The latest in the round of Wii U ports headed to the Nintendo Switch will be New Super Mario Bros. U, which was actually a Wii U launch game back in 2012, and was also, in fact, leaked not too long ago. The Deluxe edition will include all the content from New Super Mario Bros. U and the expansion New Super Luigi U, for over 150 levels for players to make their way through. Collectively, these represent, in spite of the distaste many have for the New Super Mario series, among the best 2D Mario content we have ever received.

The new package will also include Nabbit as a playable character for the very first time in a New Super Mario Bros. game, as well as Toadette. Co-op play will be maintained, and you can play the game entirely with a single Joycon (which makes total sense, since the original could be completed with a single Wii Remote). Online functionality hasn’t been confirmed, and it’s not unreasonable to suppose it won’t be in the game.

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe launches on the Nintendo Switch on January 11, 2019.

New #SuperMario Bros. U Deluxe is coming to #NintendoSwitch on 1/11/19 and includes both the New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U games! pic.twitter.com/DMeqksC4dT

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 13, 2018

New Super Mario Bros. U, the 2D Mario game that launched alongside the Wii U, and the final game in Nintendo’s modern revival of 2D Mario till date, may be headed to the Nintendo Switch. As rumors and speculation go, this one has actually been among the more common ones over the last year or so- however, now, writing for Comic Book, known Nintendo insider Liam Robertson is claiming that a port of the game is indeed headed to the Switch before this year’s end.

The port will also come with the expansion New Super Luigi U, and will include some new content as well- though Robertson doesn’t seem to have many details on what the latter might entail. Robertson claims that the internal title he has heard for the game seems to be New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, which is a bit of a mouthful, but would be in line with most other Wii U ports for the Switch. That said, he also does clarify that it’s not clear if the name is internal, or intended to be the final name.

As of right now, this is just a rumor- we don’t know whether or not it is even true. That said, maybe it can be one of those many unnamed Switch games that have been listed on Amazon UK– maybe a Nintendo Direct is coming.

Nintendo has decided to switch up the marketing campaign for their Nintendo Wii U deluxe bundle. The new set attempts to put a focus on value, offering two games along with the console for the new price of $299.99. The bundle will now feature arguably Nintendo’s two most recognizable characters, the loveable, murderous plumbers, Mario and Luigi.

The two games offered within the new deluxe bundle will be the much acclaimed New Super Mario Bros, and the New Super Luigi. The existing Wii U Deluxe bundle, which will now cease to be sold, contained Nintendo Land. Nintendo Land, however, can still be bought via download in the Nintendo eShop starting November 1st, the same date of the switch.

“Mario and Luigi are two of the biggest heroes in video games,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “This new Wii U configuration gives people instant access to not one, but two of the most well-received Wii U games. It’s another example of the tremendous value and variety that Nintendo is offering consumers this holiday season.”

Hopefully this switch will succeed in boosting Nintendo’s Wii U sales.

Nintendo haven’t lost their touch, but Mario certainly has. Between the unambitious New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS and the original Super Mario Bros. U, the plumbers’ 2D formula hasn’t seen any major changes since the SNES days. Nintendo are treading old ground then with Super Luigi U but, as their first major expansion to a game, it has its own patches of originality. That said, these are ultimately sidelined by a series of increasingly questionable design decisions.

Available as both an eShop download and a disc-based solo add-on, Super Luigi U sees the lesser of the Mario brothers wading through all the stages of the original Mario Bros. U. Indeed, much of the game is the same, with the identical opening sequence and world map making Luigi’s debut something of a misfire.

"Rather than being a re-skin of Mario as in the multiplayer of Mario Bros. Wii and U, Luigi controls much more like his Mario Bros. 2 counterpart this time around. "

Once you start getting into the levels though, you see where the changes have been made. Most of the stages retain their general layout and feel, but the majority of the enemies, traps and hazards have been remixed to create a tougher Mario experience. This is initially exhilarating, catering for a dedicated audience that haven’t been at the fore of Nintendo’s considerations for years now.

For the most part this new challenge is welcome, with countless deaths all adding up without you ever feeling like the game is cheating you. It’s only after so many retries that some of the other gameplay tweaks stop making sense completely. Rather than being a re-skin of Mario as in the multiplayer of Mario Bros. Wii and U, Luigi controls much more like his Mario Bros. 2 counterpart this time around. He carries a heavy center of gravity over his brother, causing him to slip and slide around the stages.

This is off-set by a higher jump and the ability to float by fervently kicking his legs in the air. It appeals from a historical point of view, and having Luigi as a stand alone character alters the level design in a way that is initially engaging. That said, it doesn’t make sense for how challenging some of the later levels are. It constantly feels like these trickier stages could do with the more controlled and measured handling of Mario, as navigating them with the floating and imprecise Luigi is often a demoralising experience.

