New Super Mario Bros.

aka: NSMB, New Chāojí Mǎlìōu Xiōngdì, Super Mario Advance 5
Moby ID: 22341
Nintendo DS Specs
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Description official descriptions

In an all new 2D side-scrolling adventure, Mario and Luigi return after nearly fifteen years. The first traditional Mario Bros. game since Super Mario World.

The character models are rendered in real time 3D, allowing for a far greater number of moves ever before seen in a Mario Bros. title. Also as the game is on DS, the touch screen allows players to store an additional power-up and view the distance still to go in a level.

Bowser and Bowser Jr. has kidnapped Princess Peach, and of course, it is up to Mario and Luigi to rescue her and take down the troublemakers. There are eight new worlds to explore, much like in Mario 3: they are Plains, Desert, Tropical Island, Forest, Ice, Mountains, Sky, and Bowser's Lair.

The eight worlds have eighty distinct levels as well as many secrets that will only be found on careful examination. There are also many new power-ups (the mega mushroom and Koopa shell, for instance) for the brothers to collect.

Spellings

  • New 超级马力欧兄弟 - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • ニュー・スーパーマリオブラザーズ - Japanese spelling
  • 뉴 슈퍼 마리오브라더스 - Korean spelling

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Screenshots

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Credits (Nintendo DS version)

75 People (72 developers, 3 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 107 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 124 ratings with 8 reviews)

So New It Smells Like New

The Good
Having decided to come back to writing reviews after a little hiatus, I decided to review a Nintendo DS game. As over my “time off” I finally got one. The subject that I shall examine today, New Super Mario Bros. This being one of the handheld's biggest titles. Further interesting is the fact, that this is the first 2D Mario game in 15 years. Can Mario still pack fun in the second dimension?

2D or not 2D that is the question….

In New Super Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi, must once more save Princess Peach, and the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa.(Or Bowser…Or Whatever.) This time however Bowser Jr., will be Mario’s main menace. Gameplay wise the game most closely resembles The original Super Mario Bros. With many references and tricks from other Mario games from over the years. Mario still must slide down the flagpole to end a level for example. And uses maps to travel in between the levels in the various worlds ala Mario 3.

However there are many new things to do and see. New power-ups include Shell Mario, Mini-Mario, and the coolest Mega Mario.(Or as I like to call it, Mario Smash!) This turns Mario enormous, from here he must crash through the levels as quickly and thoroughly as possible, the better the destruction the more 1-ups you will gain.

There are also many secrets in the game. Some of which require a particular power-up to acquire. For instance the levels branch off at one point, and the only way to get to World 4 and World 7 are to finish Worlds 3 and 6 in a particular way. There are 3 special coins to collect in each stage, which can then be used to unlock alternate paths in a World.

The Worlds themselves all have a different theme. World 1 is a grassland. Whereas, World 3 is a water world. As per tradition there are 8 total. The levels lead to a castle with a boss. Here is where NSMB differs from SMB as, each boss at the end of world is different, not always Bowser. The mini boss is always Bowser Jr., but as the game goes on he learns new techniques to keep things challenging.

All the secrets keep the replay value up. As you can always go back and get the things you missed. Another new addition, in the 2 player head to head gameplay, via the DS and a Wi-Fi connection. Dubbed Mario Vs. Luigi, this is the first time in the series that two people play competitively in a Mario game. It is a cool feature but not as original as one might expect, as Sonic the Hedgehog 3, had a similar feature.(And that was 10 years ago.) This is not the only place where Luigi pops up. As you can also play the single player game as Luigi, via a code that you get after finishing the game. There are also a score of mini-games to play, and unlock as you progress the game. From card games, to skill based games, they all provide a fun distraction, but won’t keep you playing after you conquered the game.

The graphics in NSMB are quite good, and help show just what the DS is capable of. The levels themselves are in 2D. While Mario and all the other inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom are in 3D. The DS backlight really helps bring out the beauty of the game. In the end this is one of the best looking games on the DS.

The sound and music are much what we have come to expect from Mario games. And many sounds are the same exact sounds they were 20 years ago. There are also voice samples as seen in more modern Mario games. In the sound department NSMB gets the job done. <br><br>**The Bad**<br>Something Is Rotten In The Mushroom Kingdom

All is not well in New Super Mario Bros. I think that my first complaint has to be that, you can not save whenever you want. You can only save your progress after you finish a castle, a world, or unlock a new path. This is exacerbated by the battery issue of the DS. If you have not saved in a while, and then suddenly you need a recharge, you may lose your progress. When you finish the game you unlock the ability to save anywhere. Of course this does not help the first time.

