As Promised

Review: New Super Mario Bros.

The game is cute. Brings back to the classic platformer that Maro is known for. Interestingly enough, he lost all flying abilities (SMB3: Racoon, Tanooki, SM64: Flying Cap) but he retained SM64's butt stomp and wall jump. They added a couple of twists here and there (Look out with the mega and mini mushrooms!). But it's mostly the crazy platforming goodness that Mario is famous for.

The controls are very tight and respond quite accurately. The stylus was pretty much unused in the game, so, it's the D-pad and buttons only. And the thing is, you only need to run it with 2. Run/Shoot fireballs and Jump/Swim. The L/R buttons are used to view the map forward and backwards. Simple. Like I said, a real classic platformer.

What I am proud of is the level design. The see-saws from SMW are back, as are pipes for transports/secret rooms, pulley platforms from the original, moving platforms, donut platfoms, switches ('P' and '!'), pits, mushrooms, hanging ropes, secret staircases, mini-mushroom only areas, clouds, springs, spinning springs and many more. The level design is made quite well, and while some are fairly easy, some are... a pain and quite frustrating.

The 2D/3D mixture works well in the game, with the sprites and 3D rendered models blend very nicely with each other. Almost everything is animated and runs at a decent framerate. I have not had any problems with any slowdow of sorts.

The only gripe I have with the game is the saving function. You can only save after completing a fortress or tower. Only if you have beaten the game 100% can you save the game at any time.

I don't give a numerical rating for games, but I would say this is one game that you should get for the DS. Plus fr those people who started playing Video games during the PS1/2 era should take a step back and try it out. I mean, 3D is all nice and shiny, but 2D games rely wholly on gameplay to sell. And gems like this makes it all worthwhile.