Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

Just three more puzzles on Level 9 today. Um, that's it really.

Yoshi's Story (Wii): COMPLETED!

N64 on Wii, of course. Even though I have it on the N64 too. Tch.

But I completed it for the first time ever! I know it isn't a hard game, and the main point is to use it as a sort of Score Attack thing, but still. It really was very good too. And I finished up with three non-dead Yoshis!

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

I haven't played this in ages! I think I was a little put off last time as I thought I'd finally completed all the levels, only to find I's opened up a million more.

Completed the rest of Level 8, and three puzzles in Level 9.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

Having played this at my in-laws earlier in the week, my arm was twisted to buy it. And, having played it today, my arm was twisted some more. Literally.

The thing is, the events are either far too easy (Skeet Shooting, 100m) or far too hard (Swimming, Long Jump). The swimming in particular - I can do the first 50m easily (in first place), but then without changing rhythm, somehow get overtaken instantly and then come 8th. It makes no sense!

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

I'm at the in-laws at the moment, and they have this game. So we all played it for a while. It seems very good, but the games vary wildly from very easy (skeet shooting) to very hard (swimming) to seemingly random (long jump).

I was either very good, or absolutely terrible, as a result.

Mario Party 8 (Wii)

Had a go of this today with my wife, on the Shyguy Train board. Things got off to a bad start for me, as for the first four turns I couldn't roll higher than a 3, and by turn 8 I was still starless while everyone else had two or three.

However, I somehow managed to turn it around, and on the final turn had three stars, beating everyone else. To further prove my superiority, I then won all three bonus stars, and the stats showed that regardless of which bonus stars had been randomly chosen, I'd have won the game anyway - even if I hadn't picked any stars up on the board. Amazing!

Super Luigi Galaxy (Wii)

Played through a bit more of this, nabbing about ten more stars. I only need about 12 now before I can face Bowser at the "end" of the game as Luigi.

I'm still convinced there are more baddies as Luigi. For example, when fighting King Kalicente (is that how you spell his name?) for the second time, he chucks one hell of a lot more of those blue flaming things at you.

Super Luigi Galaxy (Wii)

Haven't played this in a while, as I've had a lot of Team Fortress 2-ing to do, and Peggle and other stuff, so I felt a bit bad about neglecting it.

But no more! For I returned with Luigi and got him 7 more stars, taking his total to 35, and 155 overall. Just, erm, lots left to go!

Got my first green star with Luigi, and my first letter from Luigi to Luigi, which is all a bit strange. You'd have thought you swapped places with Mario on the second run through, but no. And why is it that the other Luigi is taller than me? Very odd.

Super Luigi Galaxy (Wii)

I've opened up the Bedroom now, and have 28 Weegi stars to my name. I managed to get the wrong star in the Freezeflame Galaxy too, somehow, by going completely the wrong way. I'm pretty sure there were more flying ice blob things and ice bats than with Mario, though.

And I was right about Luigi sliding around on the ice more than Mario. It's like he's been greased up or something.

Super Luigi Galaxy (Wii)

Four more stars, taking me to 18 Weegi-stars and 138 stars in total. I've also found out today that there isn't 241 stars overall, but 242. Amazing!

Getting used to Luigi's slippery movement now, but not looking forward to coping on the ice-based galaxies! Oh, and Cosmic Luigi is waaaaay faster than Cosmic Mario, and constantly long-jumps to go even faster. I couldn't beat him on Honeyhive. Grr.

Super Luigi Galaxy (Wii)

Not really much to say today, apart from that I'm still loving it, and managed to get up to 14 Luigi Stars, making 134 in total.

This time through, I'm trying to do as many later levels as possible, so I get left with the easier ones nearer the end of the game (if that makes sense). I know it's not really possible, as you have to do early stars to unlock later galaxies, but once all the galaxies are open I'll be doing the last ones first.

Or something.

Super Luigi Galaxy (Wii)

Luigi slides all over the place, jumps higher (and seemingly further) than Mario, and says "Yoshi" every time he uses a launch star. He also makes a noise that sounds like it's taken straight from Pretty Fly for a White Guy when he gets a power star. Oh, and he looks stupid in a bee suit.

