New Super Mario Bros.

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New Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling platform game, inspired by the original Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It is the first new sidescrolling Mario platformer since . It was first shown during the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo.[IGN videos] The North American version was released on May 15, 2006.[Official site] As is common for Nintendo DS games, the Japanese release was set for the later date of May 25.[Nintendo of Japan website] The European version was released on June 30th.

Gameplay

Single-player

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The game plays similarly to the earlier Super Mario Bros. games, albeit with some changes. Mario grabs coins, stomps on his enemies, and grabs Super Mushrooms from blocks, causing him to grow (and earn a Hit Point). Flying, which was a power in both Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, is absent however, making levels more platform-focused. The game also features world map elements from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. New to the series is Mario's ability to recover coins and items merely by throwing a shell at them. Additionally, the game's graphics are made up of 3-dimensional characters, enemies and objects on 2-dimensional backgrounds, resulting in a 2.5D effect.

Goals

The goal of each level, as in most 2D Mario games, is to reach the flag goal at the end of side-scrolling levels. Tower levels, where a miniboss is fought having reached the end of the level, appear at the midpoint of each world (except worlds 6 and 8, where 2 tower levels appear). A castle level comes at the end of each world, where the world's main boss is fought.

New Super Mario Bros. rewards the player for completing additional tasks, with up to three stars on the file select screen. The requirements for each star are:

• One Star: Beat the final castle.
• Two Stars: Beat all stages.
• Three Stars

1. Find all secret exits
2. Use all cannons
3. Collect and spend all star coins.

Levels

The game spans 80 levels, divided between eight worlds(Plains, Desert, Tropical Island, Forest, Ice, Mountains, The Sky, and Bowser's Lair). Each world has a map resembling those in Super Mario Bros. 3, with alternate pathways and secrets littering them. Not all the worlds have to be cleared to reach the ending. Special "warp cannons" and "warp pipes" allow the player to skip entire worlds, reducing the number of levels necessary to beat the game by three-quarters. The player must find alternate exits in levels to unlock these shortcuts. Collecting and spending "Star Coins" that are scattered throughout the stages unlock paths and bonuses.

Elements

Although the game draws heavy inspiration from the Super Mario Bros. games, there are many elements taken from Mario's more recent 2D and 3D games. Specifically, the addition of the ability to ground-pound, triple jump, and wall-jump, the former originating from and the latter two taken from Super Mario 64. Some enemies have also been carried over, such as eels and sharks in the underwater stages, as well as homages, such as Dorrie from Super Mario 64.

Map elements include:

• Levels - These are red or blue dots on the map. They total 80 across the eight worlds.
• Towers - There are one or two of them in each world. The player fights a sub-boss, Bowser Jr., who attacks by either charging at the player or throwing Koopa shells, depending on how he wears his bandana. Tower levels tend to be more vertical than other levels. Players can save their game after completing the first tower.
• Castles - There is one in each world, and the player fights a different boss in each one:
• * World 1: Bowser - Acts just like the Bowsers in the original game. (Bowser is reduced to a skeleton upon falling into the lava; the animation is reminiscent of the Crocomire encounter in Super Metroid)
• * World 2: Mummipokey - A mummified Pokey bursts from the ground and spits sand balls.
• * World 3: Cheepskipper - A large Cheep Cheep jumps out of the water and bounces along on land.
• * World 4: Mega Goomba - A gargantuan Goomba that can't be defeated with normal jumps.
• * World 5: Petey Piranha - He flies above the player and tries to ground-pound on him/her.
• * World 6: Monty Tank - A tank that fires Bullet Bills is piloted by a Monty Mole that tosses Bob-Ombs.
• * World 7: Lakithunder - Lakitu throws Spinies and shoots lightning from his cloud.
• * World 8: Skeletal Bowser - Attacks like the World 1 Bowser, except he throws bones as an additional attack, similar to how the later Bowsers in Super Mario Bros. attack with hammers.

