New SMB brings back some classic gameplay, but it may be a little too simplistic.

User Rating: 7.7 | New Super Mario Bros. DS
By FuzzyBunny55 | Review Date:
New Super Mario Bros occupies an unusual space in the Mario franchise. The visuals are much more reminiscent of the N64 or GC games. The levels, for the most part are a hybrid between the original SMB and Super Mario World. They're fairly linear, ala SMB, but there's more variety between the levels, ala SMW. Mario himself is more reminiscent of the original Mario with a few moves taken from the N65 and GC versions, such as the ability to rebound off of walls. Surprisingly, you won't find any power-ups from SM3 or SMW in this game.

Gameplay wise, there's not really much to say. It's Mario in all of his 2D glory, which, in my opinion, fits the handheld format much better. The gameplay is addictive and perfect for short gameplay sessions. Difficulty is just about perfect. You'll probably be able to beat half of the levels the first time through, while the other half will take a couple of tries. The visuals are all very bright and colorful and well animated. I only had two gripes with the game. The first is that you can only save when opening alternate routes on the world map or after beating a castle. This is only a minor annoyance though since the DS holds its charge in standbye mode remarkably well. The other gripe I had was that the game is almost a little too simplistic. The "back to the roots" style of NSMB comes at the cost of a lot of gameplay advancements that platformers have had over the years.

All in all, if you're looking for a simple, addictive game to blow a few minutes on the bus ride, NSMB is for you. If you're looking for a deeper gaming experience though, you might want to keep looking.

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