Metareview - New Super Mario Bros. (DS)

Picked it up from target yesterday (so much for honoring street dates) - fun game indeed. I'd totally recommend picking it up if you got the spare $35.

Wow, so many critics can give GTA:SA or FF200close to a 10 but mark so many points from this game for lack of originality???

Yes martin, because they each were far different from the previous games. Especially the Final Fantasies, since they don't run in a continuity and are each seperate games.

That being said, I didn't expect New Super Mario Bros. to be very original. Isn't it all about going back to the roots of gaming?

I don't think Nintendo wanted to bring anything new to the table with this game. Instead, they wanted to take us back to the glory days of classic platforming... something that I think everyone can agree on.

the nintendo world store also had this yesterday

it felt so good to stomp through the first level with big mario

Points off for lack of brash imagination? If you say so. Personally I'd take points off if they messed with the existing formula too much, but that's me. That's also a reason not to trust reviews too much.

it's sweet. i was trying to take my time, but before i could stop myself i had already beaten the first two worlds. i am missing a couple of star coins in each world though. i decided this is the one game that Im going to try to do everything on my own in, keep myself from looking up guides, etc.

It's a remake of Super Mario Bros. What did people expect?

And too short? Super Mario Bros. gets beaten in 7 minutes. No body complains about that.

It's an arcade platformer. One of the best even. People who don't understand should.

"Picked it up from target yesterday (so much for honoring street dates)"

First of all, the game wasn't street dated.

Secondly, the release date was the 15th, so even if it was street dated... you picked it up on launch day.

to Swegamer (#7 at the time of writing)

it's not a remake of the first super mario bros. game, its a totally new game.

n8dogg, to say this game has a lack of imagination but to say Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is significantly different from GTA 3 is a long shot. I'm surprised they'll criticize this title for lack of imagination when it looks to have added some neat new features, and is a brand new adventure with stylish graphics. I'm going out to buy it tonight, hope there's still copies.

1up thought they would be cool and go against the flow, which in this instance, was a stupid choice. The game wasn't meant to be totally original as stated in the above posts. This was a throw back to the original Mario formula (aka before Mario N64). Even at that they still introduced new platforming senarios and items.

It was also said that this game's purpose was to introduce those, that may have missed out on the early Marios from the NES and SNES, to the roots of the current Mario games. So this is just a case of 1up being 1up.

The reason SA got marks such as 97%, 10/10 etc is because its massive. There's so much to do (it also roks, but thats besides the point). NSMB sounds like a method of reviving the old mario style. Fine. But make it bigger

#7 - It's not a remake. Only the first level is similar, as an homage, everything else is all new levels.

#10 - I'd agree with you on the difference between 3 and Vice City, but San Andreas did actually bring a whole lot more to the table. Planes, the ability to swim, pseudo-RPG elements, complete character customization, and a land area about 4 times larger than the previous game.

"San Andreas did actually bring a whole lot more to the table. Planes, the ability to swim, pseudo-RPG elements, complete character customization, and a land area about 4 times larger than the previous game."

And making everyone think that gamers are sex obsessed violence prone outcasts, even moreso than people already thought. don't forget that.

Originality isn't that important to me, if it's enjoyable then it's a success but 10/10 and even 9/10 reviews for games are handed out too easily in my opinion.
If I reviewed a game and gave it 9/10 it would have to be one of THE best games I'd played in my entire life.
It seems that if a game gets anything below 8/10 it's considered a failure by readers nowadays.

Got it at Nintendo World Store yesterday and I am very pleased. There's lots of fresh new feeling matched up to the classic style of game play. Tiny Mario has to be my favorite so far because his jumps are so long and floaty. Big Mario is great just for barreling through a level to get as much distruction as possible for multiple 1ups. I have to say that it's challenging from the get-go if you're trying to grab all the star coins. There are a lot of little glimpses of places in levels that I haven't figured out how to get to yet, so this game definitely has replay value in spades. The minigames are really fun as well, eventhough they feel a little tacked on. But hey, I like having another option to play if I don't feel like hitting the main game and those minigames do the trick! I'll give it a 9 so far, probably higher once I'm finished (Are we ever really finished with a platforming sidescroller featuring Mario?)

And about the Nintendo World Store, the coolest store ever. They have this new Zelda track jacket that I want so bad, but they only had XL in stock, not M or S, more shipments on the way. But um, keep your eyes open for this one.

"Lack of imagination." "It's not original." What about the new Mario game for Cube. These games are different. That's it, I want to become a reviewer.

Comon joystiq, why the need to post this twice and even within roughly a week's time? It was even Blake doing the posting both times....

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/08/metareview-new-super-mario-bros-ds/

because the game got released? also maybe he forgot? also, what did famitsu score it? also, this game is totally delish. also, i've played like a billion games of spades and chess; originality in games is overrated, and trying something new in a game isn't a virtue in an of itself, so long as games are fun. also, san andreas was the pinacle of that type of game; and if you enjoy rpgs where you can kill orcs in their homes, why do you feel bad about killing street people on theirs? also, this game really feels like if mario 1 was longer and more involved. i dunno how i feel about the mmx wallslides, though.

