New Super Luigi U will feel familiar to series veterans

New Super Luigi U, downloadable content that portrays Luigi as the star of New Super Mario Bros U, will feature new levels, but overall familiar content, as shown by a demo we played at E3 2013.

We ventured through several levels in Acorn Plains, one of the game's new worlds. Similar to Mario's adventure, Luigi will gather coins, spin, bounce over the heads of enemies and race to finish levels before a time limit expires. Luigi includes his signature special ability to jump higher than his brother with an extra leg kick similar to that in Super Mario Bros. 2 for NES. This makes him slightly harder to control when landing a jump, as he tends to slip.

During the demo, we also had the chance to play some of the game's multiplayer. Like its predecessor, Luigi U will support up to five players. Where players could previously choose from Mario, Luigi and two toads, Luigi U features one of New Super Mario Bros U's former villains, Nabbit, in place of Mario. A representative told us that the purple rabbit was meant for more inexperienced players and has no special powers of his own.

Grid View

A fifth player can use the GamePad for asynchronous multiplayer with the return of Boost Mode. Boost Mode allows the fifth player to tap the GamePad's touch screen and add blocks that will either help or hinder other players.

New Super Luigi U is currently slated to launch in June on Nintendo's eShop or in a boxed release in August.