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But when a full-featured, near-final version of New Super Mario Bros. Wii arrived at Nintendo Power headquarters this month, it finally hit me-not only is this a brand new Mario platformer (which is always cause for celebration), but it's the first 2-D Mario title to hit a console in 18 years, and it marks the first time that multiple players (up to four, in fact) can hop and stomp together through the Mushroom Kingdom. And if all of that can't get a wa-hoo out of a Mario fan, he might need to turn in his blue overalls.
Much has been said about the New Super Mario Bros. Wii already-after all, it first surfaced in June and demo versions have appeared at the different trade shows-but after diving into the full game, we discovered that those early reports told us very little. For instance, only about five percent of the game's stages had been shown, and the demos always focused on multiplayer, leaving fans to wonder if the games delivers a series-worthy single-player experience. Bottom Line: the folks at Nintendo have been very crafty with what they've shown so far.
Well, we're not about to show you everything-we wouldn't want to spoil the game before you've played it-but over these 10 (Karis note: *bleep*) you're going to see more than enough to get your Mario motor running while you wait for the games release on November 15.

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First we want to make something perfectly clear: if the multiplayer focused previews of the past gave you the idea the New Super Mario Bros. Wii might be some kind of watered-down party game, you couldn't be more wrong. To be honest, we expected that a game built to accommodate four players might feel a little empty when playing solo, or that a lack of teammates would keep us from fully exploring each level. It can't have been easy for the game's designers to create stages that seem perfectly suited to any number of players, but the good news is that they've somehow pulled it off. In fact, if someone started a single-player game and handed you the controller, you'd never guess that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is anything other than the latest in the series's long line of top-notch platformers.