Also jadenguy, if you also use the word also one more time, I'll also kill you......................also. ;-)

But as far as the game goes, I can't buy it till pay day on Thursday. :(

I think people are being a bit hard on 1up. Reviewers are people. This person did not get what he was expecting and gave his opinion. That's why there are more than one review site out there.

Read them all....or don't.....and make your decision.

First people complain that Mario strays from its roots. Then they release a retro themed game and some people actually have the nerve to complain about originality.

Thank you, Nintendo, for making games like this and for making the Wii, rather than trying to listen to consumers and give them what they "want".

Forget 1up ... im buying a DS Lite just for this game (to start anyways).

Call me a fanboy, but the only thing being labled "unorignal" with a "lack of imagination" this week is the PS3. Cool controller though!

Call me a liar? Anyone seen the Kotaku video of people blatantly ignoring the PS3 booth?

I'd take seventeen copies of New Mario instead of a PS3, which, ironically, is how many you could buy instead of the machine less popular than a 3DO.

And yes, that was sarcasm about the controller.

It isn't very trendy to give Nintendo too much praise. That should be obvious by now. Why in the world would a reputable game rag want to gush over a fat plumber and his brightly colored, saccharine world? Journalists like the ones at 1up literally take off 'cool points' and justify the act by invoking lofty ideals like originality and immersion--ideals that are usually far too subjective to bother quantifying in a score.

I dont have a DS, but reading about this game, It certainly looks really fun. Why would they give it 80% 1up? Because its not revolutionary? Look how much innovative change went into mario sunshine, a whole lot, and that game was crap. I applaud nintendo for taking mario back to the way it was WHEN IT WAS BEST. How can you take points off for that? Stupid 1up

Did any of you actually read the whole 1up review? Or even the first couple of paragraphs? I encourage you to do so, it might help understand why he took a point (or 2) off. His reason might be a bit stupid, but he attempts to at least let you see where he's coming from.

8/10 is an excellent score for a game. Everyone is going to buy it anyway, and it'll give me a chance to take Ouendan out of my Navy lite.

(Get Elite Beat Agents when it comes out!)

1up did have anything bad to say about the graphics, the sound, the gameplay. The reviewer found no glitches or bugs, he said it was challenging, and there's a lot of exploration involved.

Yet he takes 2 points off because it didn't satisfy his imaginations. Sorry, but Nintendo doesn't read your mind, or make a game just for you.

It's a pretty baseless score. Reminds me of Gamespot's botched review of Metroid Prime: Hunters.

"I know every other site will give this a score of 95+, so I'll give it an... 80. That'll drum up some interest. Ok, where's that review copy, it's time to play it for the first time."

totally off subject but does anybody know how much the DS lite is gonna cost?

I have to agree with #28. I hate reviewers who talk about the game, focus on the good parts, talk of very little of the bad, then score it oddly.

"Solid, graphics, great control, excellent gameplay... a little unoriginal, but still a great game, 8/10"

@ 30:

If I recall, they priced it at $129.99.

Yeah, having played the game for several hours yesterday, I've got to agree with the haters. This game is simply not very original.

YES, it's a remake and YES, it's supposed to harken back to the classic Nintendo days of yore, but what it shouldn't be is, well, kinda boring. Maybe boring is too strong a word--it's fun and I'm going to keep playing it, but generally, there is a feeling that I've seen every last thing before.

I remember as a kid finding new types of fun in each new version of SMB to be released. While the game play is nearly identical from SMB 1-3, each seemed different and each seemed to add something new to the table. NSMB is just more of the same. Nothing truly clever as far as I can tell.

In the end I give it a thumbs-sideways because it's not crap, but it's not mind-blowing either. It's just in the middle someplace.

I REALLY have to wonder how many people that continually shit on Super Mario Sunshine played it for more than 5 minutes.

GTA 4, Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda Twlight Princess, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Halo 3 better have alot of "brash imagination" or they too will lose points...

,..Or we'll just get hypocrites....

I actually preferred Sunshine over this.
I bought NSMB yesterday. Started the game at 5. Saved the game when I went to dinner then church choir practice between 7-9:30. I came home and was able to beat the game by 11:30. Yes, it looks pretty. Sure there is replay for the other levels I haven't unlocked yet (all will be done by the weekend)
Also, the game is very easy. Maybe it's me since I come frome the oldschool NES days when you had to beat a game from the start because you couldn't save a game. But those games were better. I personally rank this slightly better than the original SMB. In terms of difficulty it pales in comparison to the others.
Also, extra lives are too easy to get. I was able to beat the game without getting a game over or ever dropping below 40 lives! I hope this game has some unlockables like how the GBA SMB Deluxe had the Japanese SMB2