Aside from all that, it's the same so far. Well, except for one thing which I'm not sure if I'm imagining or not: the levels all seem to have extra baddies on. So far, they've mainly been those blue bouncing blob things, but I'm pretty sure they weren't there as Mario. Oh, and Weegi gets 20 1Ups from Peach, not 5. I always knew Luigi was doing her on the side...

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii): COMPLETED! AGAIN!

With the last of the stars collected yesterday, all that was left was to defeat Bowser again. For some reason, I had problems getting to him this time - losing several lives (all regained through mushroom collection) on the way.

He was just as easy as before (of course, he was exactly the same, that's why), and then the end sequence with a bit extra.

And then! "You may now play as Luigi!" comes up on the screen, and Luigi says "Super Weegi Galaxy!". AMAZING! Of course, it's just the same game again, although Luigi can jump higher and slides all over the place like he's got greased feet. Collected the first three stars as him too.

What a fantastic game. From start to finish I thought it was brilliant - well designed, varied, and even plenty of genius moments. Best game ever? Perhaps. Mario 64 was one of the best games ever - probably in my top 5 - and this beats it. Amazing.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

120 STARS!

Amazing! I came to it today with just four stars remaining - all of which were actually comet stars, it turned out. First up was a Daredevil Comet on the Deep Dark Galaxy (killing the big Magikoopa without getting hit - easy!), and then I braved the Luigi's Purple Coins star, which drained a good 8 or 9 lives before I nailed it. The last two (another purple coin one, and Fast Foe one) were both waaaaaay easier than Luigi's coins.

So, 120 stars! Just have to kill Bowser again now, I think!

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

So close to the end now, with 116 stars complete. Just three more comet ones left, including what seems to be the hardest of all the stars by seven million miles - Luigi's Purple Coins. Gah!

Oh, and I finally managed to find the hidden star on Deep Dark Galaxy. It turns out it was under the wreck of a boat (well, it wasn't, but the route to get to it was), where I'm pretty sure I'd looked at least twice already.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

113 Stars! Cleared out the last of the "normal" stars in the Garden and Engine Room, and now it's just hidden and comet stars left. Also managed to find a couple of hidden stars, and one of the Speed Comet runs on Dreadnought Galaxy, the latter of which was much easier than I was expecting.

There's a Purple Coin collecting star on Dreadnought that I'm not looking forward to doing. I had one go, and it's not easy! I'm also unable to find the hidden star on the Dark Galaxy (Dark Dark? I forget the name). I've looked everywhere!

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

At the risk of these entries becoming little more than just updates into how many stars I now have, I'd just like to say "108 Stars!".

Thing is, it's hard to describe what levels I've done to get those stars for two reasons: the first being The Spoiler Problem, and the other is because when you play the game it all blends into one gooey fuzzy lovely experience, and I forget which planet was in which galaxy and stuff.

I'm running out of "normal" stars now though (that is, the first three for each galaxy). There's a few left in the Engine Room and Garden, but pretty much everything else is a hidden or comet star.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

I'm running out of game. That's not right. Can't we have 2,000 stars instead? As it stands, I'm up to 104 after today's play (a couple more Purple Coin collecting levels taking up most of the game time), and I'm starting to think about it almost all being over.

And that makes me sad. Bah.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

100 stars get! A couple of Purple Coin collecting ones today and then the hardest star I've had yet - Bouldergeist with the Daredevil Comet.

He's the only boss I'd had difficulty with, and lost several lives to him even with full energy, so having to kill him again, only with no energy? Erk. He took 14 of my 15 lives before I beat him!

Also killed a giant mole on Gusty Garden, and completed some more stars on Freezeframe Galaxy.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Finished off Melty Molten Galaxy today (amongst other things) which included a Daredevil Comet Run (which was really hard) and a Purple Coin Collection "mission" which was also really hard, as some were floating over the top of the lava and those long crouch-jumps were required to get them else your bottom got burnt. A lot.

And it did.

But I've got 93 Stars now - only 27 left! Actually, that's not quite true, apparently...

