New Super Luigi U is a downloadable content expansion for New Super Mario Bros. U, where all of the original levels have been remixed into harder versions of themselves. While New Super Luigi U retains most of the original’s charms, like the story and 4-player cooperative play, it deviates itself by having less control over your player, which is what Luigi is notable for, to provide a more challenging experience. While difficulty has always been called lackluster in Mario, it mostly makes up for it in terms of its charm and level design. The challenge presented here, while greater, does not necessarily mean its’ for the better overall.
All levels in New Super Luigi sport 100 second time limit, in addition to the changed mechanics do provide a higher level of difficulty than in previous New Super Mario Bros. games. It makes most of the levels feel like they’re designed around a certain flow premise, where you’re focused to constantly move forward. They feel like levels from Donkey Kong Country Returns if you tried to speed run them and get all of the Star Coins in a single run. It’s very rewarding to accomplish everything in one go, especially when you master them. There are unfortunately a handful of levels that go against this premise, and are uniformly terrible. These levels generally feel mashed together in four or five different ways that cause frustration and anxiety beyond the point that they should. In one level, a simple Star Coin can become the bane of your existence while in another level it’s simply not designed for you to be doing what you’re doing, making it seemingly impossible to reach a stage’s end without being hit. It makes all of the good the rest of the game does feel worthless as some of the game’s toughest levels are in reality poorly executed death traps that reek of laziness.
Laziness is another thing that rears its’ ugly head in New Super Luigi U in multiple ways. The introduction is the exact same as the original, except Mario is missing from the scene and Nabbit follows you as your adventure begins. While it’s a minor complaint, the fact that none of the bosses are changed from the original is. For a game that remixes every level, the fact that the bosses are not changed at all is a deathblow to any hope that the experience within could be any better than the original.
Overall, New Super Luigi U, while worthy of the $20 price tag, is a disappointment. While some levels shine brilliantly, others are broken just as badly. Combined with some laziness, Luigi is once again relegated to a sideshow rather than the center stage.
Score: 7/10
+ Nice sense of flow in most stages
+ Good sense of challenge in most levels
- Some stages are abhorrent in quality
- Finding some secret levels is complete trial and error without a guide
- Re-used Boss Fights
