Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Instant classic"

I remember when I wanted to get a Nintendo DS, my parents got me one for Christmas 05. The games I got were Super Mario 64 DS and Mario Kart DS. Those were some fun games but at the time there weren't many choices on the DS. When I looked on themushroomkingdom.net I read about an upcoming side scrolling Mario game titled "New Super Mario Bros", and what caught my attention was that it was a side-scroller with 3D graphics, I know there are many side scrollers with 3D graphics, but this I believe was Mario's 1st. After it was released on May 15 2006, I bought me a copy of this game at Target a few days after the game was released the same week (and 7 years later this game still sales steadily). I was quite happy with my purchase, I think Mario needs more side-scrollers, though all his games are fun (Can't think of a bad Mario game). The gameplay is very similar to Mario's previous side-scrolling games but he can now do things that he was able to do on games like Super Mario 64 which are moves like jumping wall to wall and stomping on his enemies by jumping and pressing the down button. Now since the game has the title of "New" on the boxart there are quite some new things in this game (such as the previous stuff I mention earlier). Though classic items such as the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and the Starman are in this game, it also has loads of new items such as a Koopa Shell Suit (which lets you get in the shell and roll to attack enemies or avoid obstacles), my personal favorite is the Mega Mushroom which makes Mario become very massive. While he is in his colossal form you are pretty much invincible and can easily walk through the entire level destroying everything in you path and defeating all the enemies. Another item in this game is the Mini Mushroom, which is like the Mega Mushroom only you become very small and are at much bigger risk against enemies though it can help you reach areas that you normally can't reach at normal size. Now the story is the basic plot of pretty much every Mario game, Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach (I bet Mario gets sick of risking his a** trying to save her 24/7, 365). Every world has some levels and a castle is located towards the end where there is a boss battle, some bosses include Bowser and Bowser Jr. The graphics are amazing for the DS and the sound is as cute and catchy as it is in every Mario game. Though the game can be completed very easily, New Super Mario Bros is one of the best games on the Nintendo DS, it was great to have side-scrolling back for the Super Mario Bros.
Overall: 10/10