The Super Guide feature was first introduced in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and it was activated whenever the player died 8 times in a level. What happened wasn’t a mandatory viewing, but you had the option of watching the computer play through the stage you were stuck in to help you get past.

This feature showed up once more in Super Mario Galaxy 2 (though handled in a slightly different way) and helped gamers otherwise stuck. I think it’s a great move on Nintendo’s part to have in their games, because it takes out some of the frustration for “noobs” because instead of getting turned off and never going back to the game again because they’re stuck, they can just pick up on the next stage.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is having their own version of the Super Guide…perhaps “Super Kong”, and will likely be an even more useful tool than it was in the past two Mario games, because DKCR looks to be pretty tough and unforgiving. I had the chance to play the game at E3 and my initial impressions were very positive.

I hope that I don’t have to use any guide, since I didn’t have to in either Mario game, nor do I ever like to use outside help, but I’m still for the overall inclusion of the feature in Nintendo’s games.

What’s your thought on the feature? Are you glad that it’s there, wish it would be taken out, have you ever needed to use it yourself? Share your thoughts. I’m going to go play some Donkey Kong Country 2 and Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts to brush up on my ability to handle insane platforming.