Metareview - New Super Mario Bros. (DS)

by Blake Snow { May 8th 2006 at 10:00AM }

As of now, the New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS is doing well with the critics. At the time of writing, the game held a 93% average review score.

IGN 95% - "Before New Super Mario Bros. entered my life, Yoshi's Island was, to me, the greatest platformer ever created. That title may now have to go to New Super Mario Bros."
GameDaily 90% - "On paper, New Super Mario Bros. is the kind of game that makes hardcore Nintendo fans get on their knees and weep in sheer joy over the eighty new levels of new 2D Mario action. If you're not already in that camp, New Super Mario Bros. is the kind of game to take you there."
GameBrink 91% - "In the end New Super Mario Bros. is a very fun and worthy if not short addition to the stellar Super Mario Bros. series. While it lasts, it's some of the best platforming to date and features what I consider to be the best Nintendo DS graphics to date."

Mario's latest installment launches on May 15.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Hushed Casket @ May 8th 2006 10:09AM

I'm buying my first handheld gaming device just to play this game.

darryl @ May 8th 2006 10:18AM

oh boy, *another* mario game... how innovative.

JodyAnthony @ May 8th 2006 10:24AM

games dont have to be innovative to be fun, they just have to be fun.

Mindstormy @ May 8th 2006 10:24AM

how does darryl have a star with comments like that

thrillho @ May 8th 2006 10:26AM

im tryin to beat princess peach so im ready for this game, i have a feeling it will be hard to take out of that ds slot.

Ace! @ May 8th 2006 10:27AM

lol, denied.

Ive been waiting so long to get my hands on a new side scroller, there arent enough good ones any more, and this is gonna rock

Ace!

oh noez! i dared to say something critical of the almighty nintendo! don't dare express your opinion, the nintentards will call for your head!

seriously, played mario - all of 'em... let it go now, let mario et al rest - it's been done, they're so tired, and so am i... zZz

JAS @ May 8th 2006 10:31AM

"oh boy, *another* mario game... how innovative."

I pity Microsoft and their fanboys, is there anything "innovative" that MS will show at E3, Another Halo game i suppose exactly the same as the first one but with more Poly's in the Chief, oh well, theres always Xbox Live, now thats innovative !

Ace! @ May 8th 2006 10:35AM

well, they think that xbox live is innovative lol...

Ace!

darryl @ May 8th 2006 10:40AM

"I pity Microsoft and their fanboys, is there anything "innovative" that MS will show at E3..."

just for the record, i *hate* MS... i have zero MS products in my home (i used to have an MS split keyboard, but it broke)... i work for a linux distribution company so no MS at work either.

Lynk @ May 8th 2006 10:42AM

I love it how people criticise Nintendo for doing something different, telling them that trying to be innovative will get them nowhere... And then Nintendo releases something purely because people want that oldskool type of experience and we find people complaining that it's not innovative...

Yup, people sure know what they want :D

Grant @ May 8th 2006 10:47AM

Lynk, exactly. Why can't a company do BOTH? Besides, the reviews have said that there are a lot of new elements in this game that haven't been in previous 2D Mario games.

Ace! @ May 8th 2006 10:49AM

Yup, shouldnt, mario.nintendo.com have a new video of the game in action up soon?

Ace!

boots @ May 8th 2006 10:50AM

Oh OK darryl. Then you are probably most excited about "Devil May Cry 4", "Metal Gear Solid 4", "Final Fantasy XIII", "Soul Calibur 4", "The Getaway 3", "Killzone 3" and "Tekken 6".

Now *those* are innovative titles.

Tom @ May 8th 2006 10:50AM

"just for the record, i *hate* MS... i have zero MS products in my home (i used to have an MS split keyboard, but it broke)... i work for a linux distribution company so no MS at work either."

You still use Linux? I'm, like, WAY more video-indie than you are. I only use MS-DOS and 8 inch floppy discs. And I hate all companies, regardless of whether their games and products are good and help regular people out, which they don't, because they all blow. Long live Coleco!

The "new" Mario reminds me of the newest Zelda for GBA and Mario Kart for the DS in the sense of being new games but at the same time having a greatest hits kind of feel to it. And for weird haters out there, you know if they show a new Mario for the Wii you're gonna bust out the camping gear over at your local video game dealer, not to mention in your pants.

boots @ May 8th 2006 10:51AM

And by the way, a game can be original even if it uses classical IP. It's the original gameplay features what makes it excel.

