New Super Mario Bros.

By Kristan Reed Published 28 June, 2005

Old is the new New.

It's been a huge delight to re-run through the old Super Mario classics on the Game Boy Color, the GBA and, more recently, on the DS. But at the same time, there's only so long you want to wallow in nostalgia before you get to play something new, and Nintendo has finally taken the hint with this brand new DS-only offering. New Super Mario Bros. takes everything we loved about this celebrated platforming series and buffs it up, with an impressive 2D reworking that sticks to the old gameplay principles while throwing in a few new moves and graphical tricks to prove that the days of side-scrolling platforms are far from numbered.

Knowing how hit-and-miss the touch-screen controller can be on platformers like Super Mario 64 DS and Rayman DS, there was a certain amount of trepidation at the idea of playing a 2D platformer with the stylus or thumb-strap, but fortunately such worries didn't linger long. In this case, Nintendo has wisely given over the touch-screen to serve as a shortcut for your store of power-ups, so firing off stored items is a simple process.

Super Size Me

The three level demo didn't allow much room to show off too many new ideas, but we did get a flavour of some of the power-ups that feature in the game; one of which spontaneously transforms Mario into a giant version that's as tall as the screen and enables him to deal with the mutant nasties that have similarly grown out of control. Although at first the game appears to be a standard 2D platformer, the scalable visuals give Nintendo licence to play around with the camera a little, zooming in and out dynamically, while the scenery is far more dynamic than previously, with trees visibly feeling the impact of Mario's infamous returning butt-stomp.

In the true spirit of Super Mario gameplay tradition, much of your travels are simple exercises in coin collecting, block-butting for power-ups, an endless butt-stomping procession clearing Koopas and Goombas and trying to suss out ways to avoid hungry giant Piranha plants along the way. Alongside a cleaner graphical style and hugely improved animation, it's immediately apparent that new SM64-inspired moves have made it into the mix, including wall jumps and back-flips, while the powered-up Mario will also apparently be capable of dishing out kicks and punches - not that the demo provided much evidence of that in truth.

In keeping with previous Mario adventures, exploration and kleptomania is as much a part of the game as simply working your way from left to right, and it's not long before you're diving into pipes and foraging in underground lairs for all the optional coins, power-ups and other goodies that are hidden within. Typically, Nintendo switches the action to the lower screen whenever you jump down into a pipe, which is logical if nothing else. They have to use the second screen for something, eh?

Mario Versus Luigi

'New Super Mario Bros.' Screenshot 1

Wireless multiplayer also promises to be a lot of fun with one player controlling Luigi, and the other Mario in a straight up race from one side of the level to the other. In keeping with the Mario Kart power-up principle, players can grab lightning bolts that shrink your opponent, or blue blocks that transport the player to your location, allowing you to catch up lost ground. Whether the full package will also be laced with touch-screen bonus mini-games is unknown at this stage, but we're sure Nintendo will pack the game with assorted bonuses to encourage replayability.

Visually, one argument is that it pays homage to the past too much for its own good. Although the traditionalists will undoubtedly coo over the fact that Nintendo has remained utterly faithful to the look and feel and it's great to see that there's still a place for the old style, there are very sound hardware-related reasons why those games looked the way they did.

Fast forward 15, 20 years to a capable platform like the DS and the design sensibilities make the demo levels look basic, minimalist and perhaps even a little empty in places. In a sense, what Nintendo has done with its New Super Mario Bros. is akin to what modern bands often do when they release a clean-sounding cover version of an old classic song with strings and a gospel choir. In theory, the modern arrangements and crystal clear recording techniques ought to make it sound better, but somehow you just prefer the soul of the crap mono 1965 recordings that make it sound like it was recorded live in a cramped, sweaty garage with a Dictaphone. Is this "New" Super Mario Bros., or "Old"? It would have been interesting to see what a truly new 2D Mario Bros could look like, rather than one which clings for dear life to the past. Maybe Nintendo will do one of those as well?

The jury's out

That's not to say the finished game won't be utterly brilliant when it eventually comes out, because after a half-hour run through the three demo levels there were glimpses of the Nintendo design genius, especially when Mario gets super-sized and Nintendo starts having fun with the level design. Is it enough to suggest New Super Mario Bros. is a whole lot more than a basic retread of the past with scalable graphics, wobbly platforms and wall jumps? That remains to be seen, but the millions of fans that have lapped up the past versions will surely be happy in the knowledge that we're finally going to be blessed with another 2D Mario after all these years. Who'd have predicted that?

