New Super Mario Bros.

The Good
Mario has always held up a high place in my heart as a noble video game character. I have, however, lost faith in some of his game as of recently. Surely, the sequels to some of his games have been less than inspiring. It seems like whenever Nintendo can’t think of a good name for a video game, they stick a Mario license on it and make it a Mario game. And the sad part is that it sells.

That, however, is hopefully gone, as Nintendo returns the icon of platform gaming to his roots. With New Super Mario Brothers, the name pretty much is the antithesis of what the game is all about. Hardly anything is new at all. You really can’t play this game without looking through a level and seeing a theme, mechanism, puzzle, enemy, or environment that isn’t from a previous Mario game. Various things like the flagpole from Super Mario Bros.make the game feel like Mario is finally getting back to where he started, back to what made him popular. On the levels, this game borrows heavily from Super Mario World. Major influences can be seen in the level designs of this game from that one. All throughout the game you will see ghost houses, the volcano levels, moles, moving levels, and much more. Many enemies can be seen from and Super Mario Sunshine. Throughout the game I experienced enemies from as far back as Super Mario Bros. to as far ahead as Super Mario Sunshine. Enemies like the Eel, the Manta, the Sharks, and that loch ness monster thingy from Hazy Maze Cave have returned from Super Mario 64, as well as the ability to wall jump, triple jump, and ground pound, which come in very handy. A hardcore fan will not be able to play the game without drooling in delight over the huge smorgasbord of Mario games that have influenced this one.

That is not to say, though, that New Super Mario Bros. can’t deliver any original content. The game goes to a good length to introduce new enemies and content that was not taken from other Mario games. I recognized several enemies that were not from previous games like Crows (that looked eerily like the ones from Zelda) and a few other strange ones that I do not even know where they came up with the ideas from. As well, there are new power-ups like the ultra-mushroom, which makes you super huge and able to destroy the environment. On a side note, everything in the environment is destructible if you have the right power. I am speaking, of course, of many of the bloacks in the game. When things grow to gargantuan sizes, like say, a Thwump or even Mario himself, they’re able to destroy blocks, entirely. Mario can level pipes and even the flagpole at the end. Its nothing that adds to the entire experience, but when it happens, it’s a damn lot of fun to do as well. Destroying Mario environments and literally completely flattening out the level is a lot of fun, something I hope they will do in future games.

The game play, of course, is the core of this game, and will be instantly recognizable to those of the series, with platforming and puzzle elements mixed into the series at a great level. For those of you who have missed their platforming roots, welcome home. This game is the reincarnation of a long lost genre. One that I am very disappointed has been lost. But that genre has come home, and who better to deliver it to fans than the grandfather of platforming. Besides the fast and addictive game play, there are over eighty levels to play across eight worlds that fans of Super Mario Bros 3 will easily recognize. The game goes back to Mario’s roots, and brings us that fast, addictive, and satisfying platforming experience that I love to enjoy, the simple pleasure of a 2D sidescroller, nothing to do but challenge your skill and reflexes. And this gives me such a warm feeling of pride within myself. With a platform game comes another thing: simplified gaming. No need to train stats or gain weapons. Just click and play. At the core of the game, you can feel a satisfied feeling of great fun gaming without any complications of inventory systems, health, or energy meters. It’s just plain fun, simple as that. New Super Mario Bros. is a plethora of platforming goodness that will keep any fan occupied by its addictive game play, and is a great play for both casual gamers and hardcore platforming fans alike.

Like Super Mario World, there are plenty of secret routes to keep you occupied by going back and finding them, which adds a nice bonus to the replay value. As well, there is a major thing in this, as nobody will play the game and get to the boss the same way as someone else. Besides there being secret levels, there are hidden worlds, and inside the hidden worlds are hidden levels, hidden pathways, and alternate routes to take. No one, I mean no one, will play this game the exact same way as everyone else. Every person who has the game will have a different route mapped out to the boss than someone else. I feel all nostalgic as I think of how Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 had a great mechanism and utilized it so well.

The backgrounds and graphics of the game have really shaped up to be something else as well. The graphics are crisp and clear on the DS screen, and make for a great display of graphics that are great but not too over the top. Like the good 16 bit graphics of the SNES, only slightly more improved. The backgrounds are where it really gets you. Many of the backgrounds are beautiful eye candy for you to enjoy. Many have multiple layers to give you a 3D feel, and also add to the atmosphere of the world depending on where you are.

