New Super Mario Bros.

Gameplay: Really good. It's really simple. You jump and don't touch obstacles.

I liked the helicopter power up and the penguin was very fun too.

The game from world 1 to 8 may take newbs 2 years to complete. For experienced Mario veterans like myself with breaks say a month or 2.

Graphics: It was really good for a Wii game. Nothing that says "Oh wow!!".

Difficulty: If you are a veteran Mario player like myself then it's not easy, and It's not hard, its basically a natural gameplay. For newb players, they will have a hard time. There is no mission that I'll say that was mad hard like a Mario Maker level. Even World 9 was natural for a veteran like myself.

Bowsers final battle was too easy. Newb players will have a hard time if they pencil when their suppose to pizza.

Multi Player: It's good. I just hated the bubbling feature. If 2 or more players bubble at the same time, then you have to start the level over again. I have a certain way of playing, and having a comrade with you can interfere with your style of play.

Replay value: Out of 10 I'll say an 8. Whether It's to get stars or just to past the time, the replay value was high on this one. I finished with like 99 lives and over 200 power ups.

Overall a solid game.

New Super Mario Bros. is the first brand-new side-scrolling Mario game since 1992. Through that break from the casual "flinging fireballs at enemies" routine, Mario has been mostly seen in 3D platformers, RPGs, racing, sports, and Party games. It's truly a shame that no new Mario side-scroller has been released on the Game Boy Advance though, only old games (Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, etc.) have been re-released for the portable system. During that time period, Mario side-scrollers became a thing of the past, until recently, Nintendo decided to release another Mario platformer for the Nintendo DS, except it wasn't a 3D game like Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine or the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy for the upcoming Nintendo Wii, it was an all-new Mario side-scroller starring Mario and Luigi. It wasn't no big mission to retrieve stars or shine-sprites, it was just a normal quest to rescue the Princess from Bowser and Bowser Jr.

The closest we have got to a new Mario game like this was the recent DS game Super Princess Peach, which reversed the roles of the "Plumber saves Princess" formula, but it really didn't relive the classic days of Mario games. Only when New Super Mario Bros. was released when the Mario really returned, it was a normal side-scrolling adventure with no real storyline, but it instead featured 8 worlds with 80 total levels, packed with all the action that made Mario famous from the start. I got this game and it is anything but disappointing. It captures the essence of the old glory days NES games from the 80's and early 90's. But the game wouldn't be "New" without a few new additions, including Power-ups, moves, and enemies.

Nintendo has shoved the game with items such as the Mega Mushroom, which enlarges Mario to the size of the whole screen and can give him the ability to damage almost everything in sight, the Mini Mushroom turns Mario into Mini-Mario, who can fit through tight spaces that he normally couldn't, and for the first time, Mario can actually wear the Koopa shell and roll around on terrains and plow through enemies galore! The Classic Mushrooms and Fire Flowers make a return as well, that turn Mario into Super Mario and Fire Mario, who can fling fireballs at enemies (Sound familiar?). Mario's main move in the game like always is performing giant leaps and jumps, but his trip through 3D platforming has left a stain on him, and it can be seen in some of his new moves in this game, which includes the triple jump, the Ground Pound, and the wall jump, which all prove useful, because the wall jump can save you if you accidentally fall down a gap or can help you reach higher places, the triple Jump can help you jump higher than before, and the ground pound can help you stomp enemies, break blocks on the floor, and more. New enemies flourish through all of the game's 80 levels and each have unique abilities. Some of them include the casual group, including Goombas, Koopas, Thwomps, and Lakitus, but there are never-before-seen baddies that make their debut in this game, and they include Spookums, Balloon Boos, giant eels and such. Even with all of those new additions to the game, New Super Mario Bros. still manages to pull of the feel like you're playing on the Super NES.

Mario has a big history ahead of him, which includes games on Nintendo's next-gen console the Wii, but for now, all these ambitions can be put aside, and you can enjoy this game, which is one big trip down memory lane.

