New Super Mario Bros. U is getting a very different look on PC. The fan made New Super Mario Bros. U 2D Edition has now reached Beta 3, bringing another update to a project that rebuilds Nintendo’s Wii U platformer with pixel-art graphics. A Windows version is currently available, while an Android edition is also planned. At first glance, the idea sounds simple. Take New Super Mario Bros. U and redraw it with sprites. In practice, there’s more going on than that. The project changes how characters, enemies, backgrounds and level objects appear on screen, giving the game a noticeably different visual style while keeping the familiar side-scrolling setup. It’s still Mario. Just presented differently.
A different take on the Wii U game
New Super Mario Bros. U 2D Edition is being developed by Wolfmaik Wooah with help from other contributors. The project doesn’t try to build an entirely new Mario adventure from scratch. Instead, it takes the structure and ideas of New Super Mario Bros. U and reworks the presentation around pixel art. That distinction matters.
New Super Mario Bros. U was already a 2D platformer in terms of how it played. Mario moved from left to right through side-scrolling stages, just as he had in earlier games. Visually, though, Nintendo used 3D models, rendered characters and layered environments. The 2D Edition replaces much of that look with sprite-based artwork.
So this isn’t a case of turning a 3D Mario game into a 2D one. It’s closer to rebuilding an existing 2D platformer so it looks and feels like it came from a different visual era. Beta 3 is still very much a work-in-progress release. Features can change, graphics may be revised and technical issues are still part of the process. That’s what a beta is for.
Where New Super Mario Bros. U came from
Nintendo originally released New Super Mario Bros. U for Wii U in Europe on 30 November 2012. It arrived alongside Nintendo’s new console and continued the New Super Mario Bros. series that had already appeared on Nintendo DS, Wii and Nintendo 3DS. The setup is classic Mario.
Bowser and his forces take control of Peach’s Castle, leaving Mario, Luigi and the Toads to work their way back across the Mushroom Kingdom. The game uses a connected world map with areas such as Acorn Plains, Layer-Cake Desert, Sparkling Waters, Frosted Glacier, Soda Jungle, Rock-Candy Mines and Meringue Clouds.
There’s also Superstar Road for players who want something tougher. One of the game’s main additions was the Super Acorn. Pick one up and Mario becomes Flying Squirrel Mario, giving him the ability to glide, slow his descent and cling to walls for a short time.
The game also brought Baby Yoshis into several stages, each with its own useful ability. Some levels include hidden exits too, so the world map doesn’t always send you along one fixed path.
More than the standard campaign
New Super Mario Bros. U wasn’t limited to the main adventure. Nintendo included Challenge Mode, where players could tackle specific objectives, along with Coin Battle and other multiplayer features.
The Wii U GamePad also played a part. In Boost Mode, another player could tap the screen to place temporary platforms inside a level. Nintendo later followed the game with New Super Luigi U.
That expansion replaced the original stages with 82 new courses designed around Luigi’s different movement. He jumps higher than Mario but slides more when stopping, and most levels give players much less time to reach the flagpole.
In 2019, Nintendo brought both games to Nintendo Switch as New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. That release combined New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U into one package, giving Switch owners access to more than 160 courses.
What Beta 3 changes for the fan project
Beta 3 release, marks the latest stage of development for New Super Mario Bros. U 2D Edition. The biggest attraction remains the visual conversion. Characters, enemies, objects and environments are being adapted to fit a pixel-art style instead of the smoother 3D-rendered graphics used in Nintendo’s original release.
That means familiar stages can look surprisingly different even when the basic layout hasn’t changed. It also gives the project a clear purpose. This isn’t trying to replace New Super Mario Bros. U or completely redesign its gameplay. The focus is on seeing how the same kind of game works with a different graphical approach.
For players who follow PC Mario fan games, version 1.5.0 is the latest playable snapshot of that idea. The Android version is still planned, so the project may eventually reach more devices. For now, the Windows build is where Beta 3 can be seen in its current form.
It’s still unfinished. But the direction is easy to understand. New Super Mario Bros. U 2D Edition takes a familiar Wii U platformer, strips away its original visual style and rebuilds it around pixel art. Beta 3 shows where that experiment currently stands.
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