An instant classic in every sense of the word.
The wait is finally over, Mario has returned to his roots with New Super Mario Bros which to no great surprise is the next installment of the popular Super Mario Bros series. Fans have been crying out for a sequel for close to 15 years and this is Nintendo’s offering after a long vacation; nobody would deny that Mario’s 3D platformers have been integral to not only the franchise but to the entire platform genre but it certainly is welcoming to see it return home.
The story will come as no great surprise to anyone relatively familiar with past games; that’s of course if you can class it as a story to begin with. The princess has yet again been kidnapped and it’s your job as super plumber to save her from almost certain peril. Along your journey you will play through a series of levels, each as varied and as well thought out as the next; eventually leading up to various castles where you come face to face with Bowser Jnr, the devilish son of the big bad Bowser himself. You navigate through each of the 8 worlds using your trusty overhead map which is not too dissimilar to the one found in Super Mario Bros 3; complete with secret passages to previously inaccessible areas.
There’s no doubt that Nintendo see the Super Mario Bros series as their crowning jewel so I had very high hopes for this game, surely they wouldn't even consider releasing a below par game with a name that's held in such high regard, well I can reassuringly say they haven’t. What did cross my mind upon playing this game was how they would enhance their control system whilst keeping the same run and jump formula that made the games work in the first place. This comes in the form of some new moves allocated to simple button combinations; these are incorporated so carefully that each one now feels necessary. There’s the wall jump which gets you out of jail in quite a few situations by allowing you to escape from chasms or from deviously placed spikes. The butt stomp and triple jump combos also make their 2D debuts and allow Mario to access secret areas that would have been previously impossible to implement in past editions.
So why did Nintendo wait until now to finally continue this beloved series? Well I believe it is down to two reasons. The first being the lack of appeal for side-scrolling games on modern consoles, I guess with the capabilities consoles have to offer it would leave gamers feeling rather under-whelmed. That would leave handhelds and perhaps Nintendo finally felt the DS had the power to achieve what they actually set out to accomplish. With New Super Mario Bros platforms now shrink and grow, stretch and bend in ways the Game Boy Advance could only dream of. Water-based levels are now filled with frothy bubbles, swirling whirl pools and rippling water; perhaps the biggest thing about all this is the fact that none of it looks out of place in the retro 2D world.
This game incorporates aspects from all 3 of the classic Super Mario Bros adventures; perhaps one of the biggest is the flag poles located at the end of each level. Getting certain point’s scores or finishing in a certain time will trigger a different selection of fire works for your amusement; you will also get alternative level endings for finishing with various power-ups still in play. One thing that has gone is the ability to collect cards at the end of each level which was a popular feature of Super Mario Bros 3. What they have replaced it with is a coin system that is shockingly similar to that found in Kirby’s Canvas Curse of the same system. This sees you collecting a total of 3 coins from each level to unlock new areas on the map and new features to enhance your gaming experience. This was the replay value the game needed as you will find yourself breezing through the main mode in a few short hours. While replaying every level to obtain every coin does sound tedious it is actually one of the best parts the of the single-player experience.
This wouldn’t be a Super Mario Bros game without some great power-ups thrown into the mix and this game delivers accordingly. You have the standard mushrooms, fire flowers and stars but there is also the addition of a blue shell that should be recognizable to the Mario Kart fans amongst us. This makes enemy attacks relatively ineffective, with a quick tap of the down button you will tuck neatly into your shell and come crashing to a halt. Perhaps the biggest additions are the mega and mini mushrooms most commonly found in Mario Party outings. The mega mushroom will turn you into a huge Mario that takes up the majority of the screen, now nothing will stand in your way as you proceed to destroy just about anything that happens to in your way including walls and even pipes. The mini mushroom does the opposite, using this will turn you into a minute sprite thus becoming vulnerable to enemy attacks. The small guy does however have his benefits; you can now fit down the tiniest of pipes, run across the surface of water and jump unnaturally high to reach previously inaccessible areas. Both of these mushrooms add massive variety to the gameplay and again create more possibilities in how you approach any given level, for example you could store your mega mushroom and instead use it on one of the games many boss fights; now as oppose to a close battle you can crush them with your huge boot. There are disappointments in the power-up department though, the first one being the lack of such classics as the Frog Suit and the Raccoon suit which were overwhelming favourites amongst fans. The only reasons I can think for dropping them is either a case of cartridge capacity or intentionally restricting the gamer to lessen the chance of confusion.
Once you have exhausted every last ounce of value from the main mode there is always the multiplayer mode to fall back on. This consists of a wireless one on one versus mode, pitting Mario against Luigi in an array of nifty looking arenas. The challenge is to scoop up 5 power stars before your opponent and this makes for some pretty maniacal gameplay. In addition to this you will also find the mini-games from Super Mario 64 DS which I personally think is utterly lazy on Nintendo’s part. It feels like they have been tacked on last minute in an attempt to extend the game that little bit father, I suppose the saving grace is the ability to now play these wirelessly with friends.
Mario has definitely been given an upgrade from the pixel-powered character we were used to, this time around he is a full living, breathing 3D model not too dissimilar to the one found in Super Mario 64. Perhaps the most impressive thing is the games ability to integrate both 2D and 3D graphics to make for a very unique looking game; never losing that Super Mario feel for even a second. The audio isn’t half bad either; you may be disappointed if you were expecting the return of all the classic tracks, instead you get a soundtrack which takes these retro tunes and remixes them to create a more modern sound. I think they should have stuck the old saying ‘if it’s don’t broke don’t fix it’ in this case but no game is perfect, so without dwelling too much on past games the audio does a superb job.
All-in-all New Super Mario Bros makes for a welcoming addition to the series with fresh gameplay innovations and quirky extras littered here and there. This truly is an instant classic in every sense of the word with the added bonus of a modern makeover, while others have tried and failed Nintendo recaptures the greatness of games past with devastating results. Gameplay – So many games have tried to emulate the successful Super Mario Bros formula and failed, who needs to beat it when this is it.