The multiplayer is absolutely genius, and is where the game takes full advantage of the touch screen. There are two modes of multiplayer gameplay. One is a mode where I can play the mini-games from Super Mario 64 DS, except with up to four players. Its absolutely an amazing experience, being able to sit around on a lazy day and be able to play blackjack over your DS with your friends, or play a cool game of 4-player Othello. Its pretty much like Mario Party DS, without the board. You get to have a fun time playing around with your friends in a bunch of great mini-games. The other mode is the 2 player versus, where one player takes on Mario and another takes on Luigi. The game plays similar to the multiplayer in Super Mario 64 DS, except in 2D side-scrolling platforming goodness. The game uses the main game engine to power two-player battle, where you and a friend fight over stars. The first to a set amount of stars wins the round. This is one of the most addictive wireless games to have. The game is often fun, over-the-top, and all around hectic, that it’s very fun to get caught up in. You can shoot each other with fireballs, hit each other will turtle shells, and even use the Super Mushroom to flatten out the entire level to a mere smooth surface. And the best part is, both games can be played by someone who does not have the game! In fact, all three people can download the game off of one person. So one person in an entire group has to own the game and still be able to play the game over the DS download. It is quite a bargain, that is great for anyone looking for a good multiplayer game that they can play without everyone having to buy the same game.

And while the game benefits those who’ve played and loved the Mario franchise, this does not stop the game from being enjoyable to other gamers as well. Unlike the Super Mario RPG series, it relies more heavily on game play rather than universe elements, which allows fans of old school gaming to pick up this game easily and enjoy it. Even though Mario fans will get the most enjoyment out of the game, I can safely say others will simply love the addictive platforming style gameplay that this game delivers.

The Bad
While I enjoyed this game a lot, there are way too many obvious things that really take away from that nostalgia value that I wanted so badly in this game. The developers focused way too much on that platform nirvana that they forgot many other basic interface necessities such as a good universe and good characters.

One of the elements missing is the lack of good, solid, music from the originals. I mean, the music is pretty high-quality for the game, but I wanted recordings out of the originals. Where’s my Super Mario World theme, or the underground music from the original? Instead in its place we have an incredibly synthesized remixes of some old themes and ones that I don’t recognize at all. It really undermines some of that atmosphere that surrounds this game and it really gets me down that they did not even attempt to reuse the music from the classics.

As well, the game has a glaring lack of any story or supporting characters. I know the originals never had any storyline, so maybe that’s why they refused to incorporate one in this, but I am so used to the Super Mario RPG series, where even the most insignificant supporting character has a bright and colorful personality, that I suppose I forgot the original characters really don’t have any personality at all. But from a narrative standpoint, we are looking at some bits and scraps of a storyline. Two short 10-15 second cutscenes in the opening and closing of the game. I am also disappointed at the absence of Yoshi, or any good supporting characters, even toad or someone else. But no, none are here. If you’re really expecting something, like say, the charm and wit that Paper Mario brought us, then please, look elsewhere.

The over-world map is also incredibly uninspired. The worlds line up to a perfect line, with two branches in it that lead to secret worlds. But it’s nothing that amazing. In fact, it’s appalling, far from the magnificent universe of Super Mario World. It is even terrible how they designed the interface. In Super Mario World, the levels were worked into the terrain and it looked natural. The worlds were connected to each other in multiple ways, and the levels were scattered across the board. In this game, it is no such thing. Both the levels and worlds are arranged in a straight line, with some skewing for the hidden alternate levels. Hell, the worlds aren’t even connected to each other in a giant “world” like they were in Super Mario World. They are just separate screens, and by the press of a button they just appear there, with a terribly boring laid out design in front of you. It is a shame that they had to do this, perhaps because of time constraints, but it really takes away from the Mario universe. It hurts me to think of the potential that this game could have had if it had a good over-world that I could run around and explore in.

As far as game time goes, I made it easily to the final boss in one day. This is probably due to the incredible easiness of the game. Especially compared to the brutal Super Mario Bros. 3, this game in comparison is child's play. By all means, Miyamoto has definitely lowered his standards for the difficulties. As a result, one can make it to the final boss in one day. For those who don’t stop to enjoy the game, speed-beating the game is trivial. This is also attributed to the fact that there are so many secret ways to go, that you can easily skip a huge portion of the game and get to the end having only played 25 levels. There are many easy routes to take like the cannons that skip you over two worlds. Because of this, the game relies on the ability to go back and play levels to find secret routes for its replay value. This is the factor that will keep many veteran gamers away. Its just way too short, especially for those hardened platform gurus who can speed-beat Super Mario Bros. without breaking a sweat. While the lack of other elements keeps many Mario fans disappointed, this last factor will make casual gamers or those unfamiliar with the Mario series not only disappointed, but angry at the purchase of such a short game.

The Bottom Line
Mario has finally returned to his roots with a solid set of platforming levels and great puzzles. Platform fans will finally be back to gaming nirvana, and fans of the Mario series will drool over this game for its tribute to the classics. Even the casual platform game fan can enjoy a good round of jumping and puzzles and feel a deep-down satisfaction.

It lacks a fine polish that would have made it the perfect tribute to Mario games, like a cast of colorful characters, a good over-world, or a fine chorus of classical themes. However, it’s good that this is the first in a hopefully long series of sequels, and this game hold a lot of potential to improve its downfalls. Its satisfying, addictive one-player platform mode and its exciting, fast-paced multiplayer is worth it to DS owner. If you’re willing to spend $35 on a short but absolutely fun game, I would recommend you pick this up, especially if you’ve got that old school itch that you need to scratch.