"A perfect revival of Mario's classic gameplay."

It has been many years since Mario has starred in a side scroller action game. Indeed many gamers have fond memories of walking through the Mushroom Kingdom, stomping Goombas and rescuing the princess countless times. The series is so popular in fact, that even non-gamers can immediately recognize the tunes from the original game. I personally can't name anyone who dislikes the Super Mario Brothers, even the most fervent non-gamers I know can find something to enjoy about the game. It is perhaps because of the universal popularity of the classic Mario adventures, that Nintendo has decided to put Mario back into his 2d world once more on a system that has been designed to appeal to more than just your average gamer.

Nintendo's intentions aside, after over 10 years of retirement, can Mario still show why he's the king of 2d platformers?

Graphics: 10/10
In the many years that have passed since the heyday of the SNES, graphics rendering has improved immensely. Gone are the days of 2-dimensional sprites in 2-dimensional worlds, consoles are now able to immerse the gamer in a 3d world filled with more colours and depth than the NES or SNES could even dream to. And let me just say this, 2d Mario has never looked so good! Nintendo has managed to design a game that combines the classic Mario style with the new graphical technology flawlessly.

The backgrounds are lush and colourful and make excellent use of transparency and shading, while all of the sprites are rendered in 3d and to put it simply, they look amazing. As far as 2d side scrollers go, it would be difficult to make one that looks better than this.

Controls: 10/10
The New Super Mario Brothers sticks with what works best. In general it uses the same control scheme that every other 2d Mario side scroller has, of course since it's on the DS there is one important addition. The touch screen is used sparingly; it controls your movement around the over-world and the release of any stored items. Yep, there's no real touch screen innovation here, it's simple and it works perfectly with the theme of bringing Mario back to his classic style.

The controls are every bit as responsive and intuitive as they were back on the NES and as such I can give the game no less than a score of 10/10 for them.

Sound: 9/10
Like graphics, sound emulation has taken a great leap forward over the past 20 years. There is an incredibly obvious difference in sound quality between the NES and the DS, about as noticeable as the graphical differences between the two.

It's nice to hear the classic Mario sound effects updated with the new technology. Everyone and everything sounds pretty much the same as they did on the NES, just a lot clearer. Although if you are used to playing Super Mario World you probably wont notice that much of a difference.

The music in the game is pretty much your standard fare. You've got some brand new songs and some old songs that have been in a sense remixed with the superior technology. Nothing sounds out of place and the new songs are perfectly 'Mario', although I don't find them to be as catchy as the original tunes.

If I have one gripe with the sound it's that they didn't use the songs from the previous games enough, hearing the remixed underground theme was nostalgic and it would have been nice to hear more familiar songs done up with the new technology.

Game Play: 10/10
I suppose the best way to describe this would be 'classic Mario' game play. This is the first game starring Mario since Super Mario Land 2 to feature the side scrolling adventure style that he and Nintendo popularized. And his return after nearly 15 years certainly does not disappoint.

The game is a pretty straightforward side scroller, much like its predecessors. You run through various worlds (6 in all with 2 secret worlds) chasing after Bowser Jr. who has kidnapped the Princess. Along the way you're expected to defeat enemies by stomping on them and collect coins and various power-ups until you get to a castle where you encounter a boss. Sound familiar? While this game certainly shares the same concept you've come to expect from Mario, there are various different touches that make it a unique and interesting addition to the Mario collection.

For starters, the game features fun power-ups that have never been seen before. Yeah you have your traditional Super Mushroom and Fire Flower, it wouldn't really be a Mario game without those. You've also got the Mega Mushroom, a power-up that makes Mario even larger allowing him to crash through the scenery totally invulnerable, the more stuff you crush the more extra lives you get once the power-up ends. There's the Mini Mushroom with which you become fragile and weak, unable to defeat any monsters without using the ground pound; however you also gain an improved jump and the ability to walk on water. Furthermore, this power-up is required to gain access to several of the secret areas in the game. Finally there is the Blue Shell, which is one of the most entertaining power-ups I've ever encountered in a Mario game. When you gain the power, you grow a shell on your back that you can retreat into and if you're running when you enter your shell you spin out of control acting much like a Koopa shell does upon being kicked. Flying through the level bashing monsters like this is something I found quite enjoyable.

The levels themselves are pretty short; once again they're pretty much your typical Mario fare. Each world has two castles, one with a mini-boss (Bowser Jr.) and one with a world boss. Taking a page from Yoshi's Island, the world bosses are all unique and each one requires a different strategy to defeat. I am sure that those who have played the original series will smile when they encounter the first boss in what is a very nostalgic battle to say the least.

Replay Value: 9/10
If the game takes maybe 6 hours for your average gamer to beat, why give it a 9/10 for replay value? Well for starters, compared to the other side-scrolling Mario games this one actually has a lot to offer once you've beaten the game.

In each level you will find 3 special coins, these are used to buy your way through various blockades that prevent access to mushroom houses and secret levels among other things. Some of the coins can take quite some time to gather; I'd say you could look forward to several hours of coin hunting once you've beaten the game. Along with the secret coins, there are two hidden worlds to occupy yourself with once you've beaten the game. They aren't required to beat the game but for the completionist you can squeeze another few hours out of the game by beating the levels and finding the secret coins hidden within each one.

If you have a friend with another cartridge, the game gains even more replay value, the multiplayer experience is quite enjoyable too. It pits you head to head against your opponent in a race to beat the level. Of course it's not that simple, as each player can interfere with the other's progress. It's actually quite well done, my only problem with it being that it is not Wi-Fi enabled.

Above all else though, it's a Mario game. Much like Tetris it's the kind of game you can just throw on when you're bored and have a good time with for a few hours. In my opinion if you buy this game you will end up getting your moneys worth when it's all said and done.

Difficulty: 6.5/10
Note that I do not include this score in my final total, some people like a game with high difficulty and some people like a game that's easy to beat so it's pointless to judge a game on. I just include this as a reference.

Like I said earlier, beating the game does not take very long. It seems the game was tailored more for the casual gamer in that regard. Extra-lives are a dime a dozen and none of the levels are terribly frustrating or difficult, so it's the kind of game that would be perfect for introducing non-gamers to the hobby.

What is more difficult however, is the task of collecting all the hidden coins. Some of them are pretty well hidden and even the most hardcore gamer can derive some challenge from the task.

Overall: 10/10
While this game has a few slight flaws there is no doubt that it accomplished what it set out to do, re-create the old school Mario experience on a modern console. The game is entirely faithful to the classic Mario adventures while adding it's own unique touches. There is no doubt in my mind that anyone young or old, gamer or not can enjoy this game. Because of this, I can give the game no less than 10/10.

If you want a game you can just kick back and enjoy, if you want a game that anyone, even your Grandma could enjoy or if you want a game that will take you back to the feelings you had when you first played the NES many years ago, then you want to pick-up the New Super Mario Brothers.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/07