by Matt Wetsel - May 15, 2006

Odds are you've heard there was a new Mario game coming out. With all of the Mario Party titles, sports games, and RPG spin-offs, it seems like he's featured in a game almost monthly. But wait, this game isn't like those others - this is a real Mario game, meaning you'll be stomping Goombas and once again trying to rescue the Princess. It seems too good to be true, is this a dream? No, it's definitely real, but New Super Mario Bros. is honestly so good that it does seem hard to believe.

Anyone who's played Smash Brothers will be familiar with New SMB. style: 3D graphics and models operating on a 2D plane. More than anything, this game is a return to the series roots for 2 very important reasons - it's both fun and incredibly easy to pick up and play. The latter is something that the 3D Mario titles have been lacking; I recall younger gamers and even parents and grandparents playing the original Super Mario Bros., but as soon as Mario went 3D and had a ton of moves, he suddenly belonged to a less accessible genre.

Well, not anymore. New SMB takes everything that was great about the most important games in the series (SMB1, SMB3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64) and blends it all together into a game that's a joy to play. It reflects the original NES game in that it can be played in a very straight-forward manner and be very satisfying, but there are rewards for players who are willing to explore the levels and get creative. The rest of the series is reflected in a more discrete way, but anyone who's played the other titles (and if you haven't, whats wrong with you?) will instantly recognize their influences on the game design.

To compliment the stream-lined gameplay, the controls are kept rather simplified: the A and B buttons jump, the X and Y buttons make you run and shoot fireballs. Gone are any spin, double, or triple jumps, but there are some new moves to make things interesting: a wall slide/jump and the now-classic butt stomp. The wall slide is performed just by pushing Mario against a wall as he falls, during which you can jump and propel him in the opposite direction; it's similar to the Mega Man X series but not as cheap, and the level design often finds creative ways to use it rather than just giving you a second chance if you fall down a hole. The butt stomp, performed simply by hitting 'down' on the d-pad while in the air, also has some creative applications. For example, you can stomp on item/coin blocks from above and make the contents come out below (including bean stalks - be careful!), or you can just plow through bricks.

Although the game is a little short, it makes an excellent progression in difficulty level and what it expects of you, but for a dedicated or seasoned player you won't find anything too challenging. Boss battles in particular are a little on the easy side, but that doesn't prevent them from being any less fun. For the most part, the game makes little use of the stylus - you can use it to change the World you're in and to select an item in reserve. It would have been nice to have a way to access your reserve items without letting go of the main controls, though - sometimes you're in a pinch and need it right away, and picking up the stylus just isn't possible. When you consider that the Select button doesn't even do anything in the main levels and could easily serve the same function, it makes it even more annoying. It's not an issue often, but it's worth mentioning.

Classic Mario

The graphical style is in the same spirit as the gameplay: nothing too fancy but wonderful nonetheless. Bright, colorful environments and large, equally colorful enemies make New SMB a feast for the eyes, and all of the different worlds (expectedly) have a different theme to them, so there's a ton of variation to keep things interesting. You're ears will be just as happy, too. The majority of the music is classic Mario, with some very cool and interesting remixes. Mario probably has as much dialogue as he does in Super Mario 64, and thankfully not nearly as much as he does in the Mario Advance series (which got very annoying very quickly). This is one DS game that you'd better bring your headphones along for, because any Mario fan is going to recognize and love everything they hear.

Despite the game's relatively short length, there's still a lot to offer after you best Bowser. There isn't any possible way you could find everything in every level on the first play-through unless you're using a strategy guide, so completionists will still have a few hours to spend trying to get every last coin found and level unlocked. There are also some great multiplayer games available, all of which are completely playable with just one cartridge over the DS Wi-Fi. The first is a reiteration of the multiplayer modes from Mario 65 DS, but the real fun is in the new mode exclusively for New SMB: Mario and Luigi are racing against each other to collect stars, and while it's only 2 players, it's got the same charm of the rest of the game in that it's a simple premise with more depth than it initially appears.

Feed the Addiction

Really, it's difficult to find any fault in New SMB. If I had to, I would say its on the short side, but this is one of the few games that I've plowed through quickly and not felt cheated or ripped off - quite the opposite, actually. I don't know what it is that makes Mario games so entertaining, but rather than dwell on that question, I'd prefer to just feed the addiction. Nintendo is without a doubt responsible for platform gaming as we know it, as well as some of the best platformers ever created. New SMB. is now included in that list, and it might even be their best offering to the genre yet. Buy this game. Now. If you don't have a DS to play it on, go buy one of those too. It's worth every penny.