New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS) > Reviews (51)

This review is for New Super Mario for the Nintendo DS Console.

How to play

If you’re not familiar with Mario as a gaming legend then you’re definitely not a gaming person because for many years now Mario and anything to do with a Nintendo console have been a partnership which never fails to deliver a great game.
This game is for the Nintendo DS console and you can imagine how difficult it can be on such a smaller scale. The console uses both screens for people to use the game because you need one screen to touch for using various items and you need another screen to see what Mario is actually doing on all the levels.

Your mission is to save the Princess she has been taken by Bowser the enemy of Mario and he will run off with her as you attempt to get near. You have to take Mario through various levels and worlds in order to track her down and defeat Bowser but there are many obstacles in the way. You first have to win the levels which advance you further into the game and defeat the bosses which are situated in the castles which are also on every world.

The last level on each word is a castle and you need plenty of time and patience to win because at the end the final door you enter through you are given a battle against a random monster which is a friend of Bowser, you have to defeat them to advance further on.
The game will give you 8 worlds and they contain various numbers of levels to play and some are locked and you unlock them by finding hidden routes in the levels. You do not necessary need to find the missing routes to access them but if you want to get 100% completion you will.

You have enemies in each level going against you as well such as little tiny monsters which hardly move, ducks in shells and they are in two colours and are both nasty. You have a flying axe man and many more you have to try and hit them before they hit you.
You begin as tiny Mario and you get bigger and have other items with you when you hit random bricks. The bricks will either disappear, throw out an item or they will give you coins which build up in the corner.

The items you get will make you bigger and smaller depending which one you actually touch but they are usually very helpful in you completing the game.
You will notice that when you’re on a level if you get half way through the level you will get this flag and if you happen to die whilst playing that level you will be able to start again from the half way point so that is a nice part o the game. Be aware though as each world passes the game does get more difficult and is not that easy to complete, you’re going to need your wits about you and plenty of patience.
The question is can you get Mario to save the Princess or not?

Helpful Items

When playing the game you will find some helpful items in random locations and they are there to assist you in many ways. Some of the items you will see all the time but there are a few which are rare to see and when you get them you have to use them well.

If you see a mushroom you will notice it will slide away if you get this you will notice how Mario grows twice his size which now means when he is hit he will not die instantly.

He will need to be hit more than once so you have to remember to collect that item if you see it.

Not only have you got items which make Mario bigger but there is a small blue mushroom which makes Mario goes very small. There is always an advantage to this as he can fly better in the air when you ask him to jump which can be a problem or it might not be.
You have a fire ball item which looks like a flower but it might not be and this enables you to fire a fall ball at enemies and kill them so this is a very useful item to have as well.

You can get a big mushroom which is huge and it makes Mario grow to an enormous size for a short period and he will destroy anything in his pathway and this can be useful to remove items out of the way when you’re exploring a level.
If you get an item such as the flower and you are already throwing fire balls it gets saved to the bottom screen and the idea is when you have been hit by something and lose that power you click on the touch screen and it will drop that flower in the game for you to regain that power. As I said above the touch screen does play it part in this game.

The Coins

This is a big part of the game and the reason I am mentioning them for is because many people seem to ignore them and that is not the best thing to do. When you get to 100 coins you will get an extra life added to your total. This can be a huge difference for you as a player on the game and when you have a tough level which you’re not coping with and keep on losing lives.

You will also notice there is another part to each level and this is 3 huge coins. These are hidden but are easy to find when you do find one and if you get all 3 per level you’re doing well. These build up and you use them to unlock items on various worlds. As you explore the maps you have little huts which require 5 coins to be opened so those big coins help unlock them.

These homes are places to gain extra items and if you wish to do so gain extra life’s so they play a big part and with a few huts on each level you’re going to need those coins for some points during the game.
They are really big and some are stuck away in locations which seem impossible to reach but do not let that get you down.

There are also silver coins on the game but I have yet to work out what they do except add a total to the score of coins you have already.

Saving

The game is not that easy to save and you might presume when you turn the game off it is saving automatically but it does not do this. You can save your game in a few ways and one of those is when you beat Bowser in the mini castle and the boss in the main castle.

When you defeat enemies in the castles you are given the option to save which you should always take regardless of your situation at the time. If you want another route to save games it is when you purchase a hut on the game to gain extra items and lives and as soon as you unlock those huts they ask you do you wish to save the game at that point as well. You should always take up the offer of saving the game because if you do not then it will get much tougher later on.

