The Sprout

Review: New Super Mario Bros.

Posted by Jeff the Fridge from Cardiff - Published on 10/09/2011 at 07:58
1 comments » - Tagged as Technology

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Note from a Fridge - I apologise dear reader for my lack of film or game reviews over the past few weeks.

The main reason for this was my family holiday to America and when I came back I was very jet lagged and couldn’t quite find the time to write reviews. It was a mixture of me seeing my friends, the new school term starting, DC’s New 52 being released (if anyone is interested in all of Batman’s assistants and the different coloured power rings, please comment below) and me racking up kills on Team Fortress 2.

Luckily I managed to catch Cowboys & Aliens in the cinema and will be writing a review of that soon. So until then I’ll give you a review of one of the must have games of the last decade.

Mario is in my blood. Even when I was a little fridge with dreams, I played Super Mario World at my child-minder's house on her SNES. My good friend Alex and I played all of the time, taking turns each time the other died. I had nearly reached the end of the entire game when the SNES crashed. Alex and I were devastated, a mere 5 red flashing dots away from Bowser’s final lair.

When I heard Nintendo was taking Mario back to his side scrolling roots after the much loved Super Mario Sunshine on their new handheld, the DS, I rejoiced with the sound of crushed goombas and 1-Up mushrooms ringing in my ears.

As with most Mario games, the 3D romps aside, there has never been much story. Princess Peach has got captured again (I could easily have told her that talking mushrooms are rubbish guards) by her “son”, Bowser Jr. If you haven’t finished Super Mario Sunshine as I hadn’t at the time, New Super Mario Bros. is the next in line so might give away the major spoiler from the end of Super Mario Sunshine. Typically, Mario has to go save Princess Peach yet again, but sadly there is no green Luigi or cute Yoshi here. That is about it for the story, that’s how simple it is. If you want a good story behind a Mario game, grab Super Mario Sunshine or either of the Galaxy games.

The graphics are some of the best you can find on the DS (not counting the 3DS) with only Mario Kart and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass probably being better than New Super Mario Bros. It is still rather pixelated on the small screen, but unless you have a HD console instead of the Wii’s measly 480p, you’ll probably not see a better Mario until Super Mario 3D comes out soon.

New Super Mario Bros. also adds something new to the Marioverse; competitive multiplayer. It isn’t online as Nintendo still refuse with most DS games, so you’ll have to round up some friends to play with, even if they don’t have the game. The multiplayer comes in two forms; minigames and Mario Vs. Luigi. Minigames is the same as the minigames in Super Mario 64 DS except you can now play with four of your friends with a star system to keep score. The most fun I had in the minigames was playing with my sister and friends in a lodge in St. David's for my Dad's close friend's 40th birthday. We were all sat on the bed, me, my sister and various other friends, all sitting on bunk beds making a colossal racket and taking it in turn on the DS’ because there was eight of us and only five DS'.

Mario Vs. Luigi is a great idea but should have been put higher up Nintendo’s priority list instead of reusing minigames. You and a friend battle it out to collect stars in stages based on the worlds in the main single player game, using power ups such as fire flower or mini mushroom to beat the stars out of your opponents. Once again, Super Mario 64 had a better arena type gameplay, but M Vs. L could have been improved on if given more time.

90% - Essential if you own a DS. Even if it isn’t Mario World.

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