14 DAY TRIAL // One of my earliest gaming memories, apart from being embarrassingly bad at Duck Hunt, is of playing Super Mario and actually gently moving the controller from left to right when I needed to make the main character leap over a great chasm.
I might have also lifted the controller up when popping coins and the like, to the never ending amazement of my father, who tried to explain that physical action does not actually translate into motion on the screen of the gaming console.
It was a clear measure of the connection I felt between the character running across the screen in his endless search for the princess and me, the proto gamer, fully embracing his singular goal and translating his movements into the real world.
It might be just a feature of my maturity or a side effect of how New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Wii is controlled with the Wiimote held sideways but I never caught myself actually jumping with my hands when playing the new 2D side scroller Mario title.
All the things that I loved are there: the happy little tunes, which are instantly recognizable to any player; the various power ups that have become even more attractive with the addition of the Ice and the Proppeller Suits; the enemies who now take a moment to dance to the beat. I can swear that on a deep level, my mind already knew how to progress through the 1-1 stage, down to knowing where the underground secret was located. It's like going back to your kindergarten and instantly knowing where the best hide and seek spots are located.
Unfortunately, I'm not 10 or 12 anymore and Super Mario doesn't have the same power over me. After playing the first two worlds to completion, I am thinking about whether I should keep on doing this or focus on BioShock 2 for a few days. I am very interested in seeing if the level design becomes more appealing as I progress and I really want to try some multiplayer. But at the moment, nostalgia is the only thing that really glues me to New Super Mario Bros. Wii.