SLy @ May 8th 2006 10:52AM

Hey, there is no need to me to justify shit. I'm buying it, now fuck off.

reklesgemini @ May 8th 2006 10:53AM

careful there darryl, don't think for a minute you can state your own opinion on this here site. As you probably have already noticed, these guys will go down for anything 'Nintendo'.

relax guys, it's just a game

ejflex @ May 8th 2006 10:55AM

Darryl you're about as cool as a wet fart. Now give me a star!

x @ May 8th 2006 10:57AM

haha new super mario bros has already been dumped and released on the net. =P

JAS @ May 8th 2006 11:13AM

"these guys will go down for anything 'Nintendo'."

reklesgemini Give Bill Gates his ass back, I can imagine its pretty sad owning an Xbox 2, no original games just ports of current gen titles with better lighting and bigger textures, no innovation, a rushed console with power supply the size of a house brick. If i was an MS fanboy i would go into hybernation till E3 was over cause its gonna be upsetting. Its all over boys, face it, Microsoft has failed.

DG @ May 8th 2006 11:13AM

I would say that in the days of FPS, sports game rehases, WWII sims, "street" racing games, and prositute beat-em-ups, releasing a standard 2D platformer IS innovative.

Sega gave Sonic (Shadow, whatever) a gun. I think Nintendo should be commended for their show of restraint.

Stu L Tissimus @ May 8th 2006 11:16AM

Wait a second, you mean New Super Mario Bros is the release name and isn't jsut tentative?

My god. What is Nintendo's marketing department smoking? Wii, now this...

striderhayasa @ May 8th 2006 11:18AM

@ #16 sly...I agree. It's bought, no rap, haters step off.

DarkSol @ May 8th 2006 11:20AM

Unfortunately, Nintendo still can't get it through their heads to come up with new franchises or use franchises that fans want, i.e. Kid Icarus, etc. That isn't to say that I won't play this game, but if Nintendo is to be such an "innovative" company, what is with all the rehashes, remakes and sequels? No company should be content with relying on slapping its main mascot into almost every single game it releases.

Lynk @ May 8th 2006 11:25AM

@ DarkSol: Want new franchises? Wait till the Nintendo press conference and E3 and then we'll talk.

reklesgemini @ May 8th 2006 11:29AM

comment 20 proves my point exactly.

and dude, I don't even own the first xbox...

again relax

kilo113 @ May 8th 2006 11:30AM

yeah, game has already been leaked on the net sometime yesterday.
it's fun and looks real nice. definitely worth buying when released.

darryl @ May 8th 2006 11:42AM

"Darryl you're about as cool as a wet fart."

mmmmm... wet farts! classy.

Joel M @ May 8th 2006 11:47AM

"Unfortunately, Nintendo still can't get it through their heads to come up with new franchises"

What a comment. How about Pikmin? Or the NEW FRANCHISE that Miyamoto is working on SPECIFICALLY FOR Wii?

gameclu @ May 8th 2006 12:01PM

Nintendo has like the largest cache of franchised video game characters. So how is it that people can sit back and accuse Nintendo of not coming up with new franchises?

hoola @ May 8th 2006 12:01PM

I cant wait for it! I am by heart a SONY fanboy. I have every console/handheld SONY has put out. And I will continue to buy thier gaming line of what evers. :) The DS was my first non SONY gaming device purchase and I have to admit I play it more than anything else at the moment. Of course this will change when PS3 comes out. I have been having a blast with meteos, and a super peachy time with princess peach and my Mariokart keeps my heart racing. **hehe did ya like that** I will be purchasing The New Super Mario Bros the day it comes out. Anyone saying Nintendo makes crap games obviously hasnt played any of them.

SONY fanboys unite. The PS3 is the future.

josh @ May 8th 2006 12:15PM

"Unfortunately, Nintendo still can't get it through their heads to come up with new franchises"

Pikmin, Eternal Darkness, Animal Crossing, Advance Wars, Warioware, Brain Training, Nintendogs, Smash Bros, etc...

Metroid is an old school character, but the new Metroid games are completely different than the old Metroid games. Same for Paper Mario (and Smash Bros).

