In his latest movie, The Woman In Black, Dan traded his Hogwarts uniform for a totally new role as a Dad.
Natalia brings you the latest news on Adele’s interview with Anderson Cooper, Kristen Bell’s interview on Ellen is auto tuned, Ladyhawke’s latest music video and much more!
Natalia discusses what’s new with Pharrell Williams and her thoughts on Karl Lagerfeld’s mean comments towards Adele’s weight. She also shows a roster of animals behaving like humans and, wait until you see the new size of coffee available at Starbucks!
Natalia dishes the latest news on the Juno Awards nominees, the upcoming Spiderman 3D film starring Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield and is Katy Perry hooking up with Tim Tebow? Watch today’s episode to find out.
When The Kooks are in the studio they’re focused and most importantly, sober. Watch Hugh and Luke explain their reasoning below.
The Kooks released a new album called “Junk of the Heart,” and you would think Hugh and Luke would be very excited about it. Well, they seemed rather indifferent to be honest. We spoke about that and why they don’t care about critics.
Natalia dishes the latest in entertainment news on Joan Rivers, Lana Del Rey and a brand new trailer for the movie Hunger Games.
Natalia talks about how Snooki might be pregnant, Nicolas Cage’s Cage Rage, Elisabetta Canalis is dating Steve-O and more for Feb 1, 2012.
Natalia dishes the news on Miley Cyrus breaking her tailbone, a 100 year old woman who plays the Nintendo DS to stay young and Houston, Texas contemplating a statute of Beyonce.
David Beckham debuts a new line of underwear, the worst dressed celebrity – Shy’m and Matthew Broderick is back as Ferris Bueller with a brand new commercial airing during the Super Bowl on Feb 5th 2012.
Daniel Radcliffe is back with his new movie The Woman In Black. It’s a bone chilling remake of a film from the ’80s. Ironically, Daniel actually scares very easily but he’s not afraid of ghosts. In this interview he tells us what really gives him the creeps.
Next time you’re struggling to make conversation, try asking this question: “If you could invite anyone (living or dead) to the perfect house party, who would it be?”
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Nick plays World of Warcraft. Not only that, he’s the head of his guild, demonstrating that it IS possible to juggle being a hardcore gamer with being a top-selling recording artist.
During a LIVE interview on andPOP.com Nick Carter gave out a number and took phone calls from his fans. These were real phone calls from real fans who we gave exclusive access to one of the biggest recording artists of our generation.
There were great questions about music, fitness, the backstreet boys but the most popular question, however, was about his underwear. In this clip Nick talks about his his ‘Haynes’ and covering his fans with glow in the dark paint.
When releasing new music today, half the battle is online promotion. However, contests, signed merch and giveaways aren’t always the best solutions. When working on their latest album, Hedley came up with a brilliant idea, they decided to make trailers.
It’s hard to prepare for an interview with Hedley. So in this interview, we threw caution to the wind, got a 24 of beer and broadcast the interview live on our USTREAM (andPOP.tv). Eventually Jacob, Dave and @jordans_life ended up talking about hairy legs, their newest music video and more.
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Would you be embarrassed if someone scrolled through your iPod? We sit down with Spee and Brendan to talk about the diverse music on their playlist.
Red box means you will buy it the second you see it
Return of the king
I was very skeptical about the New Super Mario Bros. Wii. For starters it seemed like the DS game was ported over to the Wii and given a slight visual upgrade. Also when compared to its 3D counterpart (Mario Galaxy) the title seemed very “last gen” to say the least. So I questioned how a decade old game with a new paint job would ever keep my attention.
Oh boy was I in for a surprise.
Super Mario Bros. Wii is unlike anything out there. Sure the same old story of Princess Peach being kidnapped by Bowser and his Koopa Kids is far from original, but the gameplay is classic Mario at its best. Granted it’s a reinvention, but does it pack enough variety and value to merit your hard earned cash?