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Got a few more stars, taking my total up to 83. That's just 37 remaining now (although most of those done are the early ones, so it's mainly tricky ones left). Found the final Green Power Star, which opened up a few more "odd" galaxies, like another Ray Surfing one, and a Monkey Ball type one.

And Melty Molten Galaxy is amazing.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

I'm now up to 77 stars. Most of today's play was spent getting the purple coins on the water ring level, which actually involved totally avoiding the water and Bee Mario-ing from cloud to cloud stopping off at trees on the way.

Also had another race with a Boo, as Boo Mario, and collected loads more purple coins in the bone yard place. And killed a giant rock! And defeated a mole in a cannon up a tree!

AMAZING.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Now up to 71 stars! Had a difficult purple coin run on Battlerock, and a sedate purple coin run on Honeyhive - which took ages as there were a few coins that were difficult to reach.

Also found a hidden star on the Beach Bowl level (Ice Mario wall-jumping up waterfalls! AMAZING) and completed another Haunted Mansion level which was a race against a Boo. I've done all of the first two observatories now - hurrah!

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii): COMPLETED!

You might say "What? Already? What a short and/or easy game!", and you'd be wrong. You see, like Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine before it (in fact, like virtually every Mario game, actually) just beating Bowser at the end is The End as such. You only need 60 stars to do that, "win" the game and see the credits. So with that many, I beat the boss and completed the game.

But that's only half the stars! Now there's the task of mopping up the rest of them, mainly from alternate goals in galaxies I've already completed, and also some more in galaxies not yet unlocked. I went back and did some more (including collecting 100 purple coins on an ocean level, which took aaaages as I kept killing myself accidently...) and now I have 66 stars.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

46 stars! And so many things that I found ace! I can't even begin to begin... and I don't want to spoil things for people as they come across stuff for the first time, because everything is so special.

But I will say that finding Luigi was amazing. The giant toy robot? Amazing. The Bowser boss battles with the Mario 64 boss style levels (and music!) - amazing.

Look, the WHOLE BLOODY GAME is amazing. If you disagree (and only two people on the entire planet do, and they haven't played it) then you have no soul.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

I am now 23 stars in, and, so far, I haven't had a single thing I didn't like. I did worry that the whole gravity-on-small-planets thing might detract from the game in some way, but it really doesn't - it just feels like a natural progression from Mario 64. An extra dimension, if you will.

And it's all just so... fantastic!

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

AMAZING.

Perhaps you'd like a bit more in the way of detail? You don't need any - that covers it. I have 7 stars, have played for a few hours, and love it.

Although I love Mario Sunshine, it never really felt like a proper follow-up to Mario 64. Too much of it was removed from the former game - the location, the Piantas, the shines-not-stars, the FLUDD, and so on. It was a great game, and I'll have none of you haters saying otherwise, but it wasn't a sequel.

Galaxy however, is.

It feels just like Mario 64, only with More. Which is a Very Good Thing.

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

These 20x20 puzzles really make my eyes bleed. Managed five of them before giving up, in case my eyeballs exploded or something.

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

It would appear that Level 7 isn't the final level at all. Far from it. I managed to complete the remaining five puzzles on Level 6, then all the Level 7 puzzles, and Mario unlocked Levels 8, 9 and 10 for me. More!

Not just more either - these are 20x20 puzzles (Levels 4, 5, 6 and 7 are 15x15). The first one was clever too - the was a picross of a picross puzzle!

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

Completed Level 5 at last! Also completed four Level 6 puzzles without any problems. Still no Nintendo themed pictures, although I did have a monkey.

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

Six more puzzles today, and my first failure. I failed because I made three mistakes, all accidental due to either pressing the wrong button or being unable to count to seven.

Still no Nintendo themed puzzles though.

Super Paper Mario (Wii): COMPLETED!

I've played a lot of games. And, in recent years, I've completed loads too - more than 150 in less than three years, in fact. That's all well and good, but plot twists and end boss "surprises" are becoming less and less, well, surprising. It's no real spoiler to say that the end boss, isn't actually the end boss as there's another boss afterwards. This is now The Done Thing with games these days, it seems.

Not that there's anything bad or wrong about this, it's just, well, expected now.