Joe @ May 8th 2006 12:15PM

Forget new franchises. Why bother creating an entirely new franchise when you've got a loyal fanbase that will keep buying new games in the old ones? And I'm not just talking about Nintendo, either (though they have A LOT of franchises), I'm talking about Microsoft and Sony, too, and most big third party developers. Everyone's got something they're known for, and that's fine. It's good to have a least one "Halo" game (pun intended) that people will recognize, and that will sell, and there's nothing wrong with making more of them. If I recall correctly, this is a free economy and a free country, and if you don't like this game then don't buy it, but don't criticize Nintendo for making it just because there are people out there who will like it and will buy it.

Everyone's opinion is valid. I'm not saying that if you don't like it, you should shut up, but when the comments section degrades to the point where one person says something against the game, and then the rest of the comments are just about the commentors, then I think we've lost focus. We're all here because we're gamers. Let's try to remember and appreciate that.

MosquitoControl @ May 8th 2006 12:23PM

Just because it's Mario doesn't mean it's not innovative.

I'd rather have innovative gameplay with a stale character than stale gameplay with an innovative character.

Gameplay > Character. So the fact that it's a Mario game has no real influence on how innovative it is.

Jay B @ May 8th 2006 12:23PM

#31

Why cant more people be like you? Dont knock something until you've tried it, thats wot I say. Too many people write Nintendo off for apparently making 'crap' games but if you actually play some of them, you will see there is fun like no other.

Matters @ May 8th 2006 12:30PM

darryl is just trying to start shit. He's a classic Troll. That's why you see him on here and not slashdot. We can't actually mod him -1 Troll here so he gets away with it.

darryl tell me when was the last time you played a video game that you actually consider innovative and I'll tell you why it isn't innovative AT ALL.

Don't give us this crap that a new side scrolling mario game isn't innovative. We care less about that than we do about your opinion. I've been waiting for a new side scrolling mario game for over 10 years. You were about 3 years old back then.

DarkSol @ May 8th 2006 12:42PM

@Lynk: What makes this E3 any more special for Nintendo over any other? Don't say "But the Wii is coming out this year!" I didn't see Nintendo being extremely innovative franchise-wise when the Gamecube came out.

@Joel M: Pikmin... That's it? So through the entire lifespan of the Gamecube, Nintendo came up with one new franchise?

@Joe: I don't think Nintendo should be happy with slapping Mario into a DDR game or a soccer game. Why dilute the essence of Mario into those games?

I'm not saying that Sony and Microsoft aren't guilty of the same things. However, how many Mario Party games do we really need? Did Mario HAVE to be in sports games? Why couldn't they just have let the DDR game be un-adulterated and exclude Mario from the game?

Marlor @ May 8th 2006 12:44PM

Mario is a mascot. There are very few "true" Mario games. The last one was Sunshine, and the last sidescroller was Yoshi's Island.

The rest of the Mario games are totally independent games that just happen to have the Mario characters in them, and why shouldn't they? I enjoy Mario Kart more because it has familiar characters. I would enjoy it less if it was "unrecognizable new character kart". The same applies to Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, etc. It is *fun* to play these games with familiar characters, and they are hardly just "another Mario game".

I can play Mario Golf with my cousins and they say "cool, I want to be Peach" or "I've got Luigi". The characters are icebreakers, and help to get people into the games, which share no similarities with the platformers.

MetaHuman @ May 8th 2006 1:05PM

Mario makes the money so that Nintendo can make risks on completely different stuff (that isn't Mario). It's that easy.

That said, 2D Mario's been gone for too long when development for Nintey's portables would've been perfect.

@ DarkSol

I think that the Mario Sports are alright. I myself enjoy them a lot, but I know a lot of people say that even just adding Mario to something must mean that people buy it for the name. Seeing as I do buy those games I want to say something.

I don't like sport sims. I don't like sim games (unless it's the Sims or Flight Simulator). I like arcadey sports games, reaching back as far as Neo-Geo's 2020 Super Baseball. I've played games from Super Tennis, Super Bases Loaded on SNES to NFL Blitz on N64 and Sega Soccer Slam and Beach Spikers on GC, but I just find the Mario games more fun, and I don't see anything so great about the Outlaw games. There are very few alternatives, to be honest, but it's alright for me because I think they're great.

True about wanting a DDR game without Mario. I want my Butterfly song, damnit. :P

Hoffer @ May 8th 2006 1:25PM

I've got this game on reserve at Gamestop. I've also got a DS Lite on reserve. I'm thinking about holding onto playing the game until I get my DS Lite. From the video comparisons, the DS Lite's screen looks so much better than the phat one.

