Many thanks for all the reads, rates and comments - all are appreciated. An accountant by day and a ...
Many thanks for all the reads, rates and comments - all are appreciated. An accountant by day and a random reviewer by night I am not a professional writer, nor do I have any ambitions to be I guess I am just opinionated.
Member since:07.03.2007
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I remember playing Super Mario Brothers on the original Nintendo NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) when I was at middle school back in 1991 or 1992.
I remember playing on it for hours and hours, betting my 50p pocket money with my sister as to who could get the furthest using only one life and then arguing for hours afterwards once one of us became poor.
At that time the 8 bit graphics, sound effects and 2 dimensional game play was the pinnacle in technology.
Time and technology has moved on at a considerable rate but, unfortunately, Super Mario for the NDS has not kept up at the same rate
Story Line ************ Princess Daisy has been kidnapped by Kupa and it is Mario's job to go and rescue her.
Mario's quest involves travelling through different worlds (including both land, water and air) and destroying the baddies by jumping on them, throwing shells at them or blasting them with bombs (This can only be obtained when Mario has collected a mushroom to make him big and
a flower to provide the fire power).
All the bad guys are there from the original including the mushrooms, the tortoise like things, the bouncing winged mushrooms, the bouncing winged tortoise like things etc. etc.
All the levels and worlds included in the original are still there. They are even in the same order!
This story line has not changed since the original game, and whilst some may consider that this is the whole point to the game I think that they are looking through rose coloured glasses.
Graphics *********** The graphics are higher than the 8 bit original but are still not on par with modern games of today. At most I'd say are the equivalent to the N64 (64 bit), which is now a relic itself.
Game Play ************* The levels, like the original all those years ago, are still 2 dimensional. Why Nintendo? The NDS has the capability of dealing with 3 dimensional game play at a more than acceptable speed (a prime example is Brothers In Arms) but it was decided to stick to 2 dimensional.
The DS has the controls (with the stylus and touch screen, directional pad, and L and R buttons at the back ) to cope with 3 dimensional game play so why did Nintendo not exploit this?
Sound ********* You guessed it .. all the original sounds are there. The original theme tune (I used to love it but I now think it is one of the most annoying tunes ever!), the high noises as coins are collected, the distinctive jumping noise. Everything. Right down to the ticking down of the timer once the flag has been captured at the end of each level.
Back in the early nineties all the music and all the sound effects worked well. They were fresh and modern. Now they sound dated and quite frankly, poor.
Difficulty ********** I remember in the early years when computer games were for entertainment purposes and whilst they had some challenging parts they were never that difficult. As time has gone on and games have developed they have become a lot more challenging, probably too challenging to the point where in some cases the user needs to go and find a 'cheat' to progress on to subsequent levels.
Super Mario has not changed, in any respect, and that includes the difficulty level.
It is a game that my nephew (who is 6) picked up and completed on his first time round without losing all his lives! After just a few hours game play he had completed it, and if it were his it would be time to go and trade it in. Another £20 down the drain.
Conclusion ************** If you are in to retro (simple?) gaming that were iconic years ago then this game would be worth a look. Playing this is like stepping back in time to almost the last detail, just that you are holding an NDS and a stylus which you will not use.
I admit that I'm nostalgic and memories came flooding and I became lost in that 2 dimensional world, jumping on the bad guys, collecting coins whilst trying to save my princess. However, that moment was very short lived and I became bored - very quickly.
This game is in need of a definite make over. A change in story line, change in bad guys, increase in difficulty levels, change to 3 dimensional game play and a change in sound effects and music is required to resurrect the icon that is Mario.
I would not give this game to any game player who had not grown up in the NES, Sega Master System, Super NES or Sega Mega drive era. I do not think that they would appreciate this type of game. Perhaps Nintendo should call it a day with Mario and bow out gracefully knowing that an iconic figure was created who will be remembered for entertaining millions of gamers for hours on end.
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It is weird how back in the day, these games were hard...maybe it was something to do with the reaction timing in the game itself, or maybe as we were so new the world of gaming, weird. Good review...but shame on you for not knowing that the 'tortoise like things' are called Koopa Troopas :)
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Oct 1st, 2008
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