At certain points, a Toad will appear trapped in one of the previously completed levels, and the player can choose to rescue him from a block and carry him safely to the end of the stage to earn a reward.

[18] These can be spent on hint movies that show off tips and tricks for the game, including the locations of secrets and methods for earning extra lives.

Block appears, which can be hit to allow a computer-controlled Luigi to show the player a safe path through the level without revealing any Star Coin locations or secret exits.

Attempts to integrate cooperative multiplayer into Super Mario 64, the first 3D game in the series, ultimately failed due to the hardware limitations of the Nintendo 64.

[14][34] Miyamoto said that Princess Peach was not a playable character because of her dress, since making her skirt realistically move would require complex dedicated programming.

[35] Miyamoto wanted the game to be accessible to all players, and thus tried to balance its difficulty via features catering both to casual and hardcore Super Mario fans.

[36] The development team decided to include the feature as an option that would appear in a level after failing a certain number of times to prevent hindering the experience for more experienced players.

As an extra incentive for advanced players, the team also added achievements that could be earned by completing the game without making the green block appear in any levels.

[37] The music for New Super Mario Bros. Wii was composed and arranged by Shiho Fujii and Ryo Nagamatsu, with additional work provided by sound director Kenta Nagata.

[52][2] In a Japanese retail briefing event prior to its release, Miyamoto expressed his faith that the game would retain strong sales stretching beyond its first year on the market.

[65] Burt was also forced to disclose the locations of all of his computers and electronic storage devices, as well as give access to his email, social networking and website accounts.

[66] Nintendo of Australia managing director Rose Lappin called the incident "a global issue", noting that thousands of copies of the game had been downloaded across the world before it was taken down.

Many favorably compared the game to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, which similarly took its respective series' traditional gameplay and interlaced it with cooperative multiplayer.

[13] Sophia Tong of GameSpot compared the game to Super Mario Bros. 3 and called the new multiplayer feature "a blast to play and hilarious to watch".

CNET's Jeff Balakar called seeing a side-scrolling Super Mario game in widescreen "an eye-opening experience", and praised the worlds' attentions to detail.

Although CNET's three reviewers enjoyed the game, Balakar mused that the multiplayer gameplay was occasionally frustrating due to the chaos and tight screen space.

[2] CNET's Dan Ackerman, whilst praising New Super Mario Bros. Wii's overall enjoyability, noted its strong similarity to its side-scrolling predecessors, musing that it felt "firmly planted in the 2D era.

Patrick Kolan of IGN Australia called it the most fun 4-player experience since Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and stated that it exceeded their initial expectations despite strong suspicions.

[6] Matt Wales of IGN UK lamented that the game worked as both a single-player and a multiplayer experience, but stated that it was at its best when played with multiple people.

[76] GameSpot's Randolph Ramsay called the multiplayer "initially great fun", but also admitted that they found it tedious at times due to the sheer chaos that it led to.

[80] Craig Harris of IGN US praised the bubble system, calling it a smart design choice; however, he criticized the game's lack of any online multiplayer features, highlighting it as a particular point of dissatisfaction.

[6] Conversely, Wales did not see this omission as a major issue, arguing that sociality was a primary aspect that made the multiplayer enjoyable and that it was wise not to include the feature because of Nintendo's poor-quality online service, though they noted that a leaderboard would have been an admirable addition.

[81] Brett Elston of GamesRadar+, highly critical of the four-player multiplayer, called it frustrating and stated that it felt cramped due to the several characters and small screen size, while advising that the game was best experienced with only two players.

Kolan praised them as being "easy, intuitive and unobtrusive – the three most critical aspects in any motion-controlled game",[6] while Ramsay stated that they were occasionally intrusive on general gameplay.

Although Harris awarded the game an 8.9 out of 10 and deemed it a fun experience overall, he also was highly critical of it for "playing it safe", and, comparing it to Super Mario Galaxy, called it a "missed opportunity" for Nintendo in terms of content.

[85] Corbie Dillard of Nintendo Life pointed out the game's visual polish and smooth animations, but also stated that it did not hold the same level of splendor as other first party Wii releases.

[84] Ramsay also compared the game's graphics to other Nintendo-developed titles, stating that it lacked the level of polish that the previously released Super Mario Galaxy had despite using a bright and varied array of colors.

[80] Gerstmann observed that while the game's player models were slightly unusual up close, the strong colors of the worlds and levels only made it a minor annoyance.

[110] New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold 3,002,753 units within seven weeks of its release in Japan, making it the fastest game in that country to sell 3 million.

[111] In North America, New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold 1,390,000 units in November 2009, making it the third-best-selling game of the month behind the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.