Snowy the Geek

Yesterday at E3, Nintendo announced during their press conference their new innovations for the year, as well as some more of the same ol’ Nintendo fun-ness.

First off, a sequel to the widely received Super Mario Galaxy.  New levels, abilities and a playable/rideable Yoshi.  It looks like Bowser is up to no good (again!) and it’s your job as Mario to stop him.  Many familiar locales, including snow, ice, water, air, with what looks to be underground and ghost house levels.  Old abilities making a comeback appear to be the bee suit, with Mario getting new abilities such as the drill/dig and Yoshi may even have opportunity to shine with multiple abilities.  The first installment was a blast but I wonder if the two-player gameplay is improved.

Even if Mario Galaxy 2 doesn’t have any better multiplayer options than the original, Nintendo also announced a “New” Super Mario Bros. for the Wii.  You may recall the “New” Super Mario Bros. for the DS released in 2006, with new levels, new powerups and new graphics.  The release for the Wii has all that and some more!  Mario can fly with the aid of a propeller cap (activated by shaking the wiimote) and he can freeze enemies while wearing his penguin outfit.  Classic powerups like the fireball remain.  The big improvement we see this time around is the multiplayer capability.  Up to 4 players can tackle a level simultaneously, either in competitive (scored by coin gathering) or cooperative.  Mario, Luigi and 2 flavors of Toad (Yellow and Blue) work together to storm past Goombas, KoopaTroopas, Piranha Plants and others.  Yoshi makes an appearence as well.  All in all, an exciting time for Mario Fans.

Oh, as a side note, Nintendo also announced the WiiFit Vitality Sensor, to monitor your pulse and stress levels while working out, as well as a new Metroid game from TeamNinja.

–SnowytheGeek