New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario Bros. contains 80 levels divided between eight worlds. Each world is represented by a map, with alternate pathways and secrets throughout. The goal of each level, as in the original SMB, is to reach the black flag at the end of side-scrolling levels. (In certain levels, there is also a red flag, which is usually much more difficult to get to. But, after Mario enters the fort for the first time, a level, such as a toad house, or a Warp Cannon is unlocked. A vertically scrolling tower level, where the mini-boss (Bowser, Jr.) must be defeated, appears once or twice in each world. At the end of each world a main boss must be defeated in a level that takes place within a castle. Not all the worlds have to be cleared to reach the ending, as special "Warp Cannons" and "Warp Pipes" can be discovered which allow the player to skip large segments of the game (and reducing the number of levels necessary to beat the game by up to three-quarters). Collecting and spending the golden Star Coins scattered throughout the stages will unlock certain helpful paths and bonuses as well.

This game also rewards the player for completing additional tasks with stars on the file select screen. When the player finishes the game the first time, one star appears. If all of the games stages are finished as well, the player receives two stars. To obtain the third and final star, the player must find every secret exit, use all of the Warp Cannons, as well as collect (and spend) all of the game's hidden Star Coins. While trying to complete the game, the player can only save their progress once they have defeated a Castle or a Tower for the first time, or after having spent 5 Star Coins on a Toad House or a bonus level. Once the game has been completed, however, the player earns the right to save the game at any time while outside a stage. The game also is credited with employing sounds from past Mario games of both the NES and SNES platforms. Players can play as either Mario or Luigi.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer mode supports two players (Mario and Luigi) as they duke it out over one of five stages, trying to lay claim to a set number of Big Stars before the other player. Both players can attack each other to try and steal the Stars the other player grabbed, and Ground-Pounding a player will make him or her lose three Big Stars instead of one. In addition, many of the minigames previously found in Super Mario 64 DS are brought back and now offer a multiplayer option 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. In early screenshots, what appeared to be a co-operative mode was shown.

Power-ups

All of the power-ups from the original SMB return, and as in Super Mario World, the player can save one power-up for later use. A "Super Mushroom" will make Mario grow into Super Mario, and give him an additional hit point. The "Fire Flower" lets Mario shoot fireballs at enemies (unlike the original game however, where Mario would immediately revert to his original form if he got hit, Mario gets an additional hit point when he collects a Fire Flower or a Blue Koopa Shell). The Starman grants Mario invincibility for a limited amount of time. The "green 1-up Mushroom" gives Mario an extra life. In addition, several all-new powerups occur in the game.

The "Blue Koopa Shell" causes Mario to wear a shell in the style of a Koopa, becoming Shell Mario. 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 any time rendering him invulnerable to most enemies' attacks. Shell Mario can also swim faster and is more agile in water.

The "Mega Mushroom" causes Mario to grow into the gigantic Mega Mario for a short time, allowing him to crush nearly anything he runs into, including pipes, bricks, enemies and even the end-of-level flagpole. Mega Mario can destroy almost any boss in the game with a single jump on the head. A ground pound in this form will cause Goombas, coins, or a combination of both to fall from the sky. In addition, a meter at the top of the screen fills as the player destroys more and more items. For every meter bar Mario fills (each one is two sections), a 1-up will appear when the mushroom wears off. Mario is invincible like the Starman, and will lose a life if he falls down a gap, into acid, or into lava . However, his size makes it difficult for him to fall through most gaps. The Mega Mushroom can be used underwater. This power-up is quite rare in regular levels but it can be obtained from orange toad Houses and saved for use in places it cannot otherwise be found. The Mega Mushroom looks a lot like the original Super Mushroom from Super Mario Bros. Destroying the flagpole while being as Mega Mario disables gaining the time bonus.

The "Mini Mushroom" causes Mario to shrink into the minuscule Mini Mario, giving him access to tiny passageways that he couldn't normally access. His jumps have slower descent and increased height, and Mario also gains the ability to run on water. If Mario is hit once in this form, he will lose a life, and in this form Mario cannot defeat a standard enemy with a normal jump, but must instead rely on a ground pound. By defeating the bosses at the end of worlds two and five as Mini Mario, the player can access the mini gaps that lead to worlds four and seven, respectively; however, it isn't necessary to do so to access the worlds if one uses the Warp Cannons found in other worlds.

Minigames

New Super Mario Bros. contains 18 minigames for single play (some of which can be played in multiplayer mode as well) and ten multiplayer mini games exclusive for LAN play. The minigames are split into the categories of "Action", "Puzzle", "Table" and "Variety". Many of the minigames originally appeared in Super Mario 64 DS, though some have been altered slightly. Yoshi and Wario, who do not appear in the main game, also make appearances alongside Mario and Luigi in these minigames. Some of the music in the minigames are from a few of the levels in Super Mario 64 DS.

Plot

New Super Mario Bros.'s plot is roughly the same as the original Super Mario Bros. and other sidescrolling Mario games — Bowser Jr. captures Princess Peach, and it is up to Mario to rescue her. At the beginning of the game, Princess Peach and Mario are out for a walk when lightning from Lakithunder strikes the castle. As Mario runs to help, Bowser Jr. pops out of the bushes and kidnaps the Princess. Realizing what has happened, Mario quickly rushes back and chases after Bowser Jr. Now, Mario must venture through eight worlds (plains, desert, tropical island, jungle, glacier, mountains, sky, and the Koopa Kingdom) to rescue the Princess from Bowser Jr.

