New Super Mario Bros.
In a series as long and storied as Super Mario Bros., it might be hard to imagine how the famous plumber could come up with anything to add to his platforming adventures. But somehow, Nintendo manages to create another installment every few years. As it turns out in the case of Mario’s first DS outing, New Super Mario Bros., you won’t find many new gameplay elements. Instead, the “New” denotes this game’s attempt to bring a new generation of gamers into the Super Mario Bros. family. But even with the lack of innovation found in this title, there’s plenty to like about it.
It’s probably best to think of New Super Mario Bros. as a remake of the original Super Mario platformer. The game brings us back to the basics in many ways – for instance, your primary power-ups will be the staple mushroom and fire flower that have been around from the beginning. There are also a new mega mushroom that gives Mario temporary giant status, and a mini mushroom which shrinks him down to a speck. Neither of these new abilities is core to the gameplay, though, and the flight mechanics from Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World are nowhere to be found.
In other ways, this title follows a more modern approach to gaming. In particular, the bar of difficulty is pretty low throughout most of the game – much like the Wii’s Super Mario Galaxy. But if you take New Super Mario Bros. as far as it can go, you’ll find that the secret areas and collection of the large coins provide the challenge that’s missing from the main courses of the game. This style is in keeping with today’s standard, tending to allow anyone to reach the end with a bit of practice, but requiring full mastery from the player in order to unlock all available content. It’s a design that some will welcome, and some dislike.
It’s been a little while since we’ve had a true 2D Mario platformer, but that’s exactly what this game is. The worlds scroll left to right for the most part, and you’ll see the token grasslands along with the usual environments of underwater caverns, slippery ice, and volcanic devastation. The level, creature, and obstacle designs positively scream Super Mario World with upgraded graphics and a few new mechanics. At the same time, however, the controls aren’t nearly as tight as in the old SNES outing – Nintendo saw fit to return to the classic squirrely feel, more similar to Mario 3 than anything. (That’s a good thing; I always considered the third installment to be the pinnacle of control play.)
Does New Super Mario Bros. bring anything new to the table? Well, the polygonal objects definitely allow for some interesting new stage designs, like giant mushrooms that bend back and forth under Mario’s weight, or stomp-switches that cause sloped hills to sprout smoothly out of the ground. But for the most part, it’s just a reintroduction to the series for people who never experienced the NES and Super NES games. I wouldn’t call that a bad thing necessarily, but for those already familiar with the originals, you’ll be somewhat disappointed even if you have fun playing.
Speaking of bad things - The microscopic mushroom powerup allows for some interesting stuff that we’ve generally not seen before, but the mega mushroom was a terrible idea whose inclusion in the game is both bizarre and inexplicable. This item makes Mario grow to the point that he’s nearly hitting his head on top of the screen. He’s invincible at this size, and can do little more than walk back and forth into enemies and blocks, laying waste to everything in his path. It might seem fun at first, but it serves no actual purpose to any aspect of gameplay. You can’t maneuver worth a wooden nickel, and there are no platform elements in the game that are designed to take advantage of Mario’s mass. Not only that, but many levels contain elements that will stop you cold in your giant state, and you’ll have to wait for the effect to wear off before you can proceed. That’s right – the mega mushroom makes you temporarily giant, which goes counter to all the other mushroom powerups in Mario platforming history.
Despite the simplistic level design, low difficulty level, and lack of interesting new powerups, New Super Mario Bros. does turn out to be a pretty fun game. The platforming controls are wonderfully executed, which is the most important part of any game in the genre. The music, while not Mario’s best, is fun and effective. And its greatest success is that it doesn’t make any fundamental changes at its core – it carries on the style that made Super Mario the blockbuster of all blockbusters. If you’re looking for some new innovation on Mario’s table, you won’t find it here. But if all you need is a few hours of diversion in classic Nintendo fashion, this title is a great bet.
| Graphics | 8.5 | It’s Mario in what is commonly known as 2.5D. And it looks impeccable in everything from polygon count to color design. |
|---|---|---|
| Sound | 7.0 | It’s good, but not particularly memorable. |
| Experience | 7.5 | On the one hand, it’s traditional Mario platforming. On the other, the New in its title isn’t referring to any new features you might have been hoping for. |
| Lasting Value | 6.5 | If I’m going to replay a Mario game, this one will do in a pinch. But I can think of least three or four others that I’d pick first. |
| Overall: 7.3 (Not an average) | ||
