"Mario has just literally gone BIGGER, but is it better?"

Mario has been with us for over 20 years. Within that time, he has come a long way, from being 8 pixels dots to 3D. Besides his own main game, Mario has been in countless games from playing soccer to racing on the race tracks. But still, we haven't seen him at his work place, earning his wage as a plumber. Where does he get the time to have fun, we don't know.

Jokes aside, Mario has always been the face of Nintendo, and games in general. How many times have you heard the Mario ring tune and immediate recognise the music? The name Mario is synonymous with games as much as iPod is for MP3 players. Ask anyone born since the 90's. Chances are, they have never played the 1985 classic, but they can tell you exactly who Mario is.

The original Super Mario Bros. captured the hearts of many gamers back in the 80's. Considering their age back then, they would be somewhere in the late 20's by now, and possibly have their own kids already. It would be one very interesting "when I was your age" talk as their kids get hooked on to the greatly improved, graphically enhanced version of the classic.

Mario is getting back to its root, way back past his 3D outing, before the time when he still has a tail to fly, all the way back to the time when all he ever did is to jump on mushrooms and turtles, and occasionally, shoot some fireballs after eating a peculiar looking white flower that grow out of a brick. How did he know if it wasn't poisonous?

***** Plot *****

Some say you learn from your mistakes. You would have thought over 20 years and countless kidnaps later, someone would have learnt. And yet, she still hasn't hired any personal bodyguards, nor increased any security in her own castle.

I don't know if it is a ploy to see the plumber because her father won't allow it or something, but after these years, Princess Peach is yet again, kidnapped from her castle by Bowser Jr., the ugly spiky turtle thingy that has a grudge against Mario.

I'm not sure who gets tired first, Mario, from rescuing the Princess, or the Bowser family, from each and every failed kidnapping.

Predictable? You bet. If it was some other game, you would probably throw your arms in the air and cry foul on parts of the developers. But this is Mario, he can play soccer, drive a race car, and certainly knows how to rescue a princess.

Besides, don't tell me you play SMB for the storyline.

***** Gameplay *****

The basic gameplay hasn't changed from those days, and that is intentional. No doubt veterans will feel nostalgic about the whole game. There are some changes made. Nintendo has to make something 'new' in order to call it the 'New' Super Mario Bros. For those unfamiliar with the game, here is a quick overview.

New Super Mario Bros. is a 2D side scroller where you play as Mario. Your objective is to rescue the princess who has been kidnapped.

In order to do that, you need to travel across 6 worlds (and 2 secret worlds) and defeat the boss in each one. Each world has multiple stages, one of which consists of a mini boss, while the last stage of the world contains the world boss.

Your objective in each stage is to reach the end of the stage where you will be doing some flag pole dancing. There are many enemies along the way that will try to stop you, obviously.

You don't have a light saber or a WMD to defend yourself. All you have is your own two feet as you jump on the enemy like a kid with ADD. Power ups are scattered around the stage. There are 4 types of mushroom, a flower and star. Star makes you invincible for a short time. The flower allows you to spit fireballs. A red mushroom makes you grow a little bigger, whereas a big blue mushroom (new to NSMB) makes you grow a lot bigger. As a giant Mario, you virtually destroy everything that's in your path.

Another new mushroom in NSMB is the tiny mushroom which makes you, ahh, shrink (you saw that coming, didn't you?). Being a tiny Mario lets you venture into tight spaces. Some of the areas are only accessible to tiny Mario.

Being a tiny Mario doesn't really have many advantages, though. Besides being able to access tight spaces, you can jump higher and stay in the air longer. Both of which are, in my opinion, useless. Also, much like the midget Mario, you will die if you touch an enemy. But if you want to collect all the giant coins, then you will, at some stage, need to be tiny.

Also new to the game is the ability to wear a turtle shell. This lets you spin like a Koopa and knock out any enemies.

There are 3 giant coins at every stage that you can collect. Once you have collected enough coins, you can access new areas on the world map. It could lead to alternative stages or a bonus stage, where you can get, among other things, extra lives.

