Review: New Super Mario Bros.

After Super Mario Bros. 3 was released, it seemed that the "Super Mario Bros." Series was finished. "Super Mario World" played much the same way, but it was the last major side-scrolling Mario playformer. Although ports and remakes of these games were made, it wasn't until 15 years after SMB3 was released that "New Super Mario Bros." for the Nintendo DS continued the official “Super Mario Bros.” series.

NSMB hit the shelves on May 15, 2006 and it was a popular sale. The revival of the "Super Mario Bros." series has attracted tons of retro gamers as well as gamer of the modern age.

Overview

New Super Mario Bros. breathes life into the long neglected Mario sidescrolling world. The game returns to its roots with the return to retro mechanics such as an 8 world adventure, boss fights half way and at the end of each world, blocks to hit, Goombas to stomp on, and most importantly power-ups to collect. Per usual, Bowser has kidnapped the princess and it’s up to Mario to save her.

Graphics

The bottom screen is use used to
hold a back-up item in reserve as well as a map and count of Star
 Coins that the player has.

Although the game is a 2-D sidescroller, the graphics of the game are generated in 3-D like style. Much like in the Super Smash Bros series, the 3-D sprites of characters are limited to only forward-back and up-down motion. The DS capabilities show off the vibrant colors and differences that are seen between each level from desert worlds to snow covered regions.

Music

The game’s music is all originally composed for this game follows the Mario tradition of being complex and including many instruments and sounds. The Overworld theme utilizes many horn instruments as well has many clear “videogame” synth tones. Also cool to point out is that some enemies and power-ups “move to the music” as many will jump up or do some sort of animation a certain point in the song (such has the “wah pause” in the Overworld or the “bell chime” Underwater). All of the classic motifs (sounds made when collecting coins or power-ups, jumping, and pausing the game) are present and respectfully updated.

TV Commercial

GamePlay

New Super Mario Bros. offers 3 different game modes: 1-Player story mode, a 1-Player mini-game mode, and a 2-Player competitive mode.

Story Mode

In the regular game mode, the player controls Mario on his quest to save the princess. Mario has all his controls from his early days such as running and jumping. Adding to the controls however are more modern abilities that Mario possessed only in 3-D platforms such as the “Ground Pound” and the “Wall Kick” which gives Mario more attacks, a chance at surviving a fall down a pit and more complex challenges to face through each level. Each world contains different levels, including both a mini-boss half way along and a major boss at the end.

Power-ups also get a significant boost in the game. Aside for the size changing Super Mushroom and the Fire Power granting Fire Flower, Mario encounters 3 new ability granting transformation items.

• Mini-Mushroom - Shrinks Mario into a very tiny form. He is able to jump very high and far, falls slowly and can run over water and fit places where he couldn't before.
• Koopa Shell - The magical shell gives Mario access to many of the same moves available to enemy Koopa Troopa such has sliding in the shell and protection.
• Mega-Mushroom - The most anticipated power-up of the game temporarily makes Mario grow 10 times his size. He's virtually invincible in this state and can destroy both enemies and landscape objects.

Mario using the power of the Mega Mushroom and graphics of various
enemies and game elements.

Mini-Game Mode

The mini-games present in the game share a striking similarity to those found in “Super Mario 64 DS”. Unlike that game however, the ones in NSMB are unlocked from the beginning and are split into 4 categories: “Action", "Puzzle", " Table", "Variety". There is also a multiplayer version for 2 players with added games.

Each game places a Mario themed character in a situation that requires the player’s skill in memory, reflexes, or just plain luck. Every mini-game exclusively utilizes the touch screen and makes use of both the top and bottom screens of the DS. The top 5 High Scores are saved on the game.

2-Player Competition

Linking up 2 DS’s with 1 or 2 copies of the game enables for a competitive 2-player mode pitting Mario and Luigi against each other to collect the most stars. Players utilize various power ups (the same ones available in 1-player mode) and can use them to collect or steal stars from each other.

Reception

New Super Mario Bros. is one of the keystone games for the Nintendo DS. Prior to it, the only other Mario Platformers were Super Mario 64 DS (a remake) and Super Princess Peach (not the most widely-accepted game in the Mario series). The game received tons of positive reviews for its graphics, gameplay, and ability to return to the game's roots while still being fresh and new. It also contains many hidden and secret Easter-eggs to enhance replay value.

With the standard DS running at practically the end of its life span, this is a must have game for all DS owners and should be found very affordable in major retailers.

Further Reading

http://www.mariowiki.com/New_Super_Mario_Bros.

http://themushroomkingdom.net/games/nsmb