New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

This collection of fast-paced adventures has great gameplay for everyone, whether you're new to the franchise or an experienced gamer looking for a serious test of your platforming skills. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe gathers together the fun and vibrant levels of New Super Mario Bros. U with the faster, more challenging stages of New Super Luigi U, providing players with 164 stages to explore and conquer across the Mushroom Kingdom. Up to four players can join together and try to beat these stages by tossing each other across chasms or acting as footholds to propel characters to higher areas. Having that many players on-screen along with the various enemies can lead to some chaotic gameplay, because you sometimes forget who's friend and who's foe. Sometimes when you're trying to make a jump, the extra characters could cause you to make a mistake to avoid a perceived threat. Plus, you're going to face a challenge in both of these games; Super Luigi U in particular delights in being harder, with more enemies, shorter time limits, and split-second jumps on some stages that are very tricky. For some players, this could be extremely frustrating.

Fortunately, this boxed set makes the gameplay more accessible by introducing two new characters, Toadette and Nabbit, which helps ease some of the difficulty. Thanks to the crown power-up that Toadette can grab, she can float over many obstacles, while Nabbit takes no damage from any enemies (because villains don't hurt each other). While playing with these two characters eliminates stages from truly being cleared, they also make it much easier for families to jump in and play together. Gamers with more experience can stick with the more challenging characters, and younger players or newcomers can take the easier ones. What's more, there's even a guide if you die on a level multiple times, walking you through the trickier sections, which can be useful if a stage just doesn't make sense or you're having trouble. On top of that, the game packs lots of videos to help you find Star Coins, speed through levels, or clear challenges if you need an additional hand. All of these helping hands make it much easier for you to dive into these stages. There's a lot of fun packed into the New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe package -- one that's great for gamers of all ages.