New Super Mario Bros is like the sequel that never came, until now, 16 years after the last one, Super Mario Bros 3. If you ever played those classic Mario games on NES, than you know what to expect. It's not that much different, the storyline is the same; you have to rescue Princesses Peach from Bowser. And it has some new items like the super-mushroom, which brings you to nearly the full size of the DS screen, and you can walk through almost everything. Also a blue mushroom (is not poison like in Super Mario 2) which make Mario to a Mini-Mario, which allows you to go places in the game you couldn't get to when you are normal-size. Another new item is a shell, a blue shell that you have on your back, I really didn't find that shell so much useful thou. Another new thing is that Mario can do is jump walls. But the flying power is gone, a small disappointment maybe, because I really loved Raccoon Mario. The biggest different from the classics is the graphics, is really amazing, really beautiful and perfect. They have also added Mario sound (not much), and the music is still pleasant. For experienced players could this game beaten easily and very fast, I believe it took me slightly less than five hours, and I wasn't trying to beast it fast. But the whole game wasn't completed, There are whole worlds that are skipped under "normal" playing through. Some levels have more than one exit and there are pipes and cannons to take you to various parts of the map and even other worlds. And you also got the 3 special coins that you can collect in each level, you actually need those coins to save. This is a great game and I will already call it a classic, all people who enjoy video-games will love this game. I actually bought a Nintendo DS lite because of this game and it's worth every penny. Let us just hope that Nintendo continues to keep these classics coming.

9,8/10.

New Super Mario Bros. is a small series that would go on to get less and less innovative with each entry but they hit they managed to hit the nail on this head with 2006 reboot of Mario's classic platforming style, implementing his 3D move-set into a 2D environment and bringing in new features like the mini-games and the addicting and fun as all hell multiplayer mode. It's not graphically impressive and the main game may be a bit to oversimplified but New Super Mario Bros remains the best one in the series and is definitely one of Mario's top 10 games of all time!

(www.plasticpals.com) In what could be described as a re-imagining of the original 8-bit sensation, Nintendo returns to its roots with a traditional 2D side-scrolling Mario game. It has all the hallmarks of Mario's first adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom, but ditches the frustrations with a more modern approach. It's an ode to the old-school game play that made the Italian plumber famous, but a game that can be beaten in a single sitting will leave many fans feeling a little short-changed.

Although it is heavily based on the original 8-bit Super Mario Bros., the graphics and music are the game's best assets. While the game is played from a traditional 2D side-scrolling perspective, all of the characters are smoothly animated and modelled in polygons. Some background elements playfully take advantage of their new flexibility; mushroom platforms spontaneously grow fat or thin, sway left and right, and wobble around to knock you off balance. Each world has its own theme which helps to keep things fresh, even if they fall into somewhat tired gaming tropes. The music is typically cheerful Mario stuff, with the right amount of tension in the ghost houses and enemy strongholds.

Sadly there are only three new power-ups introduced in this game. The best one is the Mini-Mushroom, which shrinks Mario down to the size of a few pixels. He becomes really floaty, allowing him to jump higher, and because he's so small he can access tight spots. It also makes him extremely vulnerable to getting squished, so it makes the game a bit harder.

The Mega-Mushroom has the opposite effect; for a limited time Mario grows as tall as the screen, and he can bash his way through just about anything. It's fun the first time, but it isn't very useful in most stages. Finally, there's the Blue Turtle Shell, which lets Mario ricochet through a stage like a regular shell. It's useful in a few very specific areas, but due to its sloppy controls it could also end up killing him.

In the current market, it would be considered draconian to exclude the save utility, but that is exactly the kind of bold decision this game needed. It's evident that Nintendo wanted to create a game that was highly re-playable and that could be beaten in a single sitting, much like the original Super Mario Bros.. The inclusion of several warp points (allowing you to skip entire worlds) suggests they wanted you to finish it multiple times in one go, trying out different routes and finding secret paths. After all, the early Mario titles didn't have passwords or save functions, and as a result players were glued to their sets for weeks or months trying to solve them.

With the ability to save, most gamers won't attempt to beat it the old-fashioned way. You'll find lots to enjoy if you work your way through each level at your own pace, but when it's over you'll feel robbed. And there are some drawbacks to some of its traditional design choices. For example, Bowser Jr. serves as a repetitive and boring mini-boss in every world, and the bosses themselves are much too easy and not very imaginative compared to previous titles. In fact, you'll find more difficult bosses in Super Princess Peach.

With some investigation you can find a small handful of secret exits in certain stages, which will ferret out new levels or lead to warp points. By far the most difficult challenge will be to collect all three Star Coins from every level, but this is completely optional, and the coins are only used to open bonus items on the map. To add some much needed incentive, they could have been used to unlock the included mini-games or other, more rewarding content.

NEW Super Mario Bros. is a fun and sometimes truly inspired game. However, in attempting to appeal to a broader, more casual audience most will find the game can be beaten in less than a week, making it one of the shortest titles in the Mario line up. The limited set of power-ups don't do the game any favours, and the new ones are only useful in very specific circumstances. On the plus side, there's a great variety to the level designs, and the graphics and music are top-notch. It was smart to return to a 2D side-scrolling perspective on the Nintendo DS, but the experience ends far too quickly, and there isn't much incentive to return to it when it's over.