So Chapter 8 then. It's all (well, not quite all - see below) set in Count Bleck's castle, as you'd expect. A castle that throws pretty much everything at you. It wasn't difficult, but you do have pretty much every single puzzle and baddie in the game making a return. You also have a need for every character and almost every Pixl too, so it does give you that Nintendo feeling of "now use what you have learned!".

Sadly, there is The Great Big No of games. That's right - a SuckySuck(TM) bit. You have to fight several previous mini-bosses again. This is RUBBISH and LAZY and should be banned. In fact, it gets worse - there's also a SuckySuckPlus(TM) bit. That's a new term for something that happens in Super Paper Mario and a few other games (including, if I recall correctly, Paper Mario 2) - whole previous sections of the game are repeated, not just bosses. There's a rerun of a bit of almost every world in Chapter 8-3. For no reason!

DEAR GAME MAKERS: DO NOT DO THIS.

But, save that couple of irritations, Chapter 8 was good. There's a twist at the end (actually, two, but one was obvious from some point in Chapter 2), and the final boss was suitably bizarre. In all, the whole game was fantastic, with a few slight dips although nothing to ever ruin it. And certainly no "slide into crap" like some people have been suggesting.

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Chapter 7 DONE! One of the bits was slightly annoying as you had to re-do a section a couple of times, but it was short and easy so I didn't feel frustrated.

I've got all the heroes together now too, and I've found the 8th Pure Heart, so I'm close to the end of the game now. I'm almost 17 hours in, so I'm betting I'll be done by 20. That's a lot of hours for what is, basically, a platformer!

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Chapter 6 went all strange! And then I ended up in the Underwhere (no, not Underwear), where game characters go when they run out of lives. Amazing!

Anyway, I've managed to do all that, and now I'm onto 7-2, and am about 13 hours in. I think people have been saying 16 hours is about how long it takes to complete, so there's not a lot of game left now, sadly.

And I still don't understand those people who say the game gets worse as you get further in. Chapters 6 and 7 have been some of the best bits so far!

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Hmm. I'm a little worried about spoilers now. I realise my last post on this did contain some minor spoilers (mainly only spoiling dialogue rather than plot), so I'll keep this brief.

I've made it all the way up to Chapter 6-2 now. Chapter 4 was set in space (and had a bit of a false start - play it and you'll understand) and had some side scrolling shooting sections. It was a bit of a dip after the genius of Chapter 3, but things went on the rise again with the modern Neanderthal rock-people themed Chapter 5.

And 6? Well, I had to kill 100 bosses. Or did I? Play and see!

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

Just three more puzzles on Level 5 today, and then my eyes went wonky and I couldn't do any more. Pff.

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

OH. MY. LORD.

Chapter 3-4 is amazing, and one of the funniest sections of any game I've played ever. Francis the Nerd Chameleon is great, and his Nerd Castle is full of RoboCat maids and guards who give a, uh, frightening insight into Francis' personality.

And the castle security system is a robot cat, who won't allow you in to see Francis unless you're a "hot babe" (that'll be Peach then), and even then you have you agree with some of Francis' core values. Such as:



and...



Then, you get to take part in one of those bizarre dating sim games as a prospective partner for Francis:



See? AMAZING.

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

So, off into Chapter 3 (again having faffed around in town for ages, doing some cooking, exploring, talking to people, shopping, etc.) and again, it is ace.

I mean, what's not to like about a chameleon version of Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons who eats your Pixl-friend Tippi the moment you meet him? Amazing! And the graphics on this level - everything is giant pixels! And! There's a bit where a Koopa Trooper collects a star to make himself all 8-bit and huge, and then chases you, and you have to find a star and have an EPIC BATTLE (uh, you jump on it).

And! Bowser joins your party!

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Sat and completed all of Chapter 2 today. Well, that and the half hour of wandering around the town of Flipside trying to find the next heart pillar, anyway.

It really is rather good, isn't it? I know Nintendo manage to take the rise out the Mario titles in just about every other Mario title they now make, but somehow, they always seem to do it just right. Super Paper Mario is no exception - the in-jokes are still funny, and there's plenty of them.