Check back for more on what is sure to be one of the key forthcoming DS titles.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Benno #1 7 years ago

    YES, i get the first comment atlast

    now eurogamer when can i visit the headquarters and meet you people
    Edited by 1 at 28/06/05 @ 09:35

  • onyxbox #2 7 years ago

    one for the shopping list. I still play the first Super Mario Bros and my daughter is getting into it now.

  • Cyhwuhx #3 7 years ago

    .::: Little remark: if you enter bonus areas and the action moves to the bottom screen it also takes away access to your power-ups. Thus it becomes slightly more risky to enter bonus areas.

    Oh and it's divine. Really divine. They should call it Super Mario Bros. 4. It's THAT divine.

  • Derblington #4 7 years ago

    I want this real bad. There's some good stuf appraoching for the DS at last.

  • Aretak #5 7 years ago

    Nintendo living in the past? Shurely you jest?

  • joey #6 7 years ago

    please dont let my partner see this, or I wont see her for at least 2 weeks!

  • Blerk #7 7 years ago

    Fast forward 15, 20 years to a capable platform like the DS and the design sensibilities make the demo levels look basic, minimalist and perhaps even a little empty in places.

    I got a right kicking in the forums when I said exactly that! Tch.

  • the_angry_monkey #8 7 years ago

    Well it all looks very exciting. Does anyone know if this was a wifi or cart demo? I reckon Nintendo will have used some classic styled levels for the demo to draw people in - so we may yet see some more lush looking arenas. Sure it's rehashing an old idea -0 but one of the best games I ever bought was SuperMario for GBC - the mini games and extras had me hooked for weeks!

  • spazmo #9 7 years ago

    Can't wait for this game! I don't think you can judge it on a little demo. I have every faith in Nintendo producing a great game. Why? It's called a track record. It's why people *know* the new Zelda will at the very least be good. It's just a question of wether it will live up to, and even surpass their prevous classics and be a fantastic game.

  • #10 7 years ago

    gotta agree with blerk on this.

  • Teeth #11 7 years ago

    /wants

  • smelly #12 7 years ago

    "Nintendo living in the past? Shurely you jest? "


    Not as much as xbox makers microsoft.. have you seen they're about to make ANOTHER version of windows!

  • octo #13 7 years ago

    This title should sell bucketloads of handhelds.
    Edited by 1 at 28/06/05 @ 10:30

  • Wash #14 7 years ago

    "Not as much as xbox makers microsoft"

    I dunno, when was the first windows release.. and when was the first mario game put out? Also aint there been like 75+ mario games in some form or another since the 1980s.

    Dont matter aslong as they're good tho.
    Edited by 1 at 28/06/05 @ 10:35

  • spazmo #15 7 years ago

    "Nintendo living in the past? Shurely you jest? "

    I hope they stay there! I've seen the present and bits of the future, and it looks decidedly gritty, urban, street, 2cool4skool, Bthere or Bsquare and DULL, DULL, DULL!

  • Blerk #16 7 years ago

    gotta agree with blerk on this.

    Note I didn't say it would be a bad game, just that I thought the levels looked a bit sparse.

    That said... I can't stand Mario games, so I won't be buying it! :-)

  • Tweakmonkey #17 7 years ago

    Having seen some vids of this I think it will be brilliant, and as someone said I suspect the later levels will be lush.

    /adds to list

  • Xerx3s #18 7 years ago

    tsk, megaman & sonic have always been the better games though. Sonic would cut that irritating plummer from ear to ear.

  • Dizzy #19 7 years ago

    Looks really good..

    Sadly I hate Mario...

  • Genji #20 7 years ago

    "tsk, megaman & sonic have always been the better games though."

    Even in recent years? Don't make me laugh.

    "That said... I can't stand Mario games, so I won't be buying it! :-)"

    Oh, you poor, poor man. :-)

  • caligari #21 7 years ago

    Mmmm, it could also sway me into the wonderful world of DS.

    But I'm sure playing the PSP in public would get me more high-fives in a shopping mall.

  • binky #22 7 years ago

    When's it due?

  • #23 7 years ago

    When was the last true 2D mario game?

