New Super Mario Bros!
July 18th 2006 23:00
I know everybody's reviewed New Super Mario Bros., but I thought I may as well add my thoughts.
Basically, it's been 15 years since we've had a new side-scrolling Mario game to drool over. Sure, there was Super Mario 64, but the whole 3D aspect of it really didn't appeal to me, though I guess I was in the minority. So it's certainly refreshing for me to see a good-ol'-fashioned sidescrolling Mario game, with a host of nice shiny new tricks and features to play with.
The storyline itself is nothing revolutionary, of course - if you've played pretty much any other Mario game you'll already know it. Bowser Jr. has, of course, kidnapped the luscious Princess Peach, and it's your job to get her back as the lovable semi-Italian plumber.
As you journey through the eight worlds on your travels, you'll notice that each is markedly different - from the traditional Mushroom Kingdom to sandy deserts to fiery volcanos. As expected, the terrain of each world affects the difficulty, with deserts containing flat plains and quicksand, and the volcano levels featuring mainly lava with rocky platforms to jump between.
An interesting new feature evident in these worlds is the introduction of Star Coins, unseen in a Mario sidescroller before (to my knowledge, at least) . Three coins are allocated to each level, in varying locations of difficulty. With a sufficient amount of Star Coins collected Mario is able to gain access to Toad Houses (which contain a randomly-selected powerup or 1-ups) or hidden levels. The implementation of Star Coins is well done, and creates an incentive for replaying all the stages.
There's no question that NSMB is a beautiful game graphically. Instead of the 2D sprites of the earlier SMBs, this time around Mario is in full 3D. The action flows wonderfully smoothly, and all of the character actions seem more lifelike than earlier games. Well, you'd certainly hope so, given that Mario's had 25 years to learn.
The sound within NSMB is a pleasant mix of old and new, with the DS's small speakers faithfully reproducing the electronica beeps and boops we've come to expect from Mario (as well as all older Nintendo games).
Control-wise, the game is quite similar even to the original Super Mario Bros. There are a few new tricks that our plumber friend can pull off though, most impressive of which is probably the wall-jump. Ground-pounding and triple jumps also make an appearance, though the triple jump isn't really suited to an unknown level.
The new powerups are possibly the most public drawcard of NSMB. The Feather/Super Leaf and the Hammer Bros. suit of earlier games are gone, replaced with the Mega Mushroom (which transforms Mario into a rather sizeable figure for a short amount of time, allowing him to run with some momentum, knocking over pipes and breaking through blocks), the Mini Mushroom (basically the complete opposite, though Mini Mario can gain access to some rare miniature pipes which are scattered throughout the game) and the Blue Shell (which Mario tucks himself into at dash speed, knocking down any enemies in his path). With the exception of the Mega Mushroom the powerups are slightly disappointing, and the Fire Flower is, in my opinion, still the best powerup.
The implementation of the DS in the main game is relatively minor, with the only use of the touchpad to activate the item Mario is carrying, a la Super Mario World. The touchscreen is only really useful in Mario's minigames. These minigames range from Mario-themed poker to a slingshot game where the touchpad is used to fight off the parachuting Bob-ombs. Multiplayer is another area where the game has novelty value, with two DS's able to compete against each other to collect a set amount of stars that spawn randomly within a set level. Though not designed for long lengths of play, the Mario Vs. Luigi multiplayer is good for a few minutes with a friend.
It's safe to say that largely, you've seen NSMB before. But then again, that's the whole point! New Super Mario Bros. is a great modern platformer in a time distinctly lacking them.
Basically, it's been 15 years since we've had a new side-scrolling Mario game to drool over. Sure, there was Super Mario 64, but the whole 3D aspect of it really didn't appeal to me, though I guess I was in the minority. So it's certainly refreshing for me to see a good-ol'-fashioned sidescrolling Mario game, with a host of nice shiny new tricks and features to play with.
The storyline itself is nothing revolutionary, of course - if you've played pretty much any other Mario game you'll already know it. Bowser Jr. has, of course, kidnapped the luscious Princess Peach, and it's your job to get her back as the lovable semi-Italian plumber.
As you journey through the eight worlds on your travels, you'll notice that each is markedly different - from the traditional Mushroom Kingdom to sandy deserts to fiery volcanos. As expected, the terrain of each world affects the difficulty, with deserts containing flat plains and quicksand, and the volcano levels featuring mainly lava with rocky platforms to jump between.
An interesting new feature evident in these worlds is the introduction of Star Coins, unseen in a Mario sidescroller before (to my knowledge, at least) . Three coins are allocated to each level, in varying locations of difficulty. With a sufficient amount of Star Coins collected Mario is able to gain access to Toad Houses (which contain a randomly-selected powerup or 1-ups) or hidden levels. The implementation of Star Coins is well done, and creates an incentive for replaying all the stages.
There's no question that NSMB is a beautiful game graphically. Instead of the 2D sprites of the earlier SMBs, this time around Mario is in full 3D. The action flows wonderfully smoothly, and all of the character actions seem more lifelike than earlier games. Well, you'd certainly hope so, given that Mario's had 25 years to learn.
The sound within NSMB is a pleasant mix of old and new, with the DS's small speakers faithfully reproducing the electronica beeps and boops we've come to expect from Mario (as well as all older Nintendo games).Control-wise, the game is quite similar even to the original Super Mario Bros. There are a few new tricks that our plumber friend can pull off though, most impressive of which is probably the wall-jump. Ground-pounding and triple jumps also make an appearance, though the triple jump isn't really suited to an unknown level.
Mega Mushroom!
The new powerups are possibly the most public drawcard of NSMB. The Feather/Super Leaf and the Hammer Bros. suit of earlier games are gone, replaced with the Mega Mushroom (which transforms Mario into a rather sizeable figure for a short amount of time, allowing him to run with some momentum, knocking over pipes and breaking through blocks), the Mini Mushroom (basically the complete opposite, though Mini Mario can gain access to some rare miniature pipes which are scattered throughout the game) and the Blue Shell (which Mario tucks himself into at dash speed, knocking down any enemies in his path). With the exception of the Mega Mushroom the powerups are slightly disappointing, and the Fire Flower is, in my opinion, still the best powerup.
The implementation of the DS in the main game is relatively minor, with the only use of the touchpad to activate the item Mario is carrying, a la Super Mario World. The touchscreen is only really useful in Mario's minigames. These minigames range from Mario-themed poker to a slingshot game where the touchpad is used to fight off the parachuting Bob-ombs. Multiplayer is another area where the game has novelty value, with two DS's able to compete against each other to collect a set amount of stars that spawn randomly within a set level. Though not designed for long lengths of play, the Mario Vs. Luigi multiplayer is good for a few minutes with a friend.
It's safe to say that largely, you've seen NSMB before. But then again, that's the whole point! New Super Mario Bros. is a great modern platformer in a time distinctly lacking them.
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Comment by jon
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Comment by Campbell
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In a couple of hours I'll see if I can add some proper in-game shots.
Enjoy!
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