Chapter 2 was all about finding Merlee in her house, which had been turned into a factory full of slaves. I became a slave there too, and had to work off a debt of a million Rubees (more than a slight nod to Zelda's Rupees there) carrying out menial tasks. Now, some of the people of rllmuk (a forum I frequent) have been quite vocal about this particular part of the game, saying how the tasks were rubbish, boring, and took far too long. To that I say a) that's the point, and b) if it takes you more than 10 minutes to pay off the debt - you're doing it wrong. Seriously - there's a quick way.

Oh, and thanks for the warning from Luffer about the potential crash on 2-2. I actually already knew about it (as has the entire internet, it seems), but without spoiling anything, don't talk to Mimi on 2-2 again after talking to her the first time, until you have the key.

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Hurrah for Mondays when new games arrive!

I knew this was more "action" based than Paper Mario 2, but I was still surprised to find it so different. Not in a bad way - just, well, different. And everything is so much flatter than in Paper Mario 2, especially when you flip into 3D. Yes, I realise that makes no sense.

So I've completed all of the first chapter, taking just over an hour an a half. I have to say, the dialogue is excellent. Nastasia (who appears to be Count Bleck's PA) is amazing, and Fracktail ("fractal", get it?) has some hilarious lines. And when he's scanning? His eye does the Wii Virtual Console "please wait" spinning ring thing. Genius! And Watchitt! He was great too.

The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is that I get the feeling I'm going to have a load of pixls following me around. I've already got two...

Super Mario Bros 2: The Lost Levels (Wii)

At first I thought "Hang on, isn't this supposed to be hard?" as I got to 2-2 without losing a life or even finding it particularly tricky. Sadly, there's a bit in the middle of 2-2 which seems totally impossible. So I lost all my lives. Bah.

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

That's all of Level 4 done. And, since Level 4 was the last level, I thought "only the Wario Levels to go now!". Only, of course, I was wrong - I unlocked Levels 5, 6 and 7. Um.

Anyway, completed most of the Level 5 puzzles. Still no Nintendo ones though.

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

Finished all of Level 3 and have done a few puzzles on Level 4. Still no really hard ones yet, and I'm slightly disappointed that there haven't been any Nintendo-themed puzzles either. Still ace though!

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

Picross is ace. Mario is ace. So Mario's Super Picross has to be acetwice, yes? Yes! And it is!

Downloaded it for the Wii Virtual Console this afternoon (along with Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels) and completed all the puzzled on Level 1 and Level 2. Nothing hard yet. Also unlocked Wario's Super Picross in the process, although I'm not sure how I managed that.

Mario Party 8 (Wii)

It seems an hour and a half is the going rate for a two-player game of this. Today's board was "Koopa's Town", or something named similarly, and was somewhat different to any of the other boards I'd played (even on previous Mario Party games). You see, there are hotels along the board, and as you pass them, you invest coins in them. Whoever has the most coins invested, owns the hotel.

However, if the total number of coins invested (by all players) in a hotel is less than 20, the owner gets a star. 20-50 coins, and two stars. 50+ coins, three stars. And I expect there's more too. Things get interesting when one player owns (for example) a two-star hotel as the sole investor and 25 coins invested. Then, someone else comes along, invests 26 coins, and not only gains ownership, but three stars, AND the previous owner LOSES two stars! Then the original owner can just invest two more coins to become owner again! It was star-tennis galore today!

I came second, and my wife first this time, although, like previously, the outcome could have been entirely different on just the final dice roll.

Mario Party 8 (Wii)

Another game tonight, this time on the King Boo level. Waluigi won this time though, nabbing the "proper" star just before I got the "hidden" star twice, resetting the castle and sending us back to the start. Bah!

After that, we played the bowling and puzzle mini-games.

Mario Party 8 (Wii)

This arrived today, and my wife and I played one game on it this evening. A game that took an hour and a half! That's a bit of a stretch compared to our usual games of Carcassonne and Puzzle Fighter.

We played the "Goomba's Booty Boardwalk" course over 15 turns, and, of course, I won. However, I only won because of the outcome of the final turn, which could have caused any of three of us to win.

