa Clown Cars, trying to shove each other into electric walls.
  • Uniqueness Rule: Downplayed. The game has four playable characters. If you play the multiplayer mode, each player must select a different one. However, the only non-cosmetic difference is that each character has their own stock of Video-Game Lives, which is saved between sessions.
  • Unnaturally Looping Location: Roy installs this into his castle, forcing players into what can be seen as a high-definition version of the later levels of Super Mario Bros.. A high-pitched chime plays when Mario picks the correct path (high D followed by high Bb in rapid succession), and if his choice is incorrect, a lower-pitched (Low F#) chime plays.
  • The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: You know it when you get there... the game even goes one step further and has the final boss confrontation take place in the catacombs under the castle.
  • Victory Fakeout: After defeating Bowser, calm music begins to play as if the game has ended. Then, "Peach" turns around and reveals "herself" to be Kamek, who promptly uses his magic to make Bowser go full-on Attack Of The Fifty Food Whatever.
  • Video Game Caring Potential: You can save trapped Toads and carry them to safety. Doing so nets you either a 1-Up or three One Ups (depending on whether the Toad was hurt or not), as well as causing an extra Mushroom House to appear nearby.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can pick up Toads and throw them into lava, slime, or pits. Guess which one you're more likely to see?
  • Villain: Exit, Stage Left: There is a sequence after every castle where the character(s) run(s) up to Bowser Jr., who has the airship behind him, complete with Princess Peach on deck. Bowser Jr. taunts you and boards the airship, and you can do nothing but watch it fly away, except in Worlds 4 and 6, wherein Bowser Jr. gets left behind and your character(s) chase(s) him back into the airship.
  • Visual Pun: Most levels in the first world have rolling hills, and a couple of levels take it literally.
  • Walk on Water: Mini characters can run on the water's surface, as in New Super Mario Bros.. Apparently, the Mushroom Kingdom laughs at conservation of mass. But then again, it is magic.
  • Warm-Up Boss: Larry's painfully easy, even by Mario standards. His attacks are pretty easy to avoid and his gimmicks (rolling back and forth across the stage while platforms shift up and down) can easily work against him during the World 1 Fortress, as he can become trapped between two of the moving pillars and then beaten on until he's finished.
  • Warp Zone: The Cannon levels function like this; using one will teleport you to another World, skipping over any you haven't completed or unlocked yet. Each one only goes to one specific world, however.
  • You All Look Familiar: The NPC and playable Toads share the same character model, differentiated by their recolored spots. This also applies to the Toads you can rescue during levels and Enemy Courses, which reuse the basic red-spotted Toad model.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Bowser Jr. invokes this with his Clown Copter (which may or may not be sentient). He kicks it off the screen when choosing between his original, which is badly beaten and sad looking, and his dad's, which is in better shape and larger.

Alternative Title(s): New Super Mario Brothers Wii

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NSBW W4-Airship

The airship has multiple rotating fire-spewing jets.

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