There are two components for playing a 3ds New Super Mario Bros. Additional Coin Rush stages were made available for purchase as downloadable content shortly after the game's release. The game features a specialized mode called 'Coin Rush' that focuses exclusively on quickly completing a series of stages while collecting as many coins as possible. 2 has a heavier emphasis on coin-collecting than other Super Mario games, with multiple unique items dedicated to producing large amounts of coins.

The game's plot is similar to its predecessors, focusing on Mario and Luigi's efforts to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser and the Koopalings. The game was first released in Japan on Jand was released in Europe, Australia, and North America in August 2012, and is the first Nintendo-published game to be released simultaneously in both digital and physical forms. The game is a direct sequel to New Super Mario Bros., released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS and is the third New Super Mario Bros. 2 is a side-scrolling platformer video game in the Super Mario series developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console.