Defeating the boss grants access to the next world. In World 8, it grants access to the second half of the world, where Bowser's Lair is located.

Ghost Houses - From Super Mario World, ghost houses have confusing pathways and multiple exits. The map that normally appears on the bottom screen is replaced by Boos.

Warp Cannons - These serve as the warp zones in the game, advancing players worlds ahead. Players can save their game after using a cannon for the first time.

Pipes - These transport players to other areas on the same world map.

Flying ? Blocks/Hammer Bros. - These appear in the level on which they're positioned on the world map. They appear at beginnings or checkpoints and provide random powerups when hit/defeated.

Toad Houses - Red mushroom houses that resemble Super Mushrooms provide powerups. Green ones that resemble 1-Up Mushrooms provide 1-Ups, while orange mushroom houses that resemble Mega Mushrooms provide mega mushrooms. After the player beats the game, a blue house that looks like a Mini Mushroom in World 1 sells wallpapers for the bottom screen for 20 star coins each.

Bowser's Lair - The green castle at the end of World 8 contains rotating rooms, lava, and a homage to the castle mazes in the original Super Mario Bros. The level map only indicates when the half way point and the boss room are reached.

*Final Boss: Bowser and Bowser Jr. - The Bowser Jr. battle (with shells) and the World 1 Bowser battle are combined. The resurrected Bowser is much larger than Mario. While Bowser Jr. fights, Bowser fires singular blue homing fireballs. When Bowser Jr. is defeated, Bowser switches to firing three homing fireballs.

Star Coin Signs - These block access to Toad houses and additional levels and can be removed for the price of five star coins each. Players can save after removing a sign.

Power-ups

All the original power-ups from the first title return. Like in Super Mario World, the player can save one power-up for later use. Unlike SMW, however, the current item is never "sent to the box" (for example, if the player has a mushroom and grabs a flower, the mushroom does not become stored and the flower takes over). The only way that this can be accomplished is to already have the power-up in effect, and grab another power-up like it (e.g.: be Mini Mario and grab a Mini Mushroom). However, grabbing a Super Mushroom in Fire or Shell Mario form stores the Super Mushroom.

• Blue Shell causes Mario to wear the shell in the style of a Koopa. In this form, he can perform a Shell Dash by running quickly, which causes him to duck into his shell and bounce around like any other koopa shell. Shell Mario is also able to duck into his shell at anytime rendering him invulnerable against most enemies (reminiscent of the Hammer suit in Super Mario Bros. 3), except for the gigantic eel in World 8. Shell Mario also greatly facilitates swimming in water levels.

• Mega Mushroom causes Mario to grow significantly, allowing him to crush anything he runs into, including pipes, bricks, enemies and even the end-of-level flagpole. Using a bop on the head, Mega Mario can instantly destroy bosses. A ground pound in this form will also cause some Goombas, coins, or a combination of both to fall from the sky. This power-up is quite rare in regular levels but it can be obtained from orange Mushroom houses and saved for later use in places it otherwise cannot be found. There is also a time limit attached to the use of the item, and when that limit expires, Mario returns to Super Mario, regardless of whether he was a different Mario before (e.g., Fire Mario). In addition, a notched bar at the top of the screen fills as the player destroys more and more items. For every notch that turns green, a 1-Up will appear when the mushroom wears off. Mario is invincible like the Starman, but will lose a life if he falls down a gap, into acid, or into lava. However, his bigger size makes it impossible for him to fall through small gaps, or even some fairly wide gaps.
• Mini Mushroom causes Mario to shrink to minuscule proportions, giving him access to tiny passageways that he couldn't otherwise access, jumps that have slower descent and increased height, and the ability to run on water. If Mario is hit once in this form, he will lose a life, just as he would if he were regularly small; thus, some extra caution must be taken around enemies. Similarly, Mario cannot defeat a standard enemy in this form with a normal jump, but must instead rely on a Ground Pound.