Enemies

The enemies on the game vary on each level and some are very tough to get rid off and do require some patience. You will get some you just jump on and they die which is helpful and you get some which do not like to die at all.

You will notice you have two coloured ducks one in red and one in green. You jump on their heads and the shell is left behind for you to carry and through at bricks or other enemies. The red ducks fly so they can be tricky to jump on and the green ducks walk along the floor but overall they are not that difficult to eliminate.

The ones you need to be aware of is the fire ball plants which pop up in random plant pots and they fire the balls at you and most of the time they miss but if you have a few of them firing at once you cannot get out of the way so they are a big problem of causing you to lose lives in the game.

There is also an axe man who throws axes and jumps around the screen and he is the one I hate the most as he tends to be very accurate with his throwing and tends to not miss and if he does it is because you jumped just in time. You have to be aware of him and he can pop up at random and will do you plenty of damage along the way.

There are plenty of other enemies but these are the most frequent and the enemies do get tougher as the worlds get higher in value.

Some helpful hints

This is a few helpful hints for people whom I think are useful to know. When you are on a world and you advance further you can go back to any level, at anytime and play a level you have done before.

Whatever you earn from that level remains on your total, so if you need a tiny Mario to get into a drainpipe you could go back to a level where one is and retrieve the mini Mario and go back to the level you need him on. This can be a very useful thing to do when playing the game I find.

Another helpful hint is that people might find they cannot unlock worlds 3 and 7 and there is a very good reason for this and that is on worlds 2 and 6 you have to defeat the main boss as mini Mario.

I found this out first hand when I was figuring out if I had done something wrong but you need to be mini Mario so remember to use him on the main bosses and you will unlock those two worlds.

When you complete the game also you unlock luigi and can use him to play the game and that can be fun as well although he is not as good as Mario is.

Sound

The sound on this game can be pretty hit and miss in my view. You get the odd part of the game where there are some good sounds which warn you like when the fire balls are being thrown at you.

You have music on each level you play like a piano in the background and it adds to the drama of the levels especially the ghost houses you enter they are always full of various types of sounds.

When you get hit though by an item it can be a pain because the sound gets frustrating so I would advise people not to have the sound up to high just enough to hear what is going on.

Graphics

I am surprised with the graphics because when I first took a look at the game I assumed the graphics would be a huge disappointment and yet they deliver and are certainly not that bad at all.

I think on each level there is enough graphics there to make the game appeal to people.

All colours in the trees and enemies are always bright and nothing seems weak in the design part and everyone looks very well designed and no indication of any problems with the graphics in my view, very impressed.

Game Play

You do need to watch the game play occasionally. I find when you are attempting to do a run and jump you sometimes notice how Mario can freeze or the do the opposite and run slightly to fast. This is the only issue I have with the game play because if you are after something or jumping up and down and even swimming you find the character goes and does the moves exactly at the same time you are asking him to which is what you want.

Good Points

I love how the game has been able to make the transition to the big screen to a much smaller one and for me that is a huge benefit to have. With the game play and graphics proving to be an instant hit and not having anywhere near the difficulty you might expect that is a huge added bonus for me.

I like how the levels get tougher as you advance and you have so much to do such as keeping an eye on your lives, trying to beat enemies before they defeat you and concentrate on the story of regaining the princess from the clutches of Bowser.

I like the idea of the big coins and how tough it is to save the game because it makes it more of a challenge for the person playing the game and it makes it a bit more difficult then perhaps people would have expected.

Bad Points

The only problem I find is that sometimes you will get to a level and you cannot complete it because the same enemy is put in a place which is aimed to make you lose. It is hard to explain but in the later levels you find when you die the game will put you back in a situation where your almost guaranteed to suffer again the same fate. This can be really frustrating but to be fair the game is not meant to be really easy.

Summary

This game is one of those I think most people know about and wish they had or they have it and never put it down.
I think the game works well in the small screen and the controls are simple because you use the keypad and the odd occasions the touch screen for collecting items you have stored.

With so many things to be doing on the levels and the story behind the game it makes for a great adventure although the price can be quite high still for this game around the £25 mark which is not that cheap but for me it works for all ages.
Anyone at any age can appreciate this game and that is the main thing behind it all.