Introduction: Finally, a new Super Mario Bros. game has arrived. Can anyone believe that it's already been sixteen years? Nintendo, for some reason, never seemed to want to put a true new Mario Bros. game on the GBA'¦ just remakes of classics that came out on the NES and SNES. Fans have been clamoring for more and more (me included) and the remakes were not satisfying enough. Nintendo must have realized that they had a great opportunity with the Nintendo DS, for it wasn't long after the release of innovational system when a new Super Mario Bros. game was announced for it. After many delays, New Super Mario Bros. has finally been released to the public; was it worth the wait?

GamePlay: There was one question that was lodged in my head when I was buying New Super Mario Bros; Could Nintendo pull off a game with gameplay that not only catered to gamers new to the series, or would it only be played and recognized by the true Mario Bros. fans? I really couldn't tell at first'¦ however, four options are displayed; Mario Game (essentially story/campaign mode), Mario vs. Luigi (a multiplayer option which allows you to play against another DS User who can either download through download play or join directly from the game card), Minigames (which includes single player and a multiplayer option, will explain in more detail later) and Options (nothing much to explain here'¦ you can toggle some sound options (Surround sound, etc.) and the control buttons). Upon touching 'Mario Game', the game offers three save files. Once you've touched one, you can begin your adventure into the latest Mario Brothers game.

The story is essentially the same as every other Mario Bros. game; Peach has been captured and it's up to you (Mario), to save her. Although this game has Bowser Jr. snatching Princess Peach away, it is essentially the same thing and doesn't alter the story all that much from previous Mario Brothers games. After the brief intro, you will be presented with a world map on the top screen (which is like a cross of a Mario Party board game board and the Super Mario Bros. 3 Map) and a little overview of the map and the other worlds you can visit on the bottom screen.

The gameplay itself is true to Mario. The simple control mechanics (explained more thoroughly in the Controls section) works well with the whole concept of the game. The new power ups (Super Power up Mushroom, Super Mini Mushroom and Blue Koopa Shell) add tons of variety to the gameplay and really shake things up. However, sometimes you might encounter problems with some of the power ups; sometimes you won't be able to get past some parts of a level when as super huge Mario and in turn, having wasted the Super Power up Mushroom. The mini mushroom is only good for getting to secret areas. Speaking of secret areas, New Super Mario Bros. is full of them. New Super Mario Bros. really encourages replay value with the new feature of collecting star coins. Three star coins are hidden throughout each level and once you get a certain amount of coins, you can unlock a door that takes you to a different passage. After beating the game once, you can buy new Wallpapers with star coins in a new Mushroom Shop.

However, even though New Super Mario Brothers has a lot of replay value, it does get very repetitive and boring after a while, even with all the power ups. The constant running and jumping formula gets old even if New Super Mario Bros. really vary in the content of the levels (at one point you may be jumping and dodging meteors falling from a volcano and at another level you might be swimming and trying to out swim a giant eel); getting to a new world takes a while and there's a good 8 levels before finishing one world to get to another. One more thing I'd like to add is that the game is pretty short; my friend erased his file on accident I beat the game in one day (not 100% though). Actually, if you don't care about unlocking new worlds, players will skip 2 worlds to get to the final world. However, hard-core gamers will have a blast trying to find all the secret passages and star coins.

There are two other options I'd like to talk about as well; Minigames and Mario vs. Luigi. The game offers a wide selection of minigames to choose from. However, I should point out that this mode does not provide much fun in single player. Actually, playing in multiplayer mode offers you the benefit of choosing from a wider variety of games. A problem though is that a lot of these minigames are simply reused ones from Super Mario 64 DS. Mario vs. Luigi is one of the finer parts of New Super Mario Bros; it's the pure Mario vs. Luigi action gone wireless. With five different themes to choose from (my favorite being the ice/snow level) it's a fun race to see who can collect the most star coins.

Control: The first thing that came to mind my mind when I started playing was that the control mechanics were very retro specific, but with some sort of new age feel to it. It's very hard to explain and the only way you can really understand it is if you experience it yourself. The game as a whole really has no problems with the control and the touch control on the minigames is great as well. There are two kinds of control setups as well, so if you're having trouble with the pre set one you can always change it to the other one.

Graphics: Nintendo really outdid their selves with the graphics of the game. The gorgeous 3-D World Map is splendid, and the gameplay is a mix of retro and new (just like the controls). When playing, you will notice that Mario and several objects around him are 3-D, but much of the world is 2-D, including enemies, boxes, blocks, power ups, etc. It's perfect for retro and new gamers alike.

Sound & Music: The music is great, some tunes that may seem familiar to Mario Bros. purists has been remixed and put into this game. While the remix is quite different to what retro gamers may be accustomed to when playing the previous Mario Bros. games, it still has that familiar Mario charm that makes it a perfect fit for this game.

Dual Screen Use: The Dual Screens aren't used very much, and don't expect huge leaps in innovation with the two screens or the touch screen. When playing a level the top screen displays Mario & what's going on, while the bottom screen displays your progress that has been made in the level. It also charts how many of the three star coins you have gotten. A storage power up can also be activated on the bottom screen by touching it during gameplay. Although the dual screen use isn't exactly going to do Mario Bros. series wonders, it does work well with the game and there aren't any problems that I can find with it.

Final Comments: So does New Super Mario Bros. really cater towards both crowds, retro and new? Definitely. The game splashes new and old and really hits the spot with both types of gamers, and as far as I can tell the only problems is that it's quite short and that it gets repetitive after a while. However, anyone who enjoys platforming/side scrolling games or was part of the NES days should really look into this game. Not only them, but if you've been looking for a new DS game New Super Mario Bros. is it. Splendid gameplay, music, controls, graphics mixed with a retro yet new feeling is excellent. Nintendo really hit a bull's eye with this game, and if you haven't picked it up yet, I recommend doing so now. Don't miss out on this superb title, exclusively for the Nintendo DS.

Pro: Retro/New Gamer friendly, Excellent Sound & Graphics, Fun Multiplayer.
Con: Gets repetitive after a while, a bit too easy to beat.
Final Score: 9.2


Reviewed by: Ali