New Super Mario Bros. U

New Super Mario Bros. U is the fourth game bearing the New Super Mario Bros. name, following New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. 2. It features Baby Yoshis with distinctive abilities, a Super Acorn power-up that gives you a "Flying Squirrel" form, and the ability to play the game as your Mii. There is also a "Boost mode" utilized by the Wii U GamePad that will create platforms and assist in multiplayer sessions. At random, a rabbit thief named Nabbit can show up in certain levels that require you to chase him down. Catch him, and the item that he stole is yours for the taking. And finally, there are (or as of 2017, there was) Miiverse integration, with various players' comments on levels or deaths coming up when appropriate.

While the plot isn't anything special (Bowser kidnapped Peach! Again! Go save her!), there's a twist to the usual formula: you're not chasing Bowser back to his castle in order to rescue Peach: he's taken over her castle, and had his personal Airship throw Mario and friends far off into the wilderness! And the large, interconnected map leading back to Peach's Castle, along with the presence of Baby Yoshis as well as the Super Acorn inheriting many of the Super Feather's abilities leads to an experience that feels like a Spiritual Successor to Super Mario World.

Much like New Super Mario Bros. 2, U would end up getting extensive DLC in the form of New Super Luigi U, a tribute to the green-clad plumber as part of 2013's "Year of Luigi" celebration. While the plot and world map are recycled from the main game, New Super Luigi U still differs in significant ways. For one, Luigi is the star of the show, and Mario is nowhere to be seen! Instead, Nabbit joins in on the adventure with his own unique mechanics (he's immune to damage from enemies and converts any powerups he grabs into extra lives) while the two playable Toads from the main game are also carried over. Secondly, New Super Luigi U has its own unique set of levels that are much tougher than those in the main game while being way shorter as well. Every character also has physics similar to Luigi's playable appearances in other Mario platformers, and jump higher while being somewhat slippery while grounded.

And finally, New Super Mario Bros. U would get ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2019 with a new character in tow: Toadette. While she plays closer to Mario, Luigi, and the Toads, she has her own unique quirks such as being a stronger swimmer than them, while also getting access to a unique powerup: The Super Crown. When she grabs one, she turns into a Peach lookalike named Peachette who plays a lot like the princess did in Super Mario Bros 2.


 * Adorable Evil Minions: Most of the Koopa Troop as usual, but even among them, the newly-added Waddlewings stand out. They're chubby, adorable flying squirrels who do somersaults in time to the "bahs" in the background music! Even when they put on their Game Face while flying, they look adorably grumpy instead of intimidating. Aww...
 * Ambiguous Situation: The Super Crown and its relationship with Toadette potentially sheds some interesting light on Princess Peach. Is she human like the Mario Bros, or is she too a transformed Toad(ette)?
 * And Your Reward Is Clothes: The Propeller and Penguin Suits from New Super Mario Bros. Wii are in the game... but you won't be seeing them until after you've beaten it, and are taking on the postgame. It seems that they're intended to be rewards for coming so far, but the Deluxe re-release would make them a lot more readily available well before the endgame.
 * Asteroids Monster: Carried over from Wii, there are big Goombas that split into smaller ones when stepped upon.
 * Balloon Belly: The magenta Baby Yoshis, who inflate their bellies in order to give the Mario Bros, Toads, and Nabbit a boost while jumping. It's an ability that might bring certain space-faring Yoshis to mind...
 * Bubble Gun: The blue Baby Yoshis act like this. All enemies trapped in their bubbles are transformed into coins, and you can jump on the bubbles themselves in order to get a boos.
 * Ceiling Cling: Iggy pulls this off by walking and even running on the ceiling, just like Morton and Roy did in Super Mario World.
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: The Baby Yoshis' have different colors that correspond with their abilities: Magenta Yoshis allow you to float, Blue Yoshis spew streams of deadly bubbles, and Gold Yoshis light up dark areas (and serve as a flashbang when activated near enemies).
 * Continuity Nod: Slanted pipes, slanted rocks, Munchers, Baby Yoshis, the style of the overworld, Spin jumping and the Flying Squirrel's moves...
 * There's also Magenta Baby Yoshi's abilities, and the Gold Baby Yoshi's abilities.
 * Co-Op Multiplayer: It works almost exactly like it's predecessor, though a fifth player can put down special platforms for players to take advantage of.
 * King Mook: Boss Sumo Bro, a special Sumo Bro that Kamek transforms with his magic. He's one of the Rock-Candy Mines' minibosses, and fights like a sturdier, tougher version of his brethren.
 * Light'Em Up: Like its adult counterpart, the Gold Baby Yoshis light up dark rooms.
 * Not Quite Flight: The Flying Squirrel power up acts like the Cape Powerup, and it can also cling to walls.
 * Powerup Mount: Yoshi is rideable again. Much like in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, however, you can only use him in certain levels.
 * Scenery Porn: You have to be crazy to say it doesn't look better than New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
 * Shout-Out: The Painted Swampland has a background inspired by Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night.
 * Super Title 64 Advance
 * Video Game Settings:
 * Big Boo's Haunt: Seen in the Ghost Houses, but part of Soda Jungle's map also takes place in a haunted swamp.
 * Bubbly Clouds: Meringue Clouds, Ludwig's stomping grounds.
 * Death Mountain: The Rock-Candy Mines, the sixth world and yet another late-game mountain biome in a New Super Mario Bros. game.
 * Green Hill Zone: Acorn Plains, the lush grasslands you start off in.
 * Lethal Lava Land: Peach's Castle is steadily turned into one over the course of the game thanks to Kamek's magic.
 * The Lost Woods + Macro Zone: Soda Jungle, which is the poisonous jungle world typical for New Super Mario Bros. games, but with gigantic enemies from SMB3's Giant Land.
 * Palmtree Panic: Sparkling Waters. If a level there isn't set underwater, it takes place on a pristine beach.
 * Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Frosted Glacier, which can potentially be your third world if you don't visit Sparkling Waters first.
 * Underground Level: Plenty, and just about all of them can be accessed from Warp Pipes.
 * Under the Sea: While underwater levels can be found all over, Sparkling Waters is home to the highest concentration of them.
 * Warmup Boss: Lemmy, oddly enough. Despite usually being a mid-to-late game boss, here he's the very first Koopaling that you fight.