Four players at once? Sign me up.

Nintendo’s been listening whenever we’ve mentioned our love of classic Mario platforming.  Now we’ll be rewarded with yet another entry in the New Super Mario Bros franchise with New Super Mario Bros Wii expected the holiday season of this year.

But just what do we have to expect from the odd title?

Well, those of us who played New Super Mario Bros on the DS know firsthand how great Mario holds up after all these years and exactly how much mileage can be chugged out of the simple concepts the game was based on from the beginning. New Super Mario Bros has consistently been one of the best selling games on the DS and it’s four years old. That’s saying something right there.

The new New Super Mario Bros takes a page from the DS version and keeps gameplay simple, yet adds in a few little flourishes here and there. New power-ups are vital to the franchise with the Propeller Suit and Penguin Suit adding a nice touch of the typical Mario-brand wackiness we’ve come to expect.

New Features include Multi-Play

Probably the biggest feature is 4-player simultaneous multiplayer. Mario games have usually done a good job of including at least 2-players taking turns, but this is the first time we really get something as multiplayer with Mario in it unless we’re talking Mario Party or Mario Kart.

Having four players onscreen at once can look a bit disorienting at first but it still looks like a blast. As usual, you’re able to either help out your buddies or totally ruin their good time depending on how you’d like to play at the moment. That’s just asking for hilarity.

But They Skimped on Motion Control and Gave us 2 Toads

One of my only complaints is that the game obviously looks like a DS game ported over to the Wii. No, it doesn’t make the game any less fun but it feels like another one of those last minute changes Nintendo is starting to get famous for when they take the game from a less-superior system and plunk it onto the Wii without doing really anything to justify the action other than having more Wii titles.

The only motion-controlled action here consists of shaking the Wiimote to cause you to spin upwards while wearing the Propeller Suit, or to pick other characters up. Not really worth the hassle of motion control, but it’s there.

Also, the four characters are Mario, Luigi, Toad, and another Toad. Why no Princess? Why no Wario? Heck, why no Toadette even? I’m hoping they would have given us something better than the brothers Mario and a pair of Toads, but that’s just wishful thinking. New Super Mario Bros Wii is anticipated for a 2009 holiday release.