As the game starts, Mario chases Bowser Jr. (who drags the princess behind him) through the eight worlds, confronting him occasionally, but unable to save the princess from his clutches. At the end of the first world, Bowser Jr. retreats into a castle, where Bowser himself is waiting. Mario defeats Bowser by dropping him into a pit of lava, a technique reminiscent of the original Super Mario Bros. game. Mario continues chasing Bowser Jr. through more worlds, and conquering more bosses, until they reach a castle deep within the Koopa Kingdom. There, Bowser Jr. resurrects his father in skeletal form but once again Bowser is defeated, this time by being dropped into a pit. Bowser Jr. flees once more across a lava chasm to a larger castle, where he throws his father's bones into a cauldron and causes Bowser to be reincarnated into a more powerful form. They attack Mario in tandem, but Mario is able to once again drop the pair into the pit below.

In the end sequence, Princess Peach is rescued by Mario and the scene circles on the two when Peach kisses him on the cheek as she does in most Mario game endings. As the credits roll, various pictures from the game are reviewed, followed by a scene in which Bowser Jr. is seen dragging his unconscious father out of the castle. . then screams at the player and Bowser tries to get up, but ends up falling. The scene then circles on the humiliated two, and the game is over. The player is also rewarded with a secret code (Hold L+R and press A when selecting file) that allows the game to be played as Mario's brother Luigi, however it is not necessary to beat the game first for this code to work. In fact, if the player uses this code on a new file, the beginning sequence will replace Mario with Luigi. Another code that activates Challenge Mode is also unlocked (L+R+L+R+X+X+Y+Y), and is only usable after the game is completed. This mode makes the player unable to backtrack, as in the original Super Mario Bros, which makes some levels impossible (or at least very difficult) to complete.

Development

New Super Mario Bros. was first shown during the 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

It is the first original 2-D Mario game to use voice acting for its characters (though it has been used in many 2-D Mario remakes). Charles Martinet returned to voice Mario and Luigi, along with Nicole Mills as Princess Peach, Scott Burns as Bowser, and Dolores Rogers as Bowser Jr. According to early interviews however, the game was originally planned not to have voice acting, in order to stay to the spirit of the original Super Mario Bros., and a misunderstanding in a Nintendo Power interview with Takashi Tezuka caused some fans to believe that the Koopalings were going to return in the game.

Early previews of New Super Mario Bros appeared to have a 2-player co-operative mode during the main game (the 2-player battle and 4-player mini-game modes remained in the final version). It is unclear as to why this mode was removed.

Audio

The game features original music composed by Asuka Ohta 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. Examples include the mushroom houses utilizing an updated version of the classic Super Mario Bros. theme, and boss battle scenes feature a remix of the Super Mario Bros. 3 boss music. A unique element in the game is that some characters perform a dance move in response to certain riffs in the score. For example, Goombas and power-ups hop, Koopa Troopas do the Twist, Cheep-Cheeps do a barrel roll, and Spinies do an about face. The background music of the towers, castles and ghost houses contain no special riffs.

Music from the game was performed in August 2007 in an arrangement by Yuzo Koshiro at the Fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig, Germany.

A remix of the one of the main overworld theme is remixed as a song on the Delfino Plaza stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

During the credits, tapping any letter will result in a sound effect (each letter has its own sound) and tapping anywhere on the screen will result in the jumping noise.

Reception

New Super Mario Bros. met with great success upon launching in Japan, selling nearly 420,000 units in its first day of availability, for a total of nearly 900,000 copies in its first four days. At the time, it was the best debut for a Nintendo DS game; it has since lost the top position to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. The game reached the half a million mark in the United States in little over a month (selling at a rate of 20 copies every minute), and the one million mark twelve weeks after release.

As of December 31, 2007, New Super Mario Bros. has sold 13.14 million copies worldwide. It is the highest selling Nintendo DS game that has only one version, as both Nintendogs and Pokémon Diamond and Pearl have two or more versions.

The game has generally received positive reviews. It was rated 9.5 by four reviewers in Nintendo Power, making it one of the highest rated games since the inception of their current rating system. Among other positive reviews, IGN also gave New Super Mario Bros. a 9.5/10, making it along with Mario Kart DS and Elite Beat Agents, the highest rated Nintendo DS game on the site.

Awards

• Game Informer: Game of the Month (Issue #159)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly: Game of the Month , Gold award, (Issue #205)
• IGN: Editors' Choice Award
• Nintendo Now: Select Choice Award
• Spike TV Video Game Awards: Best Handheld Game
• GameSpot: Editors Choice Award
• Best & Worst of 2006 Reader's Choice: Best DS Game
• Teen Choice Awards: "Nominated" Choice Game
• X-Play: Best Platformer of 2006
• Nintendo Golden Joystick Award 2006: Nintendo Game of the Year
• Gametrailers: Best Nintendo DS Game of 2006
• Nintendo Power Awards: Best Platformer of 2006
• Hyper: Third Best Handheld Game of 2006
• ScrewAttack:10th best Mario game.

References

External links

• Official website
• PDF Manual at Nintendo.com