The fact that every time you defeat Bowser Jr., and then he grabs the Princess and runs off is kind of dumb. And a little on the tedious side. Why does Mario not just stop him from taking off with her. It really make no sense.

The redundant voices get old. But this is only a minor complaint.

The game is a little too easy, perhaps the easiest in the entire franchise, and it is short, but then again so was the first game.



The Bottom Line
“It's A Me Mario”

In the end, New Super Mario Bros., overcomes most of it’s shortcomings. It will assuredly provide a fun experience for Mario fans. And fans of 2D platforming. Furthermore it is one of the best Mario games in years. DS owners have to have this game in there collection.

Nintendo DS · by MasterMegid (723) · 2007

Finally a new Mario side scrolling game, and it's awesome!

The Good
It is a Mario game in classic side scrolling glory! It's been quite a while since we saw the last really big Mario Bros. game: Super Mario World which launched with the SNES. But now there is NSMB. It feels absolutely like a Super Mario Bros. game should. The greatest elements from previous installments are put together in one awesome game. There are power-ups similar to the suits from Mario 3, warp pipes, secret exits and Star Coins to collect from Mario World and the Red Coins are back too. These are just a few examples of all-time classic Mario elements used in NSMB.

The power-ups include many new ones. Besides the fire flower that gives you the famous Fire Suit there is also the Koopa Shell, which gives you the ability to smash into enemies and walls and gives better swimming abilities (like Mario 3's Frog Suit). There are also a very tiny and a very big mushroom. The mini mushroom shrinks Mario so he can fit through small holes or pipes and makes him lighter, allowing for higher jumping and walking on water. The big mushroom makes Mario grow for a short time so he can destroy all obstacles and enemies that get in his way. The levels have the classic themes we all know and love: Grass, Pipe, Desert etc. These themes are far from original but that's not really a problem. In classic Mario Fashion, it's about level design, which is again done in a superb way. There's tilting platforms, pipes that lead to bonus areas, snow that falls from trees on Mario's head, Koopas, Goombas and basically everything we've come to expect from a Mario game. The bosses are more diversified than in previous Mario games, but the sub-boss, in the form of Bowser Jr., can get a bit repetitive. This is a bit of a letdown, but fortunately gets a bit harder every time, making the difficulty of these battles grow at a steady rate.

Mario also has some new moves, mostly translated into side scrolling gameplay from Super Mario 64 DS such as the wall jump. You will enjoy smashing boxes, collecting coins and power ups and fighting baddies just like you did on the NES and SNES systems. The graphics are also done in a great style. The characters look just about the same as they did in Super Mario 64 DS. They are all done in pretty 3D models and translate well into the 2D world, which is in classic pixel art. Although they have the more detailed style instead of the simple style used in the old days, you still get the feel that those classic games had, which is nice. Everything is animated well and things like opening doors and underwater areas look brilliant and really show the excellent blend of 2D and 3D graphics. Everything is colorful and suits the classic style as it should.

The story is just as simple as always, Bowser and Bowser Jr. have kidnapped Princess Peach once again and Mario must save her. While not very original, it should be this way. Without Peach to save a SMB game wouldn't be complete and the simple story has its charm. Once completed there is quite some Star Coins to collect and art to unlock as well as secret paths to find which will keep you busy for a while. The worlds are full of normal courses as well as Ghost houses, Warp Cannons, Towers and castles, just like in the old days. Music is great and most tunes are new. They are really cheerful and sound great on the stereo speakers the DS has. The sound effects are mostly classic NES sounds but they still work surprisingly well more then twenty years later. Some sounds had to be added, most notably the beautiful sound of closing a door.

The Bad
Is it all greatness, or are there any flaws? Well, yes, unfortunately. First of all this game is rather easy. When following the game in standard order you miss out a whole two worlds of all eight. Instead of making two secret and extra hard worlds as an extra challenge after beating Bowser, like in Super Mario World, you just skip them and do the hardest world earlier on, which is just plain weird. The later levels are just not as challenging as the ones in earlier Mario titles. If you manage to find all levels and exits, gaining access to all Star Coins isn't really challenging. Since you can often make things easier by getting a power up in a Toad house on the map, so you won't have to bother with all those hazards, picking up the Star Coins is never as challenging as the hardest Yoshi Coins of SMW which had five on each level. NSMB has only three Star Coins in each level. You can complete all these tasks to unlock some art but nothing special. There is also another surprise which is given after beating the game once, which is a bit more interesting and which I'm not going to spoil here. There is also a multiplayer via wireless connection in which Mario and Luigi race for stars. While this may be fun for a while, the overall blandness of it makes you stop quickly, returning to the excellent single player mode.

