Review: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

I didn't give this the attention it deserved on Wii U because I'd been burned out on NSMB, but time to dive back in, methinks

If it was £20 I'd probably dive straight in but considering I own it on WiiU i just can't find myself double dipping on this, even though I want to. It's the same with DK, Bayo and Pokken Tournament.

Yeah, for those that stuck by Nintendo and went in full with Wii U, I totally get that. Looking at how ridiculously well MK8 has sold on Switch, though, (and now Smash) methinks Nintendo did actually make the right call with the Wii U "remasters" route. I just wish Pikmin 3 and Wii Sports Club would make a return... 

I think I'm good with my Wii U versions. Pretty sure I got my Wii U version of NSMBU for something like £20 on GAME's UK website way back when, then I got New Super Luigi U for free from a Nintendo promo at some point. I'm set. 

I've never touched any of the 'New' series before, so it's a new series to me, essentially. 

I don't regret buying it, and I'm only about 2 hours in, but already I can see why they decided to drop this in January. For me it's not just that this is a port and re-packaged content, it's also about the series' aesthetic blandness, which I think Nintendo will want to change with the next 2D Mario. This deluxe package seems to be selling very well because people can always appreciate Nintendo's classic platformer level design and cleverness. However, in the future, for the next 2D Mario, I predict they'll go with a real refresh in that department. I am enjoying this very much on a mechanical level, but after the visual creativity of Odyssey, I'm finding this dull, and I feel like I'm playing the best hits of the New series (a last hurrah) - since they've stuck with this art style for so long.  

I suppose the fact Tropical Freeze on the Switch is a far more interesting port, illustrates my point that a new design style for 2D Mario, a different technique like hand-drawn stuff, or using some existing aesthetic like Paper Mario, would be far more interesting for whatever is next. 

Edit:

On the subject of creative Deluxe U levels, I did forget about:

I am still holding out on Super Mario Maker for the Switch but I really don't think it will happen. We can all dream though!

NSMB is so uninspired and dull. I have zero interest in these games. At best, they control well, but that's all the positives I can say about them and even then, I would say there's other platformer games that do that better than NSMB does.

I know they aren't the same series, but when you look at a game like Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze or Rayman Origins/Legends compared to NSMB U, the difference in the creativeness is outstanding and offer so much more appealing attributes.

There's nothing "New" about New Super Mario Bros. It's old in design, with a backwards save system, lives, pointless score counter. The visuals look clean, but are old and feel like they've been reused forever. The music all sounds the same. There's nothing appealing, nothing exciting, nothing to look forward too. Nothing that would make me want to keep playing. You know exactly what you're getting every time one of these games comes out.

I definitely have to agree,compared to Nintendo's high level of creativity it is so surprising that the NEW series is quite the opposite. The formula is quite a tired one these days. 

The Donkey Kong series is definitely one of the better platformers out there, I would double dip on Tropical Freeze if it wasn't £40!