New Super Mario Bros. Review
27/40
Presentation
8
Controls
7
Content
5
Fun Factor
7
By Charles - June 14th, 2026
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.
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New Super Mario Bros.
DS, 2006
~$40 New ~$17 Used
Also Available on:
Virtual Console
Presentation
8
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
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Controls
7
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. The Fire Flower works great as usual, and there are some really cool new power-ups that are very intuitive.
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.
Pros:
Physics match SNES
Special Weapons work well
Charge shot is awesome
Cons:
Slide is very awkward
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Content
5
Mega Man Xtreme has a very bizarre way of laying out its levels. You battle the first four Mavericks in their stages, then play the Sigma Stages. Then, you unlock "Hard Mode", which contains the next four Mavericks (you keep your upgrades), and then play slightly altered Sigma Stages. Finally, you unlock "Extreme Mode", where you can battle all eight Mavericks in any order before facing Sigma one more time.
In this way, the game's 11 stages are stretched out so you play 25. It's not the end of the world to get another look at these levels since they're short, but it's just such an odd way to do things. This is solely for padding, but the story is ruined since Sigma is defeated and the ending plays before you even get a chance to battle Armored Armadillo. The fact that there is a new story that explains why the SNES levels are re-hashed is actually an accomplishment.
The levels are all really short and easy, especially due to the "Auto-Save" points I mentioned before. There are tons in each level and all act as checkpoints. Aside from Game Over, you cruise through every level. Even boss fights are easy. There are four sub-tanks to collect but I barely ever used them. You could finish the game in one sitting, but I'm not sure who would want to since you have to play the same Sigma levels three times.
I kept encountering a glitch in Sigma Stage 2 where the level tiles would not follow the screen scrolling. X would move, but the actual graphics wouldn't change. This happened to me at least three times.
Pros:
Manageable difficulty
Collectibles
Cons:
Repeating Content
Too easy
Only 11 Stages
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Fun Factor
7
Mega Man Xtreme makes the same mistake as many of these handheld Mega Man games - it's short and easy. This game also struggles from the issues from converting SNES to GBC. There is a big lack of polish in this game, but there's a big draw to seeing Mega Man X on Gameboy.
The music is good, the graphics are good and the enemies are good. I would say that this game does a better job than the classic series Game Boy games of matching the experience. Mega Man looked the same but it didn't feel quite the same. Mega Man Xtreme feels the same.
The story is fun enough with some new characters but it's nothing crazy. The way the levels are arranged is kind of unique and doesn't ruin the fun since it's so easy. This game is just another retro platformer. It's decent.
Pros:
Feels like Mega Man X
Decent Platformer
Unique graphic style
Cons:
Too bland
Lack of polish
No challenge
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Worth the Money?
Worth the Time?
If you're a huge Mega Man game this is worth the money but otherwise, there are other fun games to get for Game Boy Colour.
I would definitely put in the time to finish at least Normal and Hard mode. That is where all the new content is. Aside from that is just extra.
Screenshots from [Mega Man Xtreme] © [Capcom], used for review purposes.
