New Super Mario Bros Wii Multiplayer Hints and Tips

Penny Arcade described the multiplayer portion of New Super Mario Bros Wii as "divorce mode." After playing it, I'd say I have to agree with that assessment. Playing a game of this nature, especially when the players are of disparate skill levels, is relationship suicide.

Veteran gamers, accustomed to simply plowing ahead as fast as possible, will have difficulty adjusting to the pace of a novice playing alongside them, even when that novice is the gamer in question's significant other.

Fortunately, the game has some built-in features that you can take advantage of in order to alleviate this discrepancy. Our guide to multiplayer gaming will help you get the most out of these features, hopefully allowing you to maintain your relationships even after playing the game.

Sometimes, no matter how carefully you explain (and demonstrate, and re-explain, and re-demonstrate) how to get past an obstacle, your partner simply just won't be able to do it. That's when you have to take matters into your own hands.

Luckily, the designers at Nintendo seem to have anticipated this. You know how you can pick up certain in-game objects (barrels, ice blocks) by shaking the Wii Remote? Well, if you perform this same shaking action while standing next to another player, you'll hoist them over your head in a similar manner.

Pick up your second (or third, or fourth) player in this way, and you can simply carry them past any difficult portion of a level. They can always hop off with a controller shake of their own, but if you act fast you should be able to progress before they figure that out.

Of course, players with less-than-benevolent intentions could potentially use this technique to pitch another player off a cliff or into some lava, but since we're talking about saving relationships here, I don't recommend it.

Check out page two for more great tips, including how to use your partner as a respawn point and how to take advantage of that fantastic bubble they respawn in.