If Nintendo were the talking type, we'd ask them why they didn't just name New Super Mario Bros. Wii "Super Mario Bros. 4" -- especially since Executive VP Cammie Dunaway kept throwing the number "4" around right before she revealed the game at their E3 2009 press conference. Was she talking about an official fourth game in the legendary SMB series? A secret fourth dimension that famed game designer Shigeru Miyamoto had discovered/invented?

Nope, just "4" as in "four player" play. But after more extensive hands-on time with the game last week, we realize "4" is a much bigger deal than we initially thought. Here's a closer look at that and what else is really new in New Super Mario Bros. Wii -- and what hasn't changed (thank god).

Controlled chaos

The thing about adding in three more players in a platformer: It sure gets messy. You'll get in each other's way, cause others to fall to their deaths, make friends jump here when they meant to jump there....

That might not sound fun on paper -- especially for a series known for precision controls and gameplay. But you'll never get the same laughs and screams during solo sessions of old-school Mario. It's the same stuff behind multiplayer Bomberman and Mario Kart -- design the gameplay to be just chaotic enough without losing structure, and you've found the winning formula for an excellent party game.

You can have the four best, most perfect Mario players in the world playing together, but it's still going to turn into laugh-out-loud bedlam at some point. Something that should be in your control will not be because of the three other X-factors screwing up your rhythm, and it's that unpredictability that gives NSMBW its unique flavor within the franchise.

So if you die and a teammate accidentally frees you from your floating respawn bubble over a pit so you immediately die again, you'll probably find it funny. Probably.

New heights in level design

Whether it's out of some Mario-gameplay instinct or strictly by accident, at some point, you will jump on another player's head. And after you see how much air you get from doing so, you'll start doing it all the time, much to the chagrin of the guys sitting next to you.

The stage designers know this and thus, have placed the best goodies (like giant coins) just out of normal jump range, forcing you to work together to reach them -- or at least take advantage of the other players' bouncy noggins for selfish gain.

New power-ups affect level design as well. NSMBW's penguin suit lets you to shoot ice, belly slide, and walk with more authority on slippery surfaces. More importantly, however, it allows you to freeze enemies into solid ice blocks, which opens up a whole new world of platforming opportunities, as you can probably imagine.

The other new power-up we got to see during our demo is the propeller suit, which lets you fly and glide for short bursts -- and reach even higher highs with the help of your friends' trampoline heads.

Old Super Mario Bros.

Of course, the gameplay physics are all classic Mario -- the precision, the understated momentum-based physics...they're all there. But you'll find plenty of other references to older games that ought to make traditionalists plenty happy:

• The higher up on the stage-ending flag pole you land on, the more points you get.

• Finish the level with specific numbers on the last two digits of the game clock, and you'll get a special fireworks show.

• Hit a red ring, and eight red coins will appear -- grab them all before they disappear, and you can earn 1UPs or other power-ups.

• Music from many of the older games thoughout the Mario series.

• Yoshi!

All these old-school nods may not overcome the chaos that is multiplayer New Super Mario Bros. Wii for the stubborn traditionalist, but still, good news for them (and for those without any friends): The game is perfectly suited for single-player play. But why miss out on the craziness when crazy is this much fun?