New Super Mario Bros.

Title:

New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS)

Publisher:

Nintendo

ASIN:

B000ERVMI8

Rating:

Not rated

New Super Mario Bros. is a return to roots. Not simply because it’s Mario, finally, in a platform game, but because of Nintendo’s construction of this game as a direct sequel to the NES original – an alternate Super Mario Bros. 2.

The generosity of modern Nintendo games has been abandoned here. As in the original, most of the game is spent one or two mistakes away from failure. The most anachronistic left-over is the time limit imposed on each level – forgiving enough to have no impact on a first play-through, but restricting enough to be a minor annoyance when scouring a stage for every last secret. It’s difficult to see any justification for its inclusion, other than to evoke memories of Marios long past.

But that is a large part of this game’s goal. New Super Mario Bros. is arguably one of the most cynically nostalgia-inducing games ever made. Right from the recognisable opening chime, this is a game designed to play off the memories of those of us who spent a parent-worrying amount of our childhood playing Nintendo games, and who were later blown-away by the arrival of Super Mario 64. It is this other genre-defining Mario game that is permitted to form a lesser set of influences over NSMB.

The most apparent of these is the animation of Mario himself. Though the game is steadfastly two dimensional, Mario is rendered as a 3D character, allowing a fluidity of movement not otherwise possible. A number of moves have also been lifted from Mario 64 and translated into 2D. The ability to rebound off walls with a well-timed kick has the greatest impact on play, but sits entirely naturally with the abilities Mario has always had.

Though without any significant innovation to fall back on, this is a game that succeeds or fails on the quality of it’s level design, on how much entertainment can be wrung from the self-imposed restrictions. In this regard, New Super Mario Bros. can barely be faulted. Differing play styles are catered for admirably. Those who choose to dash through a level as fast as possible will find, providing they hold their nerve, that enemies, platforms and obstacles line up so as not to disrupt the joyful sense of momentum. Those who take their time will find NSMB to be a richly interactive world, upon which much jubilant destruction can be wrought – whether it be by their own hand, or from a well thrown Koopa shell. The latter allows the player respite to sit back and watch the sometimes surprising levels of destruction unfold.

The placement of collectables strikes a careful balance between generosity and daring the player to take risks. The secrets areas of each level are never hidden so obscurely as to frustrate, yet hidden well enough to provoke a pleasing feeling of luck and smugness at their discovery.

It is thus clear, that though much of the raw material for New Super Mario Bros. is over two decades old, Nintendo have not let their mastery of the platform genre, developed in the intervening years, go to waste.

Bryan Gale : 03 Jul 2006 23:59 |  Tags: Boar Game Review |  Comments (4) |  Report a problem