Gameplay
The gameplay is platforming at its purest. Which means you have to navigate 8 large worlds with ten stages each (more than 80 levels) to reach the grand finale. Each world has its own unique theme to add to the variety- my personal favourite being the tropics. You navigate each level by jumping, bouncing, sliding, and butt stomping your way to the end before the timer runs out. Along the way expect to run into various enemies that you can stomp on and create point combos. You have your classic assortment of power ups like the Red Mushroom, Fire Flower, Star and a couple of new ones like the Ice Flower, Propeller Cap, Tiny Mushroom and the Penguin Suit. The Tiny Mushroom (as seen in the DS release) allows Mario to become micro and run on water and leap great distances. The Propeller Cap allows insane leaps and momentary flight/ glide abilities as well as a drill attack from the air. Finally the Penguin Suit is much like the Ice Flower and allows you to freeze enemies with ice shots, but also adds more stability to Mario snowy surfaces and allows him to slide at high speeds on land and water.
These new power ups play nicely to the variety of levels and will ensure you have a blast finishing each world. Controls are simple and have you holding the Wiimote sideways while using the D-pad to move. Jumping is relegated to the 2 button and 1 is the action button used for fireballs and holding down for running. You can grab shells and other players by holding 1 and shaking the Wii mote and some areas even have you tilting the Wii mote to slide and move objects. Don’t worry about the waggle part since its plays out naturally and never breaks the flow. In fact lightly shaking the Wii mote becomes second nature as you pick up shells toss em in mid air or jump up and do an extended air spin. You can play with the Nunchuck connected, but you are better off playing it classic style – trust me.
Momments later Mario landed with an atomic explosion
To keep up the variety in the game play department each progression is marked by harder platforming sections and levels that defy the traditional convention. A good example is a level where you navigate the skies on flying manta rays or the level where you are thrust into the world that is pitch black save for the 3 steps in front and behind you. There are some truly insane levels here that will leave you smiling- I will not spoil them for you. And then there’s a few toad carrying challenges in every world that are only available when you play by yourself. We could have used a lot more of these missions as they are some of the most challenging ones. Good incentive to play the game alone once in a while. You will also never be away from collecting power ups to use before levels. The game lets you hold on to bonus round items in an inventory screen accessible only during level selection. With the many toad huts across each world be sure to collect you power ups and 1 Up Mushrooms.
By now there is no surprise that you have the ability to have 4 players play along. I’m honestly glad this functionality is kept as simple as drop in and out. The second player becomes Luigi while the third and fourth players are yellow and blue Toadstools. It is a shame they did not utilize other characters from the rich Mario universe to be a part of this game. Having two different Toadstools be the other characters feels rather cheap, but that’s just a minor gripe. It’s not like they function any different- in fact all characters jump and perform the exact same manner. Having 3 of your friends play along comes highly recommended. It is tremendously fun and actually makes the main quest richer and far more entertaining. If you have played Little Big Planet you will be at home here; after all the game was inspired by Mushroom Kingdoms platform action – though the platforming is much better and controls much tighter. There are a couple of new mechanics that open up when you play with friends. One of these is the ability to grab and throw your team mates which can be very useful for scaling high unreachable secret areas as well as being an annoying, destructive tactic. The other mechanic is the bubble – which is designed to help you from falling behind. Simply at any time you can enter a bubble that will leave you immobile until someone can pop it. We found some truly awesome ways to use this mechanic by tossing our friend over the edge to get that impossible to reach Star Coin- only to have him activate the bubble just before he dies thus keeping him in the alive. I believe the developers intended for such uses with novice players to keep up with the advance ones.
In the middle east we hunted piranha plants instead of foxes..
Now a feature that has gained some controversy is the ability to have an auto guide finish the level for you. This happens when you die 8 times in a row in a particular level and from what I gather only in single player. A green block pops up and Luigi then finishes the level for you. I’ll say it is a nice feature for those poor souls who have never played a Mario game. During any point of the run you can resume play and tell Luigi to beat it. This Super Guide feature is nice for the new gamer, but I doubt any of you will run into it. I had to die purposely to see it in action.