Multiplayer

The game supports two players, one being Mario and the other Luigi, as they fight it out over one of five stages, trying to lay claim to a set number of Power Stars before the other player. Both players can attack each other to try and steal the stars the other player grabbed. Ground-Pounding a player will make him or her lose three Power Stars instead of one.

In addition, many of the minigames in previously found in Super Mario 64 DS now offer a multiplayer option (along with totally new minigames), for added replay value.

Both modes can be played multiplayer with one DS game cartridge and two handhelds for the fight stages or up to four handhelds for the minigames, via the DS Download Play feature.

Mini games

Mini games are split into four categories: Action, Puzzle, Table and Variety. Many of the mini games are from Super Mario 64 DS, new mini games will be specified. Several of the old mini games are also altered slightly.

Action

• Snowball Slalom": The player must rub the touch screen to roll a snowman's head to a goal before time runs out.
• "Lakitu Launch": The player must shoot spinies into flying shells within the allotted time.
• "'Danger, Bob-omb! Danger!"': The player guides a Bob-omb to avoid fireballs and Bowser's flame breath. This mini game is new to this game.
• "'Whack-a-Monty"': The player whacks Monty Mole when he pops out of a hole but avoid hitting Luigi. This mini game is new to this game.
• "'Balloon Racing"': The player blows into the Nintendo DS' microphone to send Yoshi flying upward. This mini game is new to this game.

Puzzle

• "Wanted!": The player must find a specific character's face from a screen full of faces.
• "Which Wiggler?": The player must select the Wiggler that matches the one on the top screen.
• "Hide and Boo Seek": The player must rub the touch screen to uncover hiding Boos.
• "Puzzle Panel": The player must flip the blocks in a block pattern to so that they match the pattern on the top screen.
• "Coincentration": Coins fall into blocks and the player must tap the blocks to retrieve the coins.

Table

• "Memory Match": The player must clear all the cards by pick two matching cards to make them disappear.
• "Picture Poker": The player must get a better poker hand than Luigi to win.
• "Pair-a-Gone": The player must match cards horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to remove them from the table.

Variety

• "Mario's Slides": The player must guide Mario to a Star by drawing lines on the touch screen to create new routes for him.
• "Sort or 'Splode": The player must guide Bob-ombs to the same-colored carpets.
• "Bounce and Trounce": The player must tap Mario to make him jump onto Shy Guys.
• "Bob-omb Squad": The player must use a slingshot to knock parachuting Bob-ombs out of the air.
• "Trampoline Time": The player must create trampolines to bounce Mario to safety by drawing lines.

Vs. Exclusives

These mini games are only available when the player is playing over the Nintendo Wireless Connection. The mini games mentioned above may also play differently on multi-player.

• Action - "Snowball Slam": The players control Yoshi in a snowball fight. The player has three Snowmen which can be knocked over by the opponent. This mini game is new to New Super Mario Bros.
• Puzzle - "Loves Me...": The players pick petals off of a flower. The player who finishes on "Loves Me Not" loses points.
• Table - "Speed": The players have a hand of four cards with two more cards on the table. They try to get rid of their cards by placing them on the cards in the hand whose values are above or below by one. This mini game is new to this game.
• Table - "Luigi's Thrilling Cards": The players each have one card. Each can see their opponent's card but not their own. The player with the highest-numbered card wins. This mini game is new to New Super Mario Bros.
• Table - "Luigi-Jack": Blackjack. This mini game is new to this game.
• Table - "Bob-omb Reverse": The same as Othello or Reversi with Bob-ombs instead of the tokens or coins. This mini game is new to this game.
• Variety - "Vs. Lakitu Launch": The players must use a slingshot to shoot Lakitus within the time limit.
• Variety - "Jumping Sudden Death": The players must tap their character to keep him above the spikes that continually rise from below. This mini game is new to this game.
• Variety - "Vs. Trampoline Time": The players must create trampolines to bounce Marios at their opponent by drawing lines.
• Variety - "Bob-omb Trampoline": The player controls a trampoline over a pit of lava with which they must keep bob-ombs bouncing from player to player off the lava. This mini game can be found in the Variety category and is new to this game.

