New Super Mario Bros. Wii Appears to be Hard

It appears more and more that New Super Mario Bros. Wii, is going to be not only one of the best games of the year, but one of the best Mario games in a long time.  MTV reported today that the game will be as hard as Contra.  Kotaku has said the game will count the number of continues that you use, though they were unsure exactly what that meant and the Nintendo rep would not tell them.

In addition to those two accounts Jeremy Parish said that it was "the single most effective marriage of old and new Nintendo you could ever hope for".

What do you guys think.  Based on what you've seen is the game going to be everything you could have hoped for and more?  Are you holding reservation until you see the game?  Head on over to the forums and discuss.