In fact, extra lives and power ups are easy to come by in NSMB. They are plenty of them around the place. You can store one flower power up at the bottom of the screen, and use it as you see fit.

And this makes the game a little on the easy side. Just make yourself a fireball spitting Mario before a boss fight and all is right with the world. Just keep firing at the boss and dodge its attack and it will go down in less than a minute.

As mentioned before, there are 6 worlds, each with a different 'theme'. You could be in a hot sunny desert in one world, then jump straight into the water in the next. Despite the different worlds, there are only two main ways to tackle the worlds, either you run/jump across the vast landscape or go underwater.

Sometimes you can't help but feel the gameplay is generic. Whether you're in skyland or in a desert, you still run at the same pace, meet the same sort of enemies, get the same sort of power ups. It would have been better if you can, say, walk at snail's pace in the desert because of the sand, or skid at the speed of light because the ice is so slippery.

To make things interesting, NSMB not only have side scroll, but also vertical scroll, where you need to go up. There is also one stage where Mario will wrap around. Go past the edge of the screen will make Mario appear on the other side of the screen, vis-a-vis the original Donkey Kong game.

Overall, I find the gameplay satisfactory. It brings back memories of the first time I played Mario. It is missing some of the power ups that appear in the later Mario games (eg. the feather in SMB 3 that allows Mario to grow a tail that lets him fly). In their place, it has other power ups that changes the size of the plumber. Their effectiveness is questionable, but what is undeniable is that the gameplay stays true to the original Mario game that everyone grows to love.

**** Graphics *****

The world map is rendered in 3D. Whether that is needed or not is really a personal taste. 2D world map, vis-a-vis SMB3, would do just as well.

Even though Mario is still the same plumber, a 3D Mario in a 2D world is refreshing. Background is clearly defined and colour used suits the stage, wherever it may be. Mario still wears the same outfit he has been wearing for the past 20 odd years, and it never seems out of fashion. Bright colours are used in the early stages of a world, whereas black and various shade of grey are used throughout the castle to give off a darker atmosphere.

***** Sound *****

The Mario tune that we all know is unfortunately not featured in the new game. However, there are other familiar tune being remixed for NSMB. The music is presented in typical Mario style - lively, catchy and appropriate. The new tune probably won't catch up to the popularity of the old original classic, but no doubt gamers will have a new tune to hum to.

Sound effects will be very familiar to any Mario veterans. There are plenty of them, but who can forget the sound of Mario jumping though the air, or his hard head banging on the bricks above. There is no dialogue / voice acting in the game, but none were expected.

***** Replay Value *****

Finishing the game is fairly straight forward. There is only one way to go. After finishing the game, there are two other worlds that you can play, as well as alternative stages in the worlds that you have passed through before. They are no different from any other stages / worlds.

There are also mini games that can be unlocked. It is a nice addition, but probably not essential or adds any real entertainment value to the game.

It takes less than 10 hours to complete the game. If you do a speed run, it's even less.

***** Overall *****

New Super Mario Bros. is a close resemblance to the original Mario made in 1985. The graphics has improved dramatically over the last 20 years or so, but the gameplay remains largely unchanged. That is intentional. And in that respect, the game excels in all areas.

For those who have played the classic Mario some 20 odd years ago, you will find yourself in very familiar territory. For those who haven't played it before, you will find a new way to play a game.

As a stand alone game, it is very easy to pick up. There is virtually no learning curve. The graphics is crystal, and the sound is clear. The gameplay is very different from what is on offer today.

In an age where you look through the eyes of the hero, shooting massive holes in the wall with weapons of mass destruction and health kits litter around the place, it's a brand new challenge. You don't get a life bar or a weapon, you play a 2D side scroller, and you die straight away when you touch the enemy if you're not powerful enough. Don't even think for one second that it is boring.

Good:

* Clear crystal graphics
* Catchy tunes
* Easy gameplay
* Resemblance of the old classic

Bad:

* Too short
* May be too easy for some

Score (out of 10)

Plot: 2
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Replay: 6

Overall: 8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/07