New Look, Same Mario
This title, The New Super Mario Brothers is different than the last several Mario 2-D platform titles. For the past five or six years now, Nintendo has been re-releasing the Mario platform titles on either the GameBoy Color or GameBoy Advance. These titles were either originally released on the NES or SNES systems. They were not new games, just the original games with improved graphics and a few bonus features. This new title borrows from the look and game play of Super Mario Brothers, Super Mario Brothers 3, Super Mario World and even bits and pieces from Super Mario 64. Let me make this perfectly clear: THIS IS A NEW GAME.
The look of the game is unique, but not totally original. A few years back on the SNES had a series of games called Donkey Kong Country. These games were platform games; however the main characters and the enemies were 3-D. The look was never really polished, but it was attempted over ten years ago. In this title the technology has greatly improved and you end up with a Mario the looks 3-D but is forced to face either left or right for 95% of the screen time. You can tell he is 3-D by shading in the colors and when you change directions, Mario will face you or have his back toward you. It is a visual that has to be seen to truly understand. The backgrounds of the game are rich and colorful and are reminiscent of the scrolling backgrounds of Super Mario World with far more detail and layers. There is even texture to the rolling hills and 3-D effects have been added to the water. For old-school layout, the game has a great deal of current visuals.
In a Mario game, it is game play that brings players to the series. In this game, the look and controls closest resemble the original Super Mario Brothers. There is only two buttons to control most of Mario’s actions: A button and B button. You can use the L and R buttons to scan left and right on the screen but they are not really needed. Some of the moves that Mario can perform are borrowed from later titles. Mario can pick up shells (Mario 2), along with slide down hills (Mario 3) and has the butt bounce, triple jump and wall kick (Mario 64). Even with the added moves, the game still feels the most like the original title. You have to face a boss at each level and the first boss is Bowser himself, on a bride shooting fire and you can either drop him in the lava or burn him with your own fireballs.
The game also has a lot of secrets to locate which has been a staple to the series since the first title. What is nice about the secrets is that the worlds are laid out in map format like Super Mario 3 or Super Mario World. This allows the player to re-visit levels to try to locate second exits. Also, players may want to re-enter a level to locate all three super coins hidden in each level. These coins are mainly used to unlock new paths and Toad Houses in any given world.
A Mario game would not be complete without power-ups. Returning to the game are the true classics, the Super Mushroom, Invincible Star and the Fire Flower. To add to the variety are a few new options: the Ultra Mushroom (It is a lot like the Invincible Star only Mario fills the screen and destroys everything in his path), the Mini-Mushroom (This is the opposite of the Super Mushroom by it makes Mario half his size and allows him to loft his jumps, squeeze into tight spaces and go down mini pipes) and the Blue Shell (This allows Mario to tuck into his shell preventing his from taking damage on most attacks and break ground bricks by sliding across land). The Ultra Mushroom is fun and comes up on occasion, but it last for only a few seconds and reverts you back to Super Mario even if you had a different power-up before. The Mini-Mushroom is mainly there to allow you to unlock or reach secrets, it serves little other function. The Blue Shell also serves to unlock secret sections, but it serves combat functions as well.
The game comes loaded with mini-games and head-to-head action with other players. The mini-games are pretty much the same lot from Super Mario 64 DS, which was somewhat disappointing, but this follows the patter on the assorted Super Mario Advance games released on the GameBoy Advance. The mini-games are one of the few times you actually use the touch screen in the game. The other time is you can keep one power-up in reserve and you touch the screen to release it. You also touch the screen to warp back to previous worlds. The other multi-player game is a two-player option where you and a friend play as either Mario or Luigi. You battle it out to collect the most stars in a set level. It has a feel like Mario Brothers, but a lot more interaction.
There are a few of flaws with the game. One of the biggest is that a player cannot save whenever one wishes. You must complete a castle or a tower to save your game in standard play; or, spend five super coins and open a path in a world to save your game. This is a bit frustrating since this game is on a portable system. A nice addition would have been a quick save option that allows the player to return to the level and or screen when the quick save was enacted. The next flaw is that even though this is a new title, with all of the nostalgia elements in the game you play the game with a déjà vu. The game does not feel or play as a totally fresh experience. This does not stop someone from enjoying the game, just makes the payer think: Have I done this before? The last point I want to make is the lack of challenge the game has. This is not the easiest Mario game ever made, that was Mario 2, but it does not have the challenge of some of the other titles. It could be that Nintendo took some flack for making Super Mario Sunshine too difficult and they toned this down; or, they wanted to flat-out make an easier game. In either case, the game is not overly difficult.
Overall, the game is a great experience and worth at least a play. Borrow it from a friend, rent it from GameFly, or just flat-out buy it. I can speak from experience; I love to revisit Mario games. So even after I completed the entire adventure, which takes about seven hours, I will start from the beginning all over again.