Nintendo rounded out their 3DS presentation at this year’s E3 talking about New Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo loosely touched upon the title yesterday at their official presentation, but gave us a bit more information on what we can expect come August 19th.
NSMB2 will be the first time Nintendo launches a title in both traditional retail and digital formats simultaneously, and this seems to be paving the way for a new business model in the upcoming months. What makes it puzzling is that something of this magnitude hasn’t had much in the way of support from the Nintendo camp. We did get some details on what to expect tonight though, and it does seem promising.
Gold is going to be in the your main concern this time around. Expect brand new ways to load down your purse, including several new items. The Golden Fire Flower was given special attention during the presentation where Mario will be able to shoot out giant fireballs turning enemies and bricks into gold coins. Essentially, think King Midas if he was a pyromaniac.
Mario will also be able to turn enemies into gold which causes them to leave behind a few extra goodies. For example, a golden Piranha Plant will force the pipe to shower out the cash when they die, and a Koopa Troopa will leave a trail of coins if you kick its shell. Not only will this lead to a plethora of extra lives, but the game will be keeping track of every coin you collect, although there’s no word as to why.
It wouldn’t be a Nintendo game without a social aspect, and Nintendo seems to be capitalizing on what the 3DS can offer. The entire game can be played co-op with a buddy, although the screen will be locked to whichever brother is in the lead. While this would be enough for me, Nintendo has also included a competitive mode called Coin Rush. In Coin Rush, three random levels will be presented and you’ll have to speed run your way through while collecting as many coins as possible.
After you’ve finished, your score will be presented on street pass for your buddies to gasp in wonder of your awesome skills and persuade them to try to best you. The levels will play out mostly the same as they do in story mode, but there are a few changes to ramp up the excitement. The 1Up Mushrooms will be replaced with 50 coin pieces and you’ll be rewarded with extra coins based on how quickly you scaled the level.
As a rule, the less coverage a game gets up until its release the more skeptical I insist people are, however, with Nintendo’s track record I’m willing to suspend my cynicism for now. New Super Mario Bros. 2 will be here in just a few short weeks, you can look for our review then to see what we think about it. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.