For thousands of gamers across the globe, New Super Mario Bros. Wii will seem like a revelation, the missing link that conjures up a plethora of happy memories from their youth. Nintendo, instead of crafting yet another 3-D adventure, went back to the plumber's 2-D roots, challenging players to side scroll their way through a Mushroom Kingdom full of man-eating piranha plants, slow-moving but deadly goombas and sunglass wearing penguins that slip and slide across sheets of ice. It's essentially what New Super Mario Bros. on DS should have been, a significantly more challenging and deeper adventure that serves as a reunion of sorts with old enemies and one of the most difficult games in the storied franchise. A welcome addition to the series? Most definitely. The best thing since Super Mario Bros. 3? Not quite.

A new four-player mode lets gamers work together or sabotage each other.

As expected, the beautiful but woefully unprotected Princess Peach falls into Bowser's clutches, prompting Mario to risk his life to save her. This involves exploring a series of imaginative worlds filled with danger and plenty of goodies. While most of the levels contained therein follow a familiar pattern from previous Mario adventures (destroy bricks with head, collect mushroom, jump on enemies), they also include new wrinkles. Mario makes use of different suits, including an Ice Flower that allows him to temporarily freeze enemies, a Propeller Suit that lets him float high into the air and a Penguin Suit that grants him slip sliding abilities. In addition, the game comes loaded with secrets, from hidden rooms to coins left in high places. You receive over 400 seconds to explore each level and you'll use them, simply because there's a lot to take in.

It also helps that most of these levels were cleverly designed and feature things we've never experienced in a Mario game. One particular World 2 level has a sandstorm that kicks into high gear every few seconds, slowly pushing characters to the right of the screen. The obvious solution is to explore like mad in between gusts, and yet we couldn't resist the temptation to jump and collect the scores of gold coins that come with that sand storm. It's an interesting risk versus reward. Jump at the wrong time (consumed by greed, obviously), and that storm will push Mario into a bottomless pit. The lesson? It's OK to be money-grubbing and cautious.

Other levels force you to carefully jump between humongous gears (gears turning in lava, of course), skillfully jump on slippery pieces of ice (thank god for the wall jump) and leap across multiple chain link fences while an off screen Koopaling (they're baaaack) fires energy blasts in your direction, but that's another good thing about this game. Whenever you ask "how could it get more difficult", the developers throw a new and at times punishing element to the mix. Lakitu shows up on his cloud, tossing Spinies onto the playfield, or Kamek flies into view aboard his magic broom to add a new level of challenge to a boss fight.

This was Nintendo's goal, to design one of (perhaps the) most difficult Super Mario Bros. game(s). If all you want to do is quickly breeze through the worlds, you'll probably make it to World 3 without dying with over 20 lives in tow. But if you intend on finding each secret and nabbing all of the Star Coins hidden within each level, you're in for a world of mental anguish. Not only does Nintendo deposit most of these coins within plain sight, but it also put most of them in the toughest places, requiring you to dodge enemies and make ridiculous looking jumps. Even if you succeed in nabbing the coin, you still need to work your way back through the same hazards. It also doesn't help that, like most Mario adventures, New Super Mario Bros. Wii looks deceptively cute. Don't fall under the enemies' spell. They occasionally dance to the game's incredible soundtrack (that opening World 1-1 theme is without question one of the top five Mario songs in history), but they have only one goal: kill the plumber.

Although it covers a lot of familiar territory, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a delightful mix of old and new.

Fortunately, the game's developers don't leave you to waste away. Die enough times in a single level and a green block will appear. Hitting it activates the Super Guide, a helpful hint system that calls upon Luigi to show you a safer route. You don't need to use it (we suggest being stubborn and figuring things out on your own), but it's a nice option. In addition, you can unlock videos (created by the dev team) that show Mario pulling off stunts. Although that's a novel idea, Nintendo failed to include the ability to record your own performances and upload them online, a glaring omission.

These additions, however, are by no means the game's biggest new feature. New Super Mario Bros. Wii comes with four-person multiplayer, where everyone (either controlling Mario, Luigi or two Toads) enjoys the levels as a group. Hilarity ensues, as they help each other reach the goal, or hog all of the coins while tossing their comrades into pits. And since you need to be "tagged in" after dying (you float around in a bubble), your friends can ditch you; they'd be jerks to do so, of course.

Is multiplayer fun? Sure, but not for long. Kudos to Nintendo for revisiting multiplayer in a Mario game, but it feels tacked on, largely because you cannot post stats to an online leaderboard, or even go online and play with friends. (You'll need to invite them over. Who does that?) Bottom line, the publisher missed a huge opportunity to impress us. Instead, it's typical Nintendo philosophy. No leaderboard. No online play. The company insists that it's important, yet refuses to bother implementing these options into one of its biggest console games. Makes no sense.

On top of that, and as good as this game is, it never wowed us like Super Mario Galaxy. Not once were we in awe of a particular level or enemy. Nintendo definitely chose to play it safe by following the same recipe that put Mario on the map.

Don't get us wrong. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a wonderful video game, but its designers drew upon 24 years of familiarity to produce an experience that makes us smile one moment and shrug the next. World 2, for example, is a desert world, much like it is in Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3 and New Super Mario Bros. That's not bad, just a ho-hum reminder of Nintendo's hesitance to shake things up; if you disagree and bring up Super Mario Galaxy, point noted.

Criticism aside, New Super Mario Bros. Wii comes highly recommended for both Wii owners and gamers on the fence about purchasing the console. It serves as both a must play for the system and a beautiful homage to classic gaming. So slip into your Propeller Suit and sail into the Mushroom Kingdom. You'll enjoy the trip.