The world maps are very simple. SMB3 and SMW had players travelling over the maps to find all secrets in them and they were very different from the ones seen in previous worlds. They had roads stretching in totally different directions. Every world was a lot bigger than the previous one. This is not the case with NSMB. The maps are basically one road from left to right with some paths connected to it leading to one or two new levels and ending in a dead end at the last one. Only the last world is significantly bigger than the others, which is a shame. As said before, the sub-boss Bowser Jr. battles may be a bit repetitive at times. A little less of these to make every battle feel more challenging and fresh, perhaps may have been better. Some of the moves translated from Super Mario 64 DS are not really needed, something I already experienced while playing that game.

The Bottom Line
While not being of the same amazing quality as Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros. is still a very, VERY solid buy for both experienced Mario players and newbies. It's second only to these two famous classics when it comes to side scrolling games in the franchise. And, as we all know, that's a VERY big name to live up to.

Nintendo DS · by Rensch (203) · 2006

Mamma Mia!

The Good
It's been a long time since Super Mario Bros appeared in our nintendo systems. With the new technologies, Mario's games have changed. You can find a lot of games relative to the plumber, all kind of games. With Mario we've painted, we've played lots of minigames in huge boards, we've fought against other characters of Nintendo like Link or Samus (and with other characters of other companies), we've played golf, tennis and many other things. All those games are good games, there's no doubt, but when Mario appears in a new platform game, we have another feeling. Mario is a character made to appear in games of this genre.

The Mario series has something special, we have Mario platform games on 3-D and 2-D. Many games were good games in 2-D, but when they jumped into 3-D it was a complete failure. This is not the case. Mario's games in 3-D are as good as the 2-D games, and all of them are an example of solid game series. We don't need 3-D to know that this is a great game, and we don't miss the 2-D when we play a Mario game in 3-D.

New Super Mario Bros has nothing new, just some minor things, but, it's the same concept that appeared on the mario 2-D games in Super Nintendo a long time ago. We'll have to jump, run, eat mushrooms and gain a lot of extra lives (it's really easy to have the maximum number of lives), but it's still as funny as always. It's a Super Mario game and nothing more, but that's enough, for sure.

Beside the main story, the secret levels and all those classic things, we have minigames to use the stylus (we don't use the stylus during the game) and a very funny multiplayer mode that completes the experience of the game.

The Bad
There are no bad things on this game, just some minor concepts that could be much better. Some secrets are hidden very well, which is not bad at all, but there are a few of them which are really absurd to find.

Maybe you'll miss new things, the game has some new features but nothing important.

The Bottom Line
New Super Mario Bros is, by far, one of the best platform games for Nintendo DS. You'll love it even if you have never played a Mario game, and if you've done it you'll love it the same way because it has the spirit of the old-school Mario games. It's like coming back to the past with a game that's not old-fashioned.

Nintendo DS · by NeoJ (398) · 2009

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
So far, I've got mixed feelings... DarkBubble (342) Sep 28, 2007

Trivia

Competition

To celebrate Mario's 20th anniversary, Nintendo Australia ran a competition that anyone who purchased an Australian copy of New Super Mario Bros. could enter. The major prize was a trip for 4 to America to visit the Nintendo World Store with $1000 spending money. There were also twenty runner-up prizes of limited edition "Happy! Mario 20th" T-shirts.

Packaging

The Japanese version of the game was packaged in a special Nintendo DS case - instead of the plastic being black, it was bright yellow.

Sales

In December 2010, New Super Mario Bros. became the first Nintendo DS game to sell over six million copies in Japan. It accomplished this after being on the market for almost five years. It's also the best selling game worldwide for the system, with 30.79 million copies sold in total.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2006 – Best DS Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Best Dexterity Game of the Year
  • GamePro (Germany)
    • February 01, 2007 - Best Handheld Game in 2006 (Readers' Vote)
  • GameSpy
    • 2006 – #2 Handheld Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Nintendo DS Game of the Year
    • 2006 – Nintendo DS Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
    • 2006 – Nintendo DS Platformer of the Year
  • Golden Joystick Awards
    • 2006 - The Official Nintendo Magazine Nintendo Game of the Year

Information also contributed by Ben K.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Keeper Garrett.

Wii U added by Michael Cassidy.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Alaka, Kabushi, Opipeuter, monkeyislandgirl, gamewarrior, —-, Cantillon, CalaisianMindthief, Patrick Bregger, piltdown_man.

Game added May 21, 2006. Last modified March 6, 2024.