Music

New Super Mario Bros. features original music composed by Asuka Ota and Hajime Wakai, under the direction of original Super Mario Bros. composer Koji Kondo. The game also features new arrangements of some of Kondo's themes from previous Mario games. Mario and Luigi are voiced by Charles Martinet.

Some enemies dance to the background music. At certain riffs in the songs, certain enemies perform a dance move. For example, Goombas and powerup items hop, Koopa Troopas do the Twist, Cheep-Cheeps perform a barrel roll, and Spinies do an about face. This adds a slight twist in the game's difficulty level, since the characters and items may "dodge" the player. The background music of the towers and castles contain no 'move points'.

Reception

The game met a massive success upon launching in Japan, selling near 420,000 units in its first day of availability, for a total of nearly 900,000 copies in its first four days of availability, making it the best debut for a Nintendo DS game. In addition, most mainstream video game sites gave New Super Mario Bros. very positive reviews (see External links).

The game reached the half a million mark in the United States in little over a month, selling at a rate of one copy every 20 minutes.

Trivia

• To play as Luigi, a player must hold the L and R buttons while selecting a file.
• The Mega and Mini Mushrooms, which were first used in Mario Party 4, look quite different from their appearance in New Super Mario Bros. They are differently colored between the two games. Also, the Mega and Mini Mushrooms were normally sized in Mario Party 4, but are, respectively, huge and tiny in New Super Mario Bros. The Mega Mushroom is also colored like the Super Mushroom in the original Super Mario Bros.
• During the credits, each of the letters in the words will make different sounds when touched. The letters "d" and "e" use the same sound effect, and there is no "q."
• Mini Mario should not be confused with the Mini Mario toys from Mario vs. Donkey Kong and .
• If the player pauses on the map screen after finishing the game and presses L, R, L, R, X, X, Y, Y, the game enters "challenge mode", in which most levels scroll only to specific directions.
• When the DS is closed while the game is on, Mario can be heard saying, "Bye-bye", and when the DS is opened again, the voice says, "It's-a me, Mario," just like in Super Mario 64 DS.

Voices

• Mario and Luigi: Charles Martinet
• Princess Peach: Nicole Mills (uncredited)
• Bowser Junior: Dolores Rogers (uncredited)
• Bowser: Scott Burns (uncredited)

Awards

• Game Informer: Game of the Month(Issue #159)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly : Game of the Month , Gold award, (Issue #205)
• IGN: Editors' Choice Award
• Gamespot: Editors Choice Award

References

External links

• [Official website]
• [New Super Mario Bros.] at Nintendo.com
• [PDF Manual]
• [New Super Mario Bros.] at GameFAQs
• [New Super Mario Bros.] at GameSpot

Reviews

• Jeremy Parish, 1UP.com: 8/10, [1UP.com]
• John Benyamine, GameDaily: 4.5/5, [GameDaily]
• Craig Harris, IGN: 9.5/10, [IGN]
• Jeff Gerstmann, GameSpot: 9.0/10, [GameSpot]
• Phil Theobald, GameSpy: 5/5, [GameSpy]
• Mr. Marbles, GamePro: 4.5/5 [GamePro]
• Game Informer: 9.25/10
• Adam Sessler, X-Play: 4/5
• GameTrailers: 9.2/10 [GameTrailers]
• Electronic Gaming Monthly : 9.5, 10 , 8.0

Videos

• [New Super Mario Bros.] at Nintendo.com
• [Gameplay videos] at IGN
• [Gameplay videos] at GameSpot
• [Videos & Trailers] at GameTrailers
• [American Commercial] at Nintendo.com
• [}}}] at YouTube
• [}}}] at YouTube

 

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