My son and I beat New Super Mario Brothers Wii, and I have to say that I am glad that it is over. It’s strange because this is the exact opposite of how I felt about Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2. In the Galaxy games, I found the experience to be enjoyable, especially when we played together. One of us would play through the level, while the other helped out by guiding the little star around and getting coins and star bits.
In New Super Mario Brothers Wii, we weren’t helping each other. In fact, we were outright inhibiting each other. I don’t remember ever playing a two player-cooperative game where the game was made more difficult by the presence of the second player. I can’t tell you the number of times when one of us would accidentally get both power-ups, or wound knock the other down a pit by accidentally bouncing of his head, and so on. The game was ruining the pleasure of game time with my son, and I didn’ t enjoy that at all.
If you recall, when Super Mario Galaxy 2 was complete, I mourned the end of the game. With Super Mario Brothers Wii, I’m filled with nothing but relief.