Mario Strikers Charged Football (Wii)

I've come to the conclusion that this is the hardest game ever made. I played a few games online, and lost every since one by at least three goals. Not only that, but I'm incapable of finishing the second (novice!) challenge in Challenge Mode.

Rubbish.

Mario Strikers Charged Football (Wii)

OK. First up, it's not really football. You have a ball, and you score goals, but there the similarity ends. You have powerups, special moves (some of which let you score six goals at once!) and it's totally insane.

Anyway. I played through the tutorial section, which actually took the best part of an hour, and then dived straight into some online games.

I really should have practised offline a bit, though. I played two people, both in Best of Three bouts, and lost two games to none both times. Bah.

Super Mario Bros (Wii)

Back in the day, I completed this zeventyfazillion times. I could do it with my eyes closed. I could do it upside down in a bucket of water. I could do it by shouting instructions over the phone to someone else holding the controller.

Now? I can't get from 8-1 to 8-4 without losing at least two lives, can't get past the water bit on 8-4 at all, and am generally just crap at it.

Clearly, Nintendo have hardified it since the NES era. FACT.

I've left the game saved at the beginning of 8-4 as Super Mario and with two lives remaining. No doubt when I come to continue, I'll fall in the lava pit immediately to my right twice in quick succession.

Super Mario World (Wii)

Eh? I went back to have a go at getting closer to the full 96 exits completed, only to find that it hadn't saved my game after completing it last time. Meaning I have to do all of Star Road again. Rubbish!

Mario Kart 64 (Wii)

Only a relatively quick go today, playing through the second cup on 50cc. Naturally, I won, coming first in every race. Hurrah!

Super Mario World (Wii): COMPLETED!

Amazing scenes. I found a warp to Star World (yeah, I've played SMW a few times before...) and worked my way around that, finding all the secret exits and ending up at Bowser's front door. Chose route 4 and route 5 through his castle, and reached him without getting hit.

Then it was time to kill Bowser himself, who was the easiest thing ever, ever, and I didn't get hit there either. Game over, win!

Super Mario World (Wii)

Tore through all of Donut (Doughnut, dammit!) Plains, finding most of the hidden exits, before moving on to Vanilla Dome. No secret exits here, yet, but I am on Lemmy's Castle. 35 lives already too! I don't remember it being so easy...

Super Mario World (Wii)

New Virtual Console Game Day! Yaay! Mind you, I haven't really played Mario Kart 64 much after buying that last week, but that's mainly because The Castlevania has stolen my brains.

So I downloaded Super Mario World, and tried very hard to get used to the "proper" way of holding the pad (I have this freaky way of doing it with the SNES pad and the classic controller for the Wii isn't quite right). I think I may have it sussed though.

I've found the yellow and green switch palaces, killed Iggy, and am about to embark on the Donut Plains Ghost House. It's aces, is this.

Mario Kart 64 (Wii)

One of today's Virtual Console downloads was this. Well, it would be rude not to download it, yes? So I did.

Firstly, the graphics look a lot better than I remember. This could be because I've more recently played some of the N64 game's tracks on the DS version, and the DS isn't quite up to N64 standards. However, I was surprised at how sparse the tracks were. Of course, once I get to Wario Stadium I'm sure things will improve, but the four tracks on Mushroom Cup that I played (on 50cc, first place in each!) were certainly bare.

Still a lovely game, though.

Super Mario Bros (Wii)

When did this get so hard? I don't remember it being hard. It's never been hard. But still, I can't do 8-4. I'm stumped on the water bit in the middle of the level. There's a bit where you have a spinny fire thing and two Bloopers and I can't get past them. One Blooper starts high, the other low, and you can't weave round them fast enough. Even luring them both to the top or bottom doesn't seem to work as you can't swim fast enough to get past them.

I swear it's cheating.

Super Mario Bros (Wii)

Grr. Still can't get past 8-4. It's not that it's especially difficult, it just seems that I lose most of my lives on 8-1 before I can get there.

Super Mario Bros (Wii)

Bah. Got to the watery bit of 8-4 this time, only to die. I'm sure this version runs faster than any other version I've played as well, which doesn't help.

I've found the continue option though - you press A and Start on the title screen. That's NES-A, not Wii-A, so is 1 on the remote.