    Excluding Yoshi's Island on the SNES, we are talking 1990 when SNES was launched with Super Mario World.

    That's like 15 years!

    OMG!

    Has it really been that long?!?

  • binky #24 7 years ago

    Mario vs DK?

  • smelly #25 7 years ago

    nah.. there was that yoshi game on the n64.. that was pseudo 2d...

  • #26 7 years ago

    There were spin-offs but the 'last true 2D mario game' was Super Mario World - first launched with the Super Famicom in 1990.

    I only hope Nintendo don't go for a 'lite' / 'half-assed' effort like Yoshi's Story.

    We want a 'proper' length like the 96-exit SMW - not like Nintendo's previous efforts like Yoshi: T&G.

    Don't we?

  • MikeD #27 7 years ago

    A mono recording from 1965?

    Are you sure you don't mean 1956? :-)

  • Genji #28 7 years ago

    "We want a 'proper' length like the 96-exit SMW - not like Nintendo's previous efforts like Yoshi: T&G."

    I seem to remember being able to finish SMW in less than an hour. :)

  • #29 7 years ago

    Like many of Nintendo's SNES games 'finishing' the game was not that difficult - but completing everything was quite a challenge.

    So, like the best SNES games of the time it worked on two levels: a quick romp for the casual gamer and a more detailed, challenging effort for the enthusiast.

    It would be cool if Nintendo could return to that game-design paradigm.

  • #30 7 years ago

    "Mario vs DK?"

    This is a Donkey Kong game, not Mario. :)

  • lost_soul #31 7 years ago

    "Excluding Yoshi's Island on the SNES, we are talking 1990 when SNES was launched with Super Mario World."

    Why would you want to exclude the greatest platform game ever made???!

  • Mint #32 7 years ago

    Blerk's sentiments = 3rd'd.
    I dont see why it would have been so hard fro Ninty to have at least stuck a nice backdrop in there. Some.....shrubs? Mebbe'? It looks.....barren, as it is.

    Shiggsy, I know it's technically on PS2, but pick yourself up a copy of Klonoa 2, THATS the way to do a 2D platformer with 3D graphics.

  • #33 7 years ago

    Why would you want to exclude the greatest platform game ever made???!

    Reason being it's not technically a Super Mario title. Gameplay and game mechanics are slightly different.

    I certainly wouldn't disagree with you when you say that Yoshi's Island is "the greatest platform game ever made".

    For arguments sake, lets just say it's been over a decade since Nintendo has launched a 2D platformer with Mario in it - even if it is baby Mario! :o)

    I'm assuming that Yoshi's Island was published in 1994 on the SNES?

  • stormcr0wfleet #34 7 years ago

    im thinking 2d is gona be making a come-back next generation, espeically on the hand-helds. Just beacuse these machines can do wonderful 3d graphics why has everyone just forgoten/given up on 2d platformers/games. saying that, im spending my money on the psp and and a copy of lemmings :-D. carnt afford both consoles so wont be playing mario.

  • ProfessorLesser #35 7 years ago

    I have always seen Mario as 3rd to Zelda and Metroid. Sorry.

    Yes, I know the heritage, and all about the principle etc. etc. but Mario just doesn't do it for me. I mean, he's a plumber.

    Mario Sunshine made me want to cry. THAT game was living in the past. It personified Nintendo kiddiness, and is the crappest in-house title I have ever played. I know that's just coz I haven't played other crap ones, but there you go.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #36 7 years ago

    stormcr0wfleet said saying that, im spending my money on the psp and and a copy of lemmings :-D

    It's coming out for the DS too! Just think of how much easier it'll be with a touchscreen. *waves carrot*

    And here's a linky that says as much: http://gba .n64europe.com/index.php?id=3706
    Edited by 1 at 29/06/05 @ 04:22

  • smelly #37 7 years ago

    "the comment about windows is a bit invalid. "

    duh.. it was a joke... aimed at pointing out how pointless it is moaning about another game coming out which just happens to have recognisable characters.

  • firefly #38 7 years ago

    - "It's coming out for the DS too! Just think of how much easier it'll be with a touchscreen. *waves carrot*"

    That says Worms, not Lemmings. I'm pretty sure that the rights to Lemmings actually belong to Sony so there's absolutely no chance of seeing a DS version.