I grew up with the Mario games. From the first Super Mario Bros. to Mario Sunshine, I usually enjoyed the portly plumber's running and jumping adventures. But with New Super Mario Bros. for DS, something seemed off to me. Don't hate on me because I'm not one of those people that gave it 5 stars just because it's 'old school'. I played through this game twice, wondering if I missed something the first time around, clearing every stage 100%. Then it hit me- this game was made more for the casual gamer that Nintendo's trying to win over more than it is for those looking for a true new installment to the Super Mario Bros. series (like a Mario 4). A lot of the new elements they put in here aren't that new when it comes down to it, and you're probably better off going with the Wii version, which, while practically a director's cut of the DS version, at least has a few new things in it.
Story-wise, it's the same Mario: Princess Peach/Toadstool gets kidnapped by Bowser, and it's up to Mario to save the day. This time, Bowser Jr.'s up to no good too, and you'll be dealing with him more than any other enemy boss. You'll run, jump, wall jump, smash and fireball your way through a couple of worlds while collecting coins along the way. If you've never played a Mario game before, I guess this is a good start since it has most of the basic Mario elements. But for anyone hoping for something more, you may be disappointed.
I'll get the good out of the way first- the graphics look pretty good, and everything runs smoothly with no slowdown. Some of the levels actually did require me to think about where to go next, like in one of the ghost houses, or at least really look around to find one of the big coins so I could get 100%. The level design is a combination of Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3, the two games that I thought had the best level design of any 2D Mario game. The game's also fairly long, about as long as the two I just mentioned.
Unfortunately, New Super Mario Bros. has so many little problems that they drag the score down big time. First, the new giant and mini mushrooms don't really add anything to the gameplay. You can only use the giant mushroom in select world types for it to be of much use, and even then, it just makes clearing the level too easy. When you smash enough enemies and objects, you get extra lives based on how much of the bar you fill at the top of the screen...and this game is VERY generous with the extra lives, so it's not like you'll ever need more. The mini mushroom is a cool concept on paper since it allows you to run on water and jump a little higher, but it's also much easier to die when small, and harder to control jumps. Where they added these two abilities, they took away any flight powers. No raccoon leaves, and no magic capes. You're either on land or walking on clouds or swimming through the whole game. And I can't stress how much slack the game gives you with extra lives. It felt like I couldn't clear a stage without getting at least two 1-up mushrooms or getting enough coins to add to my already large stock. I also didn't care for any of the boss fights. When you fight Bowser, it's a tribute to how you fought him in the original Super Mario Bros., and all the other boss fights were basic 'jump on them or butt stomp for more damage and they're toast' ones. Where some of the levels were challenging, the boss battles were anything but. Finally, what's with the new enemy designs? I'm not against new enemies in a Mario game, but most of the new guys here really don't fit in with the style of the game and were more distracting than anything.
There are a lot of different multiplayer games, though a lot of them are pretty short and dumb. The one most people I know play the most is the VS mode where one person is Mario and the other's Luigi, and they try to take eachother's coins. These are a nice addition for younger kids, but I doubt anyone over 15's going to get much out of it.
As you can tell, I didn't care much for New Super Mario Bros., but I didn't hate it. I was just extremely disappointed. The game felt very rushed to me, and I didn't hesitate on selling it once I got everything. It certainly isn't worth the price it's going for now, and even with it being a top seller for the DS, it shouldn't be more than twenty bucks at this point. But if you haven't played a Mario game before, and have a regular DS or DS Lite, go with one of the GBA re-releases of the NES and SNES games. You'll get much more for your money.Get more detail about New Super Mario Bros..
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