"Sweet, simple fun with FANTASTIC multiplayer!"

New Super Mario Bros. is just as it sounds. It's a brand-new game in the Super Mario Bros. series, with all those old-school touches, plus a whole lot of all-new stuff. New Super Mario Bros. Keeps the gloriously simple old-school gameplay and adds onto it with new powerups, enemies, stage gimmicks, and much more. Now, let's go down the pipe and get into the game.

Graphics

I can easily call these the best graphics we've yet seen on DS. The game is 2.5-D, meaning that the backgrounds and objects are 2-D, while the characters, enemies, and powerups are all in gloriously smooth 3-D. The hand-drawn backgrounds scroll realistically and look amazing, the 3-D models are beautiful; they're never blocky, nor are they grainy, and grainy graphics are very prominent on DS. Absolutely everything animates smoothly. Slowdown? What's that? The game will almost always maintain its perfect frame rate.

I give the graphics 10/10 points!

Gameplay

The gameplay in this game is extremely fun. The single-player game follows the Mario side-scrolling tradition of fun and simple gameplay, tight controls, and great level design. It's very simple. You're Mario, and you need to run through the level without getting taken out by Goombas, Koopas, Piranha Plants, pitfalls, or any of the other dangers the levels throw at you.

As always, you'll primarily be jumping to avoid traps, take out enemies, and make your way to the level's goal. You'll also be hurling the classic fireballs, of course. However, now Mario's got a few new tricks. His jumping arsenal has expanded to include double or triple jumps and wall kicks, previously 3-D-only moves. Mario still slides down hills, but now he can also do another move by pressing down: the previously 3-D-exclusive Ground-Pound. This adds a whole new spin on hitting blocks and bashing baddies.

And then there's the new powerups! Aside from the classic Super Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, and Starmen, there are three new powerups: the Mini Mushroom, Mega Mushroom, and blue Koopa shell. A Mini Mushroom will shrink Mario into Mini Mario and allow him to fit into tiny spaces to find secrets, while a huge Mega Mushroom will turn him into gigantic Mega Mario. As Mega Mario, you can crash through pipes and blocks, kick the classic level-end flagpole over, take out enemies just by running into them, or make coins and Goombas fall from the sky with a Ground-Pound. After your Mega time is up, you'll get 1-Up Mushrooms based upon how much destruction you cause! The blue Koopa shell is a step up from the Fire Flower. Getting a running start as Shell Mario will send you flying like a kicked Koopa shell. You can jump normally to get over obstacles, or you can bump into obstacles to turn around.

The game takes pages from Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World. You jump onto the flagpole and enter the castle at the level's end like in the original SMB. The game has a map, so you can go to any level or enter a Toad house, Warp Cannon, Warp Pipe, or other location at will, though sometimes you'll need to clear a sign by paying five of the special Star Coins you've collected from levels. The game also lets you store an item, Super Mario Word-style, on the touch screen. The touch screen displays your progress through the level, and the Star Coins you've gotten on the level, but the most important thing is that you can tap a little circle to release the item for you to use. You can get an item in your reserve at a Toad house, or by collecting an item you already have or an item of a lower level than your current state. Using a reserve item at the right time can be a big help, and it's great for getting to those secret exits, another SMW trademark.

The game has eight worlds, all with more than ten levels. Two of the worlds are secret, and significantly more challenging than some of the others. On the map screen, you can touch any unlocked world to go there. The game starts out really easy, but quickly gets more and more challenging. This game has perhaps the best difficulty level of any 2-D Mario game. It can give you a big challenge, but, unlike some of the others, it's never impossible or frustrating. The boss battles are great, but can feel a little bit easy at times.

The gameplay is fun and addictive, but there are just a few problems. While it doesn't bother me, some people may be put off by the save system; you can only save after clearing a Star Coin sign, castle, or fortress. However, once you've beaten the game once, you can save anytime, so it's really a negligible issue. The biggest problem with the gameplay is that a few levels are a little short, and the Mega Mushroom doesn't come into play nearly enough, but other than that, it's straight fun.

Then there's the multiplayer. The multiplayer is simply amazing. They've got Mario vs. Luigi battles for two players, as well as minigames for 1-4 players. It can all be done with or without each player having the game! Anyone can join in with their own copy or use DS Download Play. First let's talk about the Vs. Matches.

First of all, if you're playing a downloader, you won't be bored waiting. For once, we get a somewhat amusing loading screen involving an old-school Peach tossing a combo of Goombas and Super Mushrooms at old-school Mario. The loading doesn't last too long, either.

