< Back   New Super Mario Bros. - Review

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After two 3D version of the "normal" Mario series of games, Nintendo has decided to revisit it's roots with the first 2D Mario game since the 1991 release of Super Mario World. However, was it worth the wait?

If you've played the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES, you'll automatically get a huge sense of nostalgia from this game. The first level bears a lot of similarities with the first level of SMB, which is a good thing, since this game tries to emulate the simplicity of that game. You have the basic "grassland level" (Level 1), the "water level" (Level 3), the "mountain level" (Level 6), etc. (Veterans of SMB3 might notice that most of the basic level "themes" match in this game, except for a few levels.). However, Nintendo snuck in some creative levels, such as Level 4, which is a Jungle-themed layout, complete with poisonous water (which kills you instantly with one touch).

Of course, you would expect superb level design from a Mario game. This title does not disappoint in this regard. Power-ups (discussed later in the review) are placed strategically throughout the level (i.e., if you have a crowded area, you'll obtain power-ups more frequently, and vice-versa). For the speed runners, they even made the levels so you can race for the fastest time, if you have enough skill to do so. And even for the normal player who does not want to run straight through the level, there's enough secret switches and blocks to keep you occupied.

The normal Mushroom and Fire Flower "power-ups" of old are included, along with a Mini and Super Mushroom, and a blue shell that lets you control like the Koopa enemies in the game. The problem is, these new power-ups are not really implemented well into the game, except for a few ways that deviate only slightly in execution (it's either "jump into small pipe" as Mini Mario, "break small blocks" with Shell Mario, or "breaks tons of things" with Mega Mario). It feels like they didn't have, or make the time, to give them a solid use in the game, unlike the power-ups in, let's say, Super Mario World (the cape comes to mind here).

One of the places this game does outclass it's predecessors is in the boss fights. Unlike SMW or SMB3, instead of the same boss (the Koopa kids, for example), you have different bosses with different fighting styles (all falling to the same weakness, however). So if you aren't cheap and don't shoot fireballs at them till they die, you will have to use your surroundings to figure out how to beat them. It's almost like a Mega Man game, where you have to figure out what their weakness is, and how to exploit it. This aspect helps to make repeat battles enjoyable, because of the skill involved to beat them.

But without good controls, what would all of this matter? You don't have to worry, because this is probably the most fine-tuned aspect of the entire game. They included many of the moves implemented in the post-SMW games, such as the Triple Jump and the Wall Kick, and converted them flawlessly to the 2D realm. It seems to naturally fit when you play, and opens up a lot of possibilities that could never be approached in SMW or SMB3.

But after beating all of the levels and collecting all of the Star Coins (you can unlock Mushroom Houses and wallpapers for the touch screen with them), you just feel like there is something "missing" from it all. There's not that overwhelming feeling of "Let's start it all over again!" from Super Mario World, or Super Mario Bros. 3.

It's not a big deterrent, because it is meant to be played in 5-10 minute spurts. But it feels like they tried to emulate the original game too much in some ways, making it a lesser, but still solid, title in the 2D series of Mario games. If there is ever a sequel on the Nintendo DS, hopefully this problem can be fixed, and it might even surpass the classics we know and love.

- 8 / 10