quote

The new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine hits the shelves today and it's the only place where you can read a review of New Super Mario Bros. Wii! ONM's Chris Scullion completed the game for the review and in his blog last week, he asked ONM readers and followers of GoNintendo if they had any questions they'd like answered about the game. The response was huge. So huge, in fact, we've had to split the Q&A into three parts! So if you want to find out more details about the most eagerly anticipated game of the year, read on. Look out for part two tomorrow and part three on Sunday.

I'd like to know whether there are any modes apart from the main game, such as mini-games...
There are three modes. The main game itself (which can be played on either single-player or multiplayer modes), Free For All Mode and Coin Battle mode.

If playing with only two players, can you play as Toad?
Player two can play as Toad but Player one will always be Mario. Any other players who join can choose from Luigi or one of the two Toads.

Is there any playable characters other than Mario, Luigi and the two Toads? I was kind of hoping for a wide variety.
No.

Are the power-ups awesome and are there more than those we already know about?
They are indeed awesome (especially the Penguin and Propeller suits), but there aren't any more than the ones we already know about. The Penguin suit's awesome because you can throw ice, you can slide on your belly and, if you fall into water while wearing it, you can control the direction you swim in with the D-Pad just like the Frog Suit in Super Mario Bros 3.

There seems to be a lot of hubbub about the game being multiplayer for four people, but is it worth buying it to play on my own?
Absolutely. The first thing I did before playing it in multiplayer was play through the whole game on my own, and it was extremely challenging. Although the levels are the same regardless of how many you play with, it really does feel like two different games when playing in single and multiplayer.

Are there any multiplayer battle modes? If so, what is the objective of it? Is it like the DS VS. mode?
There's Free For All mode and Coin Battle mode. Free For All mode lets you choose any of the levels you've already completed in the main game and you can play with 2-4 players. The player with the highest score at the end is the winner. Coin Battle mode is similar, except you're competing to collect the most coins. Star Coins count as 10. There are a few levels unique to Coin Battle, one of which is reminiscent of the original Mario Bros. and World 1-2 in Super Mario Bros.