Multiplayer Mario — New Super Mario Bros Wii eGuide

Rejoice! You can now enjoy New Super Mario Bros. Wii with several friends and partake in wacky party-style game play! For the first time ever, Super Mario Bros. can be played with up to four people simultaneously. That means if you want to work as a team in Free-for-All, or fight against each other in Coin Battle, you can now grab four Wii Remotes, gather around the television, and bounce off each others’ heads until the Wii hours of the night! But first... here are some tips.

Free-for-All

The object of Free-for-All is just as it is in single-player mode—to reach the end of the level without dying. So while all of the same strategies you use in single player apply in this mode, you’ll have friends to help you along the way and extend game play even if you fail! So, while it may resemble competitive play, it’s really all about cooperation. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t play to suit your style. It is a party mode, after all.

Free-for-All Tactics

Staying Alive

As long as one person is alive in a level, teammates can come back from death. The only time that players cannot come back is if they’ve run out of lives. So if a level is particularly difficult to beat, players will always have a chance as long as one person stays safe long enough for the others to return in their bubbles.

Share the Wealth

Remember, this is a cooperative mode. So the more that you and your friends share power-ups, the better everyone will do. There’s no point in taking a power-up if you already have one and your teammate has none. You never know when you’ll need that teammate to be around so that you can come back to life! If your teammate is Mini Mario or regular Mario, one hit will do them in, thereby lessening the chances of them being around later when you might need them. So, share!

Lean on Me

Sometimes, you might not have a better chance of hitting a switch or reaching a difficult area alone. In those cases, count on your teammates to help you out. You can pick each other up, so try hoisting a fellow player over your head and tossing them where they need to go. The same goes for bouncing off each others’ heads. This is usually a perfect way to reach high areas!

Caution

Just be careful not to “accidentally” hurl your friend over a cliff or into an enemy!

Ground-Pound Mayhem

You’re all after the same goal: to beat the level. So if you have to work together to defeat enemies, all the better! The best way to do that is to execute a simultaneous Ground-Pound attack that shakes the entire screen! If you’re surrounded by several difficult enemies, do a Ground-Pound all at the same time and clear the screen!

Follow the Leader

There’s no shame in following along if you have a hard time getting past a certain section of a difficult level. If a less experienced player dies, don’t pop them out of their bubble. Instead, allow a more experienced player to progress through the level until you’ve all cleared the most difficult part. Once you have gotten past the dangerous part, free your friend so that they can rejoin the action.

General Tips

General Tips

In Toad Houses, you can take a friend’s turn to flip the icons by bouncing off their head! In the end, however, everyone shares the spoils.

If you have to leave a game in progress, leaving your friend to handle the rest of the level, you’ll have the same power-up when you return later!

You can get extra lives just as you would in single-player mode by collecting coins and 1-Ups! Keep this in mind when trying to keep everyone alive as long as possible.

Coin Battle

Unlike Free-for-All, Coin Battle is a competitive party mode. In it, the levels are laid out the same, except now there are hundreds of invisible coins to collect. As you all progress through the level, you’ll see hundreds of coin outlines indicating that a coin can be collected. To reveal the coin, someone must first pass through the coin outline. When the coin appears, grab it! Since this is a competitive mode, the way you play will be vastly different than Free-for-All. All of the same rules apply. For example, you can still pick up the other players, bounce off their heads, and grab power-ups, but the point is to come out on top, not to play nice.

Battle Strategies

Early Bird Gets the Coin

If one of you goes into a pipe, it forces the rest of the group to go in behind you. So it is extremely important always to be the first one down the pipe. By always pulling the rest of the group with you, you can ensure two things: One, you’ll be the first to grab the coins in the next area, and two, you’ll keep the others from collecting coins in the previous area since they’ll be forced to travel behind you, leaving uncollected coins behind.

Let Them Float

In Free-for-All mode, it was desirable to free your friends from their bubbles (unless you wanted to pull them past a difficult area). In Coin Battle mode, it’s best to leave them in their bubbles as long as possible. While they’re in their bubbles, they can’t collect coins!

Take It All

In Coin Battle, being the last person standing usually ensures that you’ll win. So the fewer power-ups that are left for your competitors and the fewer 1-Ups they collect, the better off you are. Grab any and all power-ups you can, even if you already have one. That includes Super Mushrooms, even if you’ve got something better already. As long as the competition is vulnerable, you stand a better chance of surviving longer!

Toss ’Em

This is competition, so the only time you should pick up a competitor is when you’re going to toss them to their death! Don’t throw them into coins or into secret areas. Instead, grab ’em, toss ’em, and get rid of ’em! If you see a tough enemy, a pit, or lava, feel free to give the competition an unfriendly “nudge” to get them out of your way.

Sometimes, Second is the Best

Earlier, you read that the early bird gets the coin. In some cases, however, it pays to let the others run ahead of you. When they do, they’ll pass by invisible coins and force the coins to appear. That’s when you run up behind them and collect the coins as soon as they become visible! Let your opponents do the dirty work while you reap the rewards!