Falsoman @ May 8th 2006 1:29PM

Nintendo's IP's... (sorry if i forget somethig or i get some of those wrong i don't have much knowlegde about them)

Mario related:
-Super Mario
-Yoshi's games
-Mario Sports
-Mario Party
-Mario RPGs
-Princess Peach
-Wario Land
-Wario ware
-Doctor Mario
-Luigi's mansion
-Mario Kart
Outside mario world
-Super Smash bros
-Wave Race
-1080
-Pilot Wings
-Kid ikarus
-Legend of Zelda
-Pokemon
-Polarium
-ChibiRobo
-Odama
-Pikmin
-Fire emblem?
-Doky Doky
-Electroplankton
-Snow bro's or what ever
-Star Fox
-Excite Bike
-Animal Crossing
-Donkey Kong
-Donkey Konga
-Metroid
-Metroid Pinball
-F-Zero
-Brain series
-Geist

Those are the ones i remember, but i'm pretty sure there are more... so i think nintendo have enough franchizes each generation =)

For IPs on the game cube there weren't many but there were good ones:
-ChibiRobo
-Odama
-Pikmin
-Donkey Konga
-Geist ?

For nintendo IP's so far on nintendo DS:

-Jam With the band
-Electroplankton
-Nintendogs
-Pokemon Trozei
-Polarium
-Princess Peach
-Brain Series
-Metroid Pinball

Sorry if i left anything out... i'm pretty sure i did. And sorry for the spelling.

DarkSol @ May 8th 2006 1:35PM

@Metahuman:

Alright!! Someone else who likes Super Baseball 2020! That game is hardcore awesome. I kind of wish that SNK would release an updated version of that for either the arcade or a nextgen console. However, I have read some of the reviews for the Mario Sport games, and it seems like Nintendo took a crappy game, slapped Mario's face in it and was like "MUCH BETTER!"

Grant @ May 8th 2006 1:50PM

Joe @ May 8th 2006 2:09PM

I'll give you that Mario in DDR is foolish, but not every game is going to be great. However, considering how often they use Mario in other genres (sports, party, etc), those games tend to be well done and great fun to play. Look, for instance, at this example:

Nintendo has Mario Kart. It's basically just go-cart racing with Nintendo's most well-known franchise, and some features like being able to attack your opponents (something that wouldn't be possible if it were a go-cart simulator). Obviously, any innovation on that concept that Nintendo has added in sequels to the original isn't much compared to the original, but then again, look at all the other game developers who more or less just copied Mario Kart, but without nearly the level of quality or success (Crash, Star Wars, Looney Tunes, Disney, etc).

At least you can say that if Nintendo is not always groundbreaking, at the very least they use their franchises to create great games.

josh @ May 8th 2006 4:21PM

"What makes this E3 any more special for Nintendo over any other? Don't say "But the Wii is coming out this year!" I didn't see Nintendo being extremely innovative franchise-wise when the Gamecube came out."

Because the Wii is coming out AND it includes a very non-standard controller system. If the Wii was just the gamecube with better graphics and an online presence, it wouldn't be that exciting. But the controller makes it more than that. I don't know if the games will be cool, or if the controller will be more than a gimmick, but I'm looking forward to finding out. So are many other people, I think.

DarkSol @ May 8th 2006 6:12PM

Well, the thing is, is that wasn't Nintendo talking about being all super innovative when the GameCube came out? And yet Nintendo is having to rely on the DS now. Wasn't there supposed to be a three pronged approach? Handheld, DS, and console?

GeoFlame @ May 8th 2006 7:17PM

To 48
Im pretty sure they said DS was something else in case it failed it didnt..did way better and now there goood to go.
Wii maybe it will fail maybe it wont judging from DS and what people have been saying about DS before it was released almost seems the same...funny I remember people saying the Name DS was dumb. though Wii is still a silly name no matter what but then who cares...it is just a name I see it as more of a symbol than a name.

But ya new Mario side scroller its about damn time I mean...I was mad they didnt make any new ones on the GBA and just ported the games ive played millions of times over but new stuff is what I like seeing and this side scroller looks to have a mix of new stuff with good old side scroller fun that I remember.

DarkSol @ May 8th 2006 8:52PM

I'd rather have the DS called just that, the Nintendo DS. It's MUCH better than the codename "Nitro". That just doesn't sound like Nintendo at all. More like Microsoft trying to be like Nintendo.