Mario finalyl makes a return to his roots, but has the plumber grown ugly with age?
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New Super Mario Bros. is a big deal. It has been about 15 years since Mario has starred in a 2D sidescroller with the “Mario saves Princess” gameplay theme. The NES was blessed with multiple sequels featuring the red plumber and essentially invented the entire platforming genre. Upon the SNES’s launch, Super Mario World was the game to own as it not only brought new bright graphics and a lovable dinosaur into the series, but forced players to look at platformers from a different perspective. Puzzles and exploration were present in every level instead of the usual “jump and run” as so many knock-offs tried to reproduce. A couple years later, Yoshi was given his own game that took place on his island. However, amazing as this game was, it was not a true Mario title. With the help of the Nintendo DS, Nintendo thought it was the right time to resurrect the old 2D sidescrolling Mario that we all grew up with.
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New Super Mario Bros. is more like the original game on NES as opposed to Super Mario Bros. 3 or Mario World. Unfortunately, this is a major let down. While the first NES Mario was truly an epic game that stood the test of time, it was not as adventurous as Mario 3 or Super Mario World. This is mostly due to the fact that each of these two games featured numerous suits that Mario can transform into. Mario 3 allowed players to chuck hammers at enemies via the Hammer Brother suit, swim easily through the water with the help of a frog suit, or even turn into a stone statue with the unforgettable tanooki suit. Mario World’s Yoshi brought a whole new element into the gameplay because this dinosaur can be used as transportation on any type of terrain. However, the biggest addition to these titles can be contributed to a single ability: flight.
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The leaf allowed Mario to fly through the heavens in Mario 3 while a single feather allowed Mario to glide seamlessly through the air in Mario World. Through the use flight, players were allowed to travel wherever they desired. This allowed the level designers to implement more vertical styled levels and introduce many new puzzles. The lack of flight is New Super Mario Bros. biggest flaw. Because of this, exploration and level design is not as strong as it should be.
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In the original Mario game on NES, a mushroom would grant growth while a flower would allow Mario to launch balls of flame from his fingertips. These abilities are the main focus of this DS title. The only new ability that Mario can obtain is dressing in a koopa shell. Once this shell is equipped, Mario will automatically start to spin on the ground after a running start is initiated. While this new suit sounds like it has a lot of promise, it is actually more dangerous than anything. Once the shell form takes over, the player will more often than not, slide straight into a hole. Movement is a little too fast when moving as a shell, plus the ability to bounce off walls only enhances the accidental death count. In addition, becoming shell Mario is too far in between. You will be lucky to see this form once in each of the game’s worlds.
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New to the DS version, Mario has the ability to grow super enormous, or ridiculously tiny. But just like shell Mario, becoming large or small happens only once in a blue moon. While these playable forms are entertaining, they don’t make up for the lack of flight.
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If you played Mario 1, you know how this game will pan out. Mario’s goal is to save the Princess, who has been kidnapped by Baby Bowser. Most levels involve running from the left to the right and reaching the end of each stage before time runs out. Along the way, Mario will bust bricks, stomp enemies, and slide down warp pipes. The nostalgic feeling is really unmatched. Again, this game is basically Mario 1 with a fresh coat of paint.
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Mario has brought with him some abilities from other games like wall kicks and the higher double-bounce hop. When Mario becomes Godzilla size, he can plow through anything in his way. He will even crush warp pipes and break normally unbreakable bricks. Miniature sized Mario can fit into small openings, like Link in the Minish Cap, and can walk on the top of water. Each form plays important roles throughout the game, but players will probably feel a little unsatisfied due to lack of variety. Since there is no flight, levels are not as open ended as they were in World or 3. Instead, the developers thought that incorporating the wall jump and a crappy shell form would cover for this.
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Another downfall about this DS adventure is the length of time it will take to complete the game. Your average gamer can blow through this game in less than 5 hours. However, purists will want to collect every special coin and find every secret exit the game has to offer. This is encouraged not only to enhance the replay value of the title, but it opens up new stages and bonuses. Each stage has three special coins to collect. Once these coined are gathered, they can be used as currency on the world map to unlock paths to hidden mushroom huts as well as new passageways. Some coins are quite difficult to find and might require the use of the Godzilla mushroom or pint sized Mario.
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Mario will encounter a few boss battles along the way, but most are pushovers, especially if you have fireballs. I literally defeated Baby Bowser in about 3 seconds after I button mashed the fireball button. He was beaten before he even started to move. This unbalance, however, can be seen as a reward for the player to making it through the peril filled dungeon without harm.
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Like any Mario game, the level designs are well thought out, even if they are not built around flight. Many new environmental hazards will bring a fresh feeling to the nostalgia like the bouncing mushrooms, pipes that act like cannons, and ropes to swing on. And what would the mushroom kingdom be without goombas, dry bones, and thwomps? Enemies from other Mario games even make guest appearances like the eel from Mario 64. The difficulty level is also pretty forgiving. 1-Up mushrooms can be found in just about every level. But the time I finished my first run through the game, I ended with over 40 lives in stock.
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The graphics are pretty basic for a Mario game. Mario is now a 3D polygon model instead of 2D pixel art. This allows the animators more freedom to create new animations for Mario instead of drawing out every pixel by hand. The game has some colorful graphics, but it doesn’t contain the same impact that Mario World had on first time viewers. Water effects bring something a little new to the table by adding a neat splash effect whenever Mario enters or exits the water. But the memories will truly return when the player sees fireworks at the end of a level.
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The top screen will usually display the action, unless you travel underground through a pipe, while the bottom screen will display the gameplay stats. Your score, the number of special coins collected, the level you are playing, and where you are located in the level are all displayed on the bottom screen. Additionally, a “back-up” item can be kept in storage and used whenever its icon is tapped on the bottom screen. This is the extent of using the touch screen during the entire game, unless you are playing the minigames.
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Like the launch title, Super Mario 64 DS, New SMB features numerous minigames to test your reflexes and timing. Using the stylus and microphone are required in just about every minigame. Many of Super Mario 64 DS’s minigames have been either reused or simply modified and placed in this game. Either way you look at it, these minigames will only hold your interest for a short amount of time as they are ideas that work well for a minigame, but will fail if used as a full version main gameplay element.
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The music is a solid blend of classic themes connected with some new aged remixes. The DS’s dual speaker set-up does of good job on maintaining consistency with the sound effects and music. Luckily, Mario doesn’t speak too much. In fact, his one liner exclamations are dispersed at a nice even pace. This prevents the audio department from becoming too annoying.
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Multiplayer mode is available through both single and multi-card link. Up to four players can compete in the minigames or two players can go head to head in a “be the first to collect all the stars” mode. The multiplayer mode is quite bland and was incorporated into the final product to support the “just because we should” ideal.
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New Super Mario Bros. is not a bad game. The level of nostalgia is really unsurpassed. However, the quest ends a little too quickly and the lack of flight is a tremendous downer. Also, only having two types of suits (fireball Mario and Shell Mario) is very lacking. Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World had numerous forms to transform into as well as new modes of transportation (Yoshi, Kuribo Shoe, flute). Perhaps my expectations are a little too high, but isn’t that what Mario is all about? Mario games always make so much use out of having so little. Not that this game doesn’t do that, it’s just that it doesn’t has too. The 3D processing power and larger cart size should have allowed the developers to add so much more into the final product.
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Before you play this game, think to yourself that you will be playing a game on the same level of quality as Mario 1, not Mario 3 or Mario World. Then you will probably enjoy your time with this game a little more.