New Super Mario Bros.

THE BAD:
- On the easy side for most Mario veterans
- Most of the mini-games are recycled from Super Mario 64 DS

SUMMARY:
The first Mario side-scroller in over a decade! This game plays like the originals, but Mario's new moves and new power-ups make the experience feel brand new. This game is tons of fun for old-school fans, and people new to gaming as well.

Gameplay: The gameplay is smooth. The game controls just like the original Mario Bros. with a dash and jump button, but for this outing Mario has learned a few new moves. Mario could now ground pound, which is useful against enemies and switches, and Mario could now wall jump to reach higher platforms. The game features eight different worlds, each with their own theme, and each world has a mid-point tower, and a castle at the end. Old powers-ups such as the invincibility star, fire flower, and mushroom are all back, as well as new power-ups such as the Mini-Mushroom which shrinks Mario into pixel size, a Mega Mushroom which makes Mario grow as big as the screen, and a blue shell which turns Mario into a blue koopa.

Graphics: The graphics in this game are truly unique. The backgrounds are 2D, but the character models are in 3D. So that means 3D Mario will be stomping on 3D goombas, all in a 2D side-scrolling fashion. Unique isn't it? Everything in this game is clear, vivid, and just candy to the eyes. Mario's animations are smooth, and everything just looks so great.

Sound: The music in this game is so catchy and upbeat, that even enemies dance to it. Yes that's right, occasionally you will see a Koopa twitch to the beat. Cool isn't it? This game has a great soundtrack with some old remixed songs to go along with the new songs. You will be happy to hear the familiar "underground" theme when you enter a cave and the original Mario theme when you enter a Toad House. The flow of the music really immerses you into the game.

Conclusion: The great thing about New Super Mario Bros. is that it takes everything that was so spectacular about the original series and takes it to the next level. The new moves and power-ups are a great addition to an already wonderful game, and the secret exits in each level rise the replay value through the roof. If you own a Nintendo DS, then you should own this game, end of story.

THE BAD:
- The game should be called "Old Mario Stuff".

SUMMARY:
Adorn your chef hat and open your game developer’s cookbook to page 1985, because today we’re going to be adding a bit of the new to a lot of the old and the result will be called New Super Mario Brothers.

Two dashes of classic 2D Mario platforming, one dash of revamped gameplay mechanics, a few sprinkles of 3D visuals on a 2D plane, and just a drop of dual screen functionality.

Now we can all see what happens when you combine the original Super Mario Bros. with SMB3, Super Mario World, and Mario 64. The results are probably what you’d expect.

Let’s get right to the point. If you’ve ever played a 2D Mario game before, you’ll probably notice that this endeavor is pretty familiar. Very familiar, in fact. It feels like less a new game and more a re-imagining of all of the old games. This isn’t necessarily a good thing…

The gameplay is definitely solid, sticking to all of the old Mario conventions of leaping from platform to platform with precision timing, hopping on the unsuspecting heads of your enemies, and tossing fireballs at giant plant monsters. One mechanic that is genuinely new to the 2D games is the wall jump; now jumping at a wall and jumping again will launch you in the opposite direction, allowing you to reach higher areas. While this is a nice new feature, it’s hard to ignore the fact that we’ve been walljumping in other games for a very, very long time.

Which is the whole problem with the game. We’ve done all of this before. The game lacks any sort of freshness or originality. Maybe it’s just that I’ve played all of the classic 2D Mario games to death, but I just can’t help but feel that this experience is derivative. Which is another problem; the game lacks identity. I’ve played countless Mario sequels and remakes, but this game just seems to fall out of the normal bounds of what a Mario game should be. It feels… cheap.

There’s not a whole lot to say here. Classic Mario in some new levels that look and feel just like old levels. It also doesn’t help that the game is fairly short, with only 8 small worlds to trample over. Unlockables are sparse and replayability to open some locked paths is limited.



Breakdown:


Gameplay: 4. Running, jumping, bouncing and launching. You know what to expect, and the game delivers on the promise.

Control: 4. Mario handles most similarly to how he did in SMB1, with some new moves picked up from other titles down the road. Not much to gripe about since all of the moves work as intended.

Story: 1. Completely unforgivable. The original games had more interactivity than this. All we get here is Baby Bowser (why not the actual Bowser?) kidnaps Peach and runs away. No text bubbles, no dialogue sequences, no Toads shouting “our princess is in another castle!”. Beat some levels, beat a castle, save, and move on. I’m not amused.

Graphics: 4. Bright and cheerful, as is expected from a Mario title. Worlds brim with colorful backgrounds and scenery that seems to wiggle and dance with the music.

Sound: 4. All of the classic sound effects make a return, along with some revamped music. The package as a whole is fairly pleasant.

Lifespan: 3. Playing the game on the go is a must, since you won’t squeeze much life out of it at home with a lot of time on your hands. Multiplayer is limited to short-range wireless, instead of actual Wi-Fi online play (lame). The unlockable mini-games aren’t worth a peek if you own Mario 64DS and unlocked them from there.

FunFactor: 4. Whether you’re a veteran of the series or a newcomer (all three of you), this game won't fail to impress with its solid gameplay and rapid progression of environments. However, the “new” in the title feels tacked on. Been there, done that.

