Nintendo DS Review: New Super Mario Bros.

Review by: Pierst179

Nearly twenty years have passed since Nintendo released the last of the three Super Mario Bros games, and during this long span the gaming world has went through some big changes therefore it is inevitable that once you start planning to bring an old series back to life you will need to adapt this game to the current requirements of the market. That can be considered a risky move, but when it comes to the most successful gaming series ever – that is loved by both old-school and new gamers – the chances of failure are close to null.

And that's what happened with New Super Mario Bros. Mario's newest DS adventure brings the timeless side-scrolling formula to the 21st century with success. On the surface the game may look simply like a graphically updated version of the NES titles, but deep down there have been some big changes and additions while keeping the nostalgic feeling and simple formula intact.

Once you turn on your Nintendo DS you will clearly notice that Nintendo has opted to keep everything as simple as possible. While the DS hardware would allow them to create a long boring opening cutscene they decided to give you the minimum of information possible, all you will see is Baby Bowser appearing and running away with Princess Peach, that's all you need to know in order to go through eight worlds and tons of stages avoiding endless pits, squashing Goombas and killing Koopas.

The gameplay is as straightforward as possible. Take control of Mario and jump around stages to reach the goal and advance to the next one. Get to the world's castle, defeat a boss, and chase Bower Jr. into the next world. But it is noteworthy that some small surprises have been added.



Now on each stage you will find three hidden Star Coins that can be used to open locked paths. These paths can either take you to another stage, to a Toad House – where you can get some power-ups. So if you don't want to miss a single secret of the title you had better be ready to look for those coins, but if you don't care about secrets and just want to have some fun then you can just ignore them. Some stages also present a feature that made many gamers lose many nights of sleep during the SNES era. The secret exits are back and they are once again necessary if you are looking for full completion. Clearly the replay value has increased a lot due to those additions.

The graphics are really good. The character models are on 3-D and since this is basically a side-scrolling title it gives the game a unique look. The scenarios gained more colors and life due to this upgrade, but it may be disappointing to some players to know that most worlds and their themes are mere copies of Super Mario Bros 3's worlds, for example: there is the Desert world and the feared Water World. But don't worry there a few ones that have original themes. The soundtrack is composed of remixed old songs and new pieces.

Although it is a great Nintendo DS game, New Super Mario Bros also has some minor flaws that will be noticed by more experienced gamers. Some stages are way too short when compared to the current standard, they would probably be quite good if the game was released over ten years ago, but nowadays they are not lengthy enough.

Speaking of length, New Super Mario Bros is indeed a short title. The problem here is that difficulty used to be what made old games long, and while this game kept the same gameplay as its predecessors, the challenge level has not been maintained, therefore you will cruise through the game in less than six hours, especially because you won't need to cross all of the eight worlds in order to beat the game – two of the worlds are secret. This has probably been done to please Nintendo's growing casual audience. However, as I mentioned before, the replay value has been increased, so once you finish you will feel compelled to go through this amazing adventure once again.



Overall, New Super Mario Bros is a great game for both old gamers that miss the side-scrolling Mario adventures and new gamers that would like to know the origins of the world's most famous mustachioed hero. But keep in mind that the former group may feel that difficulty is lacking in this title.