The gameplay consists of Mario and Luigi chasing Big Stars and each other, trying to get the number of Big Stars specified by the settings Player 1 sets. Of course, powering up is extremely helpful. You can collect powerups by hitting blocks as usual, by collecting eight coins, or using other methods. The best part of this mode is finding the best way to swipe the other Mario Bro.'s Big Stars. If he gets hit by your attack or gets defeated by an enemy, pitfall, or other hazard, he'll lose a Big Star. If you manage to Ground-Pound him, he may lose multiple Stars. Once you start fighting, it will get funny and frantic. Fire Flower-powered exchanges are fun to start with, but once you start chasing the other Bro. around the looping level as Shell Mario or Mega Mario, expect craziness, laughter, and, of course, lots of fun. There aren't that many levels, but no matter. They offer a variety of ways to kick your Bro.'s butt.

Now, you may think of Super Mario 64 DS when you hear about the minigames. That's because some of them actually are from SM64DS. All the action is controlled by the stylus or microphone. If you want to play alone, there's a handful of minigames to choose from SM64DS, as well as a few new ones. However, the single-player selection isn't as good as that of SM64DS, so you're better off grabbing a few friends.

Up to four players can enjoy the awesome multiplayer minigame selection. There's a lot more stuff to play in this mode than in the single-player selection. There are multiplayer variations of SM64DS minigames (yes, that includes a strategy game version of SM64DS's Loves-Me-Loves-Me-Not game), multiplayer versions of the new minigames, and entirely new multiplayer-only minigames. There's a Luigi Casino version of Blackjack, a simplified Go game, a multiplayer variation of the Mario trampoline game, a Yoshi snowball fight, and much, much more. Like SM64DS's multiplayer, this is best with three or four players, but it's still pretty fun with just two. The overall multiplayer experience is one of the best on DS. Online next, please!

I give the gameplay 9.5/10 points.

Music

Sadly, the music in this game does not live up to the Mario name at all. Nintendo's Mario Music Mastermind, Eiji Aonuma only supervised the music of this game; he didn't actually compose it! And, believe me, it shows. While they do have the classic "underground" music, remixed for a Super Mario 64-like sound, the rest of the level music is new. (Man, that remixed tune is great!) They went way overboard with the "New" SMB thing here. Do we have the classic Mario theme we've all loved for years? NO! The wonderful classic underwater music? NO! The peaceful underwater music from SM64? NO! The new tunes are okay, some better than others, but they're just not as good as what they've replaced. However, bonus points for making Goombas, Koopas, and powerups bust little dance moves to the music at certain points. Awesome!

I give the music 7.5/10 points.

Sound/Voice

Now, the sound kicks butt! You've got almost all of the classic sound effects, but they've all been updated just a little for a smoother sound. The classic jumping, powering up, stomping, fireball-tossing goodness has never been better. Also, the surround sound is pretty cool. You kick a Koopa shell, you know where it hits. They've added just the right amount of voice acting to the game, too. Mario goes "woohoo" as he does a triple jump, Peach lets out a cry for help as Mario chases after her, and Bowser Jr. yells "ouch" when you stomp him. It's all very nice, and executed just right. Almost all the sounds are perfect, but a few, like sliding, were better before.

I give the sound and voice 9.5/10 points.

Story

The story is just the way you like it in a Mario game, but there's a little extra goodness in here. Mario and Peach are walking in front of the castle, the castle gets attacked, Mario dashes over in surprise, Bowser Jr. abducts Peach, and Mario gives chase. It gets you started right, then gets out of your way and lets you play. You keep chasing Bowser Jr. all the way to World 8, as you might expect, but there's something unique in this game's events. I won't spoil anything, but check out what Mario does to World 1's boss, and then pay close attention in World 8.

I give the story 10/10 points. Hey, it's perfect for Mario!

Length/Replay Value/Cost-Effectiveness

New Super Mario Bros. will likely take you a few days if you don't take any shortcuts, but if you want to blow through it, you could do it in a day of heavy play. However, the game packs in a whole lot of replay value. Beating all of the levels will take you a while, and discovering all the secrets will take even longer. What's more, getting all the Star Coins is no easy feat. After you've done everything in the single-player story, you can always start a new file, and if you've got friends with DSes, you'll have a blast with the multiplayer. Gather four players for minigames, and you've got yourself a great time. The game costs the average price for a first-party Nintendo DS game, $35, but it's certainly worth it.

Length: 7/10
Replay Value: 9.5/10
Cost-Effectiveness: 8.5/10

Overall

Though I don't like the game's main story mode quite as much as that of Super Mario World, it's a good game worthy of the Super Mario name. If you like Mario and/or multiplayer goodness, do yourself a favor and pick up this piece of old- and new-school goodness.

Overall, I give this game 9.5/10 points.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/06