Lasting Impression (Independent Score): 3. The game would have had more impact as a launch title in place of M64DS, since it’s a throwback to the past instead of just a direct port of an older game. But now that the DS has been on the market for an extensive period of time, I expect more from the console. We’ve seen so many unique franchises spring up and deliver some truly new gameplay, but NSMB just can’t meet the mark. It's an almost shameless act of "we put it out, you buy it" by Nintendo since the game does absolutely nothing to showcase the DS's capabilities.



Bottom line:

It’s too little too late for the SMB franchise. It just doesn’t make any sense that Nintendo would choose to build on SMB after releasing SMW, especially when the SMW franchise is so revered. A New Super Mario World would have been more welcome, but this just feels like an overstayed visit.

However despite its shortcomings, the game is hard not to recommend to just about any gamer. It’s simple, fun, and is more or less a history lesson of classic gameplay. Welcome back to 1985.

3.4 out of 5.

THE BAD:
...But most of them are the same from Super Mario 64 DS
Yoshi is not a playable character

SUMMARY:
First of all I can't believe some people gave this game a low because it's lacks originality. Well of course it's going to lack that because it's meant be like the Mario. And besides with all the fun this offers, who cares anyway?

This is the game that fans of Super Mario World and earlier Mario games have been waiting for a very very long time! This is even better than Super Mario World and the best Mario game yet and the best DS game yet.

Gameplay: It's the classic Mario gameplay of Super Mario Brothers mixed with 3D and wall jumping of Super Mario 64. In this game you get the old power-ups along with some new ones like a Shrinking and using a blue Koopa shell. The Giant power up from Super Mario 64 DS also makes a return. There is one more thing that makes a return: remember that flag you had to pull down from the original Super Mario Brothers? Well you do that in this game too. It's nostalgia people! Anyone who likes the old Mario games just has to like the gameplay found here. The bosses are easy but then again they were easy in the old Mario games too. The gameplay is truly addictive. Rating: 10/10

Graphics: WOW! I've never seen a DS game with such great graphics. You could think your playing this game on your GameCube or PSP with such graphics! If you haven't played this game yet then just look at some screenshots and you could see what I'm talking about. Rating: 10/10

Sound:The typical old Mario sounds are as good as ever. The jumping. The throwing fireballs and everything else sounds the same. The music is new though but it's enjoyable to listen to and not too distracting. Rating: 9/10

Value: I would have given it a 10 it had some hidden worlds or Yoshi as a playable character. But with Luigi as a playable character, the mini-games and all the levels this game has some great value. Some mini-games are the same ones from Super Mario 64 DS but at least some are new. I'm so glad you can find secret worlds and levels and stuff in this game. With this who knows what levels you can discover next? Rating: 9/10

Tilt: This is the game that old-school Mario fans have been waiting for over 10 years.This game teaches us a lesson too: "If it's not broke then don't fix it". Don't get me wrong Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine are decent games in their own right but they really can't compare to the 2D Marios. If you like Super Mario Brothers, 3 or World then you will love this game. At a low cost of $35 this game is worth every cent you pay for it. If you like Super Mario Brothers, 3 or World then you will love this game. Check it out! Rating: 10/10

Overall rating: 9.8/10

THE BAD:
-Short
-Somewhat easy if you're a Mario veteran
-There's only a few power-ups... And the shell power-up is somewhat lame.

SUMMARY:
New Super Mario Bros. is an awesome game. If you're familiar with the original Super Mario Bros. games, you'll feel right at home. The game uses 3D models on 2D backgrounds, but it looks great. The level design is superb, and there's overworld maps a lot like in Super Mario Bros. 3, with Mushroom houses and moving Hammer Bros. Wonderful.

The game also uses a very old-school approach. When Mario jumps, it makes the classic "sproo!" sound effect. There's also the good old sound when you collect coins, and stomp on enemies, and when you grab a power up, when you shoot fireballs, when you hit a Koopa shell... It's all there! The game feels so much like the originals, but it doesn't feel old... It's an entirely new game.

The controls are pretty simple. B/A to jump, hold Y/X to run and to shoot fireballs. The game surprisingly also incorporates moves from Super Mario 64. Build up enough momentum and you can perform Mario's triple jump from that game, and wall-jumping and butt-stomping are included.

Now, the downfalls of this game... First off, it's very short. In fact, there's 8 worlds in total, but you don't even play 2 of them if you unlock them! Also, getting through the game will be a breeze, if you're a veteran of the originals.

And the power-ups department is sort of lacking. It's nice to see the Fire Suit make a return. The Mega Mushroom is pretty cool, you can stomp your way through pretty much anything in a limited amount of time. The Mini Mushroom is okay, but there's really no pressure sensitivity when you jump in this form, making it feel extremely awkward. Of course, there's always the Super Mushroom that'll grow Mario back to normal size if he's a midget. This game introduces the shell power-up... Basically, when you gain full momentum running, you spin around like a Koopa shell. It's really not that special... I really would like to see some of the SMB3 suits return, like the Racoon and/or Tanuki suit, the Frog suit, and especially the Hammer Bros. suit! Or maybe even be able to ride Yoshi... But oh well, they could always make a sequel...

Anyway, this is a definite buy for any DS owner and/or Mario fan. It's one of the best games I've played in a while, and it's actually redeemed my faith in the Mario series.