Finally you can use your hard earned star coins to watch videos of Nintendo pros doing speed runs and skill runs. These are remarkable videos that will leave you in awe. It is a shame the game has no ability to record videos of your play sessions that could be shared with friends online. I mean Smash Bros. Brawl did it so why can’t this game?
I create ice so you can tread on water
Graphics
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is not going to win any awards for its graphics. The game uses 3D characters and puts them on a 2D plane. The animation is solid for each character and the design aesthetic works wonderfully. There are nice subtle effects like volumetric clouds and sand storms but for the most part the game retains the simple feel of the classics. It is not the most gorgeous Wii game, but frankly I wish it was. Go ahead and boot up Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and marvel at how they handled 3D elements presented on a 2D plane. The graphics can definitely be a lot better, that being said the game looks much sharper and cleaner than its DS cousin (obviously) and has some truly scenic moments. Very few 2D elements are present in the game and for the most part these are background elements. Aside from the small gripes the over all package is a nice surprise because of the sheer number of locations this game visits.
Mario grabs on and recreates a scene from Die Hard
The game is pretty, but is not all that it can or should be.
Sound
No complaints here since all the classic sound effects and music are presented in such clarity. Something about hearing the warp pipe or collecting coins makes me smile. All the nostalgia you will feel is because of the brilliant sound design. The level music is whimsical and very appropriate – even changing with each new world and infectious enough to be stuck in your head. Rounding the list there is an audience clapping sound effect that plays out when you collect all 3 Star Coins or manage to pull off an impossible feat, I found its inclusion refreshing and most appropriate.
Replay
Now here is where I look over the multiplayer options. The game allows you to select Free Play and Coin Battle. Free play allows you to play with your friends from a select list of levels in the game. In the end, Free Play boils down to just fooling around in some of the games most chaotic levels while trying to get the most points and lives. Coin Battle on the other hand tasks you to collect more coins than your friends in each level. This mode is the more competitive of the two and often yielded the most hilarious moments between me and my friends. Trying to grab a hold of your opponent and tossing them into the abyss while collecting their loot was as hilarious as it was fun.
But I found one multiplayer game on the DS missing in the Wii game. It was a game of collecting Stars on a looped level. This multiplayer mode was insane on the DS and it is a shame they didn’t include it here. But lets be fair the game is all about playing the main story mode with four of your friends. Sure there are added challenges if you go it alone but nothing beats playing with your friends.
Having no online hurts but when you begin to realize the game is about having your friends over and just having a good time you understand why online play just wouldn’t be the same. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t have used some decent leader boards and other share functionality. Even an online only multiplayer mode could have been a great addition.
In the end you have 80 plus levels with tons of hidden passages and Star coins – ensuring multiple replays for the hardcore.
Tilt the Wii mote to move the light
Verdict
I have always found something very unique about how platforming is executed in Mario games. You would think that jumping on to a platform is a simple animation, but there is something about the dynamics of this action that is perfectly created here. It is the best platform game out there, a true masterpiece of 2D gameplay. I feel sorry for gamers who did not grow up with a Mario game, for them this is a chance to understand why this little plumber is king of the platform.
New Super Mario Bro. Wii is the definitive title to own this season. The game packs enough nostalgic elements to keep the fans happy while throwing in some new power ups and refined gameplay mechanics to create a very satisfying experience. The game plays it very safe by not doing some of the advance functionality we take for granted. I just would have loved the ability to record my speed runs with friends or some online functionality. Throw me a simple level designer and I would have been floored.
But in the end it is all about the gameplay and in that case this title has it in spades.
A must buy for every Wii owner. Go play this with your friends!
Gameplay 5/5
Graphics 3.5/5
Sound 5/5
Replay 5/5
