New Super Mario Bros Wii.

There are actually a few games I've played during the year I wanted to talk about here, but I never get to do it. The difficult point I guess is: when?
1st impressions? Well it's a bit early isn't it?
When it's finished? It usually takes me a lot of time to do that.
So somewhere in the middle.
So I delay...
I picked up momentum talking about Braid and since those 2 are somewhat linked in my mind, let's do this.

I think it's a kind of punk statement Nintendo has made with New Super Mario Bros Wii (they could have found a better title). Back to basics.
And just the original formula still works like a charm. Only here, it's also been refined with the lastest tricks. Mario's move set has been expanded vastly, building on previous iterations of the series. Walljumps, triple jumps, hovering are new feats that need to be mastered.
And the fully 3D graphics (although used only in 2D) allow lots of cool effects and devious obstacles. Revolving platforms, clouds hindering the vision, moving lights... Each level adds something new, a twist that gives it it's own feel.
The difficulty is also just fine, not too frustrating, but not too easy (some hidden stars do require skill).

As far as I'm concerned, the pinnacle of 2D Marios has to be Yoshi's Island and I didn't expected NSMBW to top it. It didn't, I think mainly because the Yoshi's egg throwing dynamic enabled a lot more freedom, especially on boss fights.

However it still makes for a amazing game, extremely addictive and with great replay value.
1 proof of this is that, 3 levels from the end, I'm already longing for more, because with all those crazy concepts I've seen, they could have used them in twice the amount of levels and I wouldn't have got bored...
Never mind, revisiting the ones that are there will be more than enough.

And there's multiplayer. Here you get to an entirely other dimension: whether you play cooperatively or against each other, there's so much potential...
And the useful example videos that you can unlock playing the game show some incredible gaming wizardry that just show how far it can go.

It's a bit of a disappointment that it can't be played online, as it limits the fun to local but then again there's nothing like a slight elbow movement to make an opponent miss a jump... :)

So not the best, but by all means not minor either and by Mario standards, that says a lot.