There’s also the time limit, an ever present concern in Luigi U now that it has been reduced to a mere hundred seconds. The time limit has only ever really been present in a Mario game to prevent people from really mucking about and, whilst the vastly reduced time adds yet another layer of challenge and skill to the Luigi U formula, it also prevents you from feeling like you can really explore and enjoy the levels.

"The more compact nature of many of the levels does make multiplayer largely unplayable though."

It does mean the levels are a touch shorter, a change that can often change the game for the better. As levels seldom last over a minute, the game gains a “one more go” feel and deaths become much less bothersome.

The more compact nature of many of the levels does make multiplayer largely unplayable though. The original Mario Bros. Wii and U managed to straddle the fine line between fun and frustration, with the many players bumping into and impeding each other at specific moments.

In Luigi U it feels like you and your companions are just constantly tripping over each other. It’s a surprisingly quick way to lose your patience friends in one go.

As if to alleviate this problem with the multiplayer, the computer controlled Nabbit from the vanilla Mario Bros. U has been reintroduced as a playable character in multiplayer. Nabbit differs from the other players vastly in how he is virtually invulnerable.

"Nintendo's foray into the expansion world will hopefully give them enough feedback to make the right decision next time, as the decision to price Luigi U at £18 is a bit steep."

Falling down pits can still finish him, but no enemy can touch him, allowing the Nabbit player to steam-roll ahead of the other players. I’m sure you could say this is a clever way of making the new difficulty of Luigi U more palatable, but it just feels confused in practice. In a game that is intent on stretching and testing the limits of even the most dedicated of Mario veterans, including a cheat character like Nabbit just feels conflicted with the expansion’s purpose.

Nintendo’s foray into the expansion world will hopefully give them enough feedback to make the right decision next time, as the decision to price Luigi U at £18 is a bit steep. This price is also significantly higher if you purchase the disc-based stand alone version (it’s currently £30 on Amazon).

The new 80+ stages represent a fairly decent amount of content, but the broken multiplayer and lack of new levels in the awesome challenge mode makes the value of this expansion questionable.

I don’t mean to kick Nintendo when they’re down, as they aren’t having the smoothest of runs with the Wii U at the moment. That said, I can’t turn a blind eye to a mediocre game. If Nintendo want to silence the critics, they need to start releasing more stand-out system sellers for the Wii U and, whilst Super Luigi U is an interesting experiment, it is by no means a credit to the Wii U’s software library. If you loved the Lost Levels, the challenge may appeal to you, but others would be advised to steer clear until the price is reduced.

This game was reviewed on Wii U.

Level 5’s Yokai Watch also debuted for the Nintendo 3DS, with 53,654 units sold in the first week. Earth Defense Force 2025 on the PlayStation 3 also saw strong sales in the third position, with 37,024 units sold and 191,713 units sold over its lifetime. Tomodachi Collection: New Life is still going great guns, selling 26,065 units and reaching nearly 1.3 million lifetime sales.

New Super Luigi U rounded out the top 5, selling 24,881 units in its first week. Other games like Toukiden for PS Vita and PSP are still going strong with 20,853 units and 19,262 units sold respectively. Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, meanwhile, tumbled down to 14th place with 9,158 units sold this week.

The gameplay trailer demonstrates new moves that only Luigi can pull off, Nabbit as a playable multiplayer character and a couple of other things. Check out the New Super Luigi U trailer for yourself above to see what’s included in this upcoming add-on for the Wii U’s launch title.

New Super Luigi U will be coming out on June 20th and can be purchased via eShop for $19.99 or you may purchase it at a retail store as a stand-alone game on August 25th for $29.99.

Let us know if you’re excited for New Super Luigi U in the comments below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more updates.

This leads to bonuses when the level is complete. He also can’t be damaged by traditional obstacles like Piranha Plants. We also see quite a few homages to other Mario games, such as lava enemies and Luigi’s floaty jump which allows him to hover briefly in the air. The game will feature over 80 courses, with speed-run levels also making a comeback for competitive play.

New Super Luigi U will release on June 20th as DLC for $19.99 on the Nintendo eShop with the packaged version arriving on August 25th for $29.99.

Update: Screens added.

The add-on will add 82 updated course and new content. Player will be able to play as Luigi, Yellow Toad, Blue Toad and a brand new playable character named Nabbit. This new character will not be able to power up when he collects items, but his unique abilities include not taking damage when he gets in contact with enemies. He will only be playable as a multiplayer character.

Boxart:

Screenshot Gallery:

It’s lovely to see Luigi get his own personal adventure on the Wii U for the first time. The last time Luigi had his own game was Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon on the 3DS which was fantastic, hopefully Nintendo decides to make more future Luigi standalone titles.

Let us know if you’re excited for New Super Luigi U for the Wii U in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more media updates as we get closer to E3 2013.