New Super Mario Bros. Review

New Super Mario Bros.

DS, 2006

~$52 New

Also Available on:

Virtual Console

~$16 Used

New Super Mario Bros. on the DS is the first in its series which tried to reinvent 2D Mario. This is a really neat game with 3D characters in a 2D environment. Unlike its successors, NSMB draws from the GameCube era of Mario as well as Mario 64 DS, which gives it a unique tone.

Presentation

New Super Mario Bros. iterates on the Donkey Kong Country art style by containing 3D characters in a 2D platformer. However, not all of the level elements are 3D, which can look very out of place at times. I found the brick blocks to look very odd when next to a 3D Mario.

I also think that a lot of the 2D graphics, like the text and Mario icon, look very blurry. The whole graphical style just feels a little disorganized. However, each individual element looks great. Mario is very expressive and has lots of fantastic animations. The 2D level tiles look terrific, and the backgrounds are great too. The game often layers different level backgrounds for a very neat layered effect.

The levels can also zoom in and out at times to account for when Mario is sent flying by a cannon or spring. I also really enjoy how the gameplay switches over to the bottom screen for sub-areas. These are really neat visual features that help the gameplay flow better.

Level music is terrific as well and there is a good variety between stages and worlds. I often wanted to stay in levels for longer than I had to so I could hear the end of the songs. However, once again, the audio is a bit of a hodge-podge as well. The sound effects sound entirely out of place and interrupt the music.

Pros:

Detailed character sprites
Great music
Adaptable camera

Cons:

Incoherent presentation
Blurry graphics

Platformer Presentation Ranking

2000s Game Presentation Ranking

Controls

New Super Mario Bros. introduces the Wall Jump, Triple Jump, and Ground Pound from the 3D Mario games. These are all implemented great and add a lot of fun to 2D Mario. Levels can have far more creative designs thanks to Mario's new capabilities, and you can use them to find unique paths through a level.

This game introduces quite a few gimmick level elements, but they are all really easy to use. You can go straight from NES Mario to this game and know how to play right away. Mario controls very smoothly and it's never the fault of the controls if you die.

The Fire Flower works great as usual, and there are some really cool new power-ups that are very intuitive. The Blue Shell suit might be the most unique and fun power-up in any Mario game. The only issue I had with the platforming was that to get my stored item, I needed to tap its icon on the touch screen. This slowed me down a little bit compared to the game utilizing Select or Start, since I had to move my hand. You can't blame the developers for using the touch screen aesthetically like this, but it's a bit annoying.

I also didn't like the World Map's controls. Mario stops at every single tile, so running across a World is extremely choppy.

Pros:

New Moves
Extremely Precise
Fantastic Power-Ups

Cons:

Touch Screen is annoying
Choppy World Map

Platformer Controls Ranking

2000s Game Controls Ranking

Content

New Super Mario Bros. has 8 Worlds, but you will only play 6 of them in a normal playthrough. Worlds 4 and 7 are secret worlds, meaning the normal campaign is relatively short. The levels are decently long, so it still might take a while to beat the game, but it's by no means a huge adventure. However, there is a great variety in terms of level and world themes.

New Super Mario Bros. is also very easy, with most of the levels and bosses not posing much of a challenge. The final boss is a neat idea but a disappointment in how easy it is. The worst part about the bosses is how repetitive the fortress bosses are. You fight Bowser Jr. over and over, and, while the second iteration of his fight is fun, it's still very boring.

While the main game is simple in terms of content, New Super Mario Bros. has plenty of extra stuff to do. Every level has 3 Star Coins hidden throughout, and finding all of these is a great challenge. You're required to master every mechanic in the game if you want to collect these. There are also tons of secret exits, which lead to secret levels and even Cannons, which allow you to skip entire worlds. On top of this, the secret worlds have their own special method of finding them.

This game has a ton of additional content to search through, but unfortunately, there aren't any postgame levels. If you collected all of the Star Coins along the way, defeating Bowser is the end. There should have been a super final challenge level. Star Coins certainly do the heavy lifting in terms of content in this game.

Luckily, there is more to a New Super Mario Bros. cartridge than just the main game. There is also a multiplayer Mario vs. Luigi mode as well as competitive minigames. These bonus modes add a lot to the longevity of the game.

Pros:

Star Coins
Secret exits and Worlds
Bonus minigames

Cons:

Few challenging levels
No Post-Game Content
Repetitive boss fights

2000s Game Content Ranking

Platformer Content Ranking

Fun Factor

As the return of 2D Mario, New Super Mario Bros. is a fairly simple game in premise. However, it's very well done and feels like an essential Mario experience. On top of that, there are a lot of brand new features that help the game feel a bit more interesting.

The game's design direction is great and makes the game feel like the new 3D Mario games in a 2D world. It's always very comfortable to go back to this game and play through again - there are no annoying roadblock sections.

All of the secret sections give this game a lot of replay value, as you can try to find the fastest way to get through the game. Being able to quit the main story and play some minigames helps the game feel like it's own world instead of a short platformer.

Unfortunately, New Super Mario Bros. can still get boring as you're making your way through the game. Many of the levels feel bland and don't particularly stand out. While I could with most retro Mario games, I couldn't match up most levels with their spot on the World Map. Nonetheless, each level is high-quality, and if you play in short bursts, this issue isn't present.