Even though this game was released six months ago I thought it was worth a re-visit for those of you that might not have bothered to pick it up and have Christmas money or gift certificates to spend.

New Super Mario Bros.
I thought that since the original is not available here in Europe for the Wii yet that I would hold myself over with this. But after only a few minutes of playing I found that I am no longer waiting for the old one because this one is far SUPERior! The first 2D scroller in ten years featuring Mario is a hit! When it was released it sold faster than hot chocolate on a cold winter's day.

Story: As usual bowser has a plan to kidnap Princess Peach. Why? Because he is evil of course and we would not have a game without it. Mario must track her down by working his way through each of the eight worlds and battle a host of monsters while collecting the mushroom, flower and other power-ups.

Graphics: 90%
While the graphics are slightly jagged on the DS screen they are far improved over the original. Everything from the opening credits of the game to the world map to the updated levels themselves looks good. Given the limitations of the DS itself I think they did a great job on making the game visually interesting and new without ruining the game many of us know and love. The game maintains a certain graininess that is inherent in the DS but this only adds to its appeal.

Sound: 90%
The sounds are diverse and what we have all come to expect from the Mario franchise. There is nothing too surprising but the sound is crisp and clear, albeit a tad low on the volume side. If you use headphones when you play this remedies the problem but in a noisy environment it is difficult to hear the game at times. This is partly because the game is by default set to Surround sound mode and can be partly fixed by going into options and changing the sound to stereo or headphones. Sure most of this score is probably based on the nostalgic memories that the game and the sounds produce but that is part of what makes the game what it is. It does seem to me that Mario is more emotive and talkative in this version of the game which is what we have come to expect from the more recent games.

Gameplay: 90%
The game is fantastically frustrating at times and I relish the opportunity to play the old game in a new way. I still hate the water levels but they are what they have always been in the Mario games, my dreaded nemesis. But with the addition of the blue turtle shell power-up they are made somewhat easier. There are several new power-ups in the game including the massive mushroom that makes you Maxi-Mario, the blue mushroom that makes you Mini-Mario, the blue turtle shell that gives you several abilities including being able to turn into a Gamera-like flying shell (sans fire burst) along with the old standard red mushroom to grow, fire flower to shoot fireballs, the invulnerability star and the green mushroom for a 1Up. The levels are diverse and require several tries at times but they are all good fun, except the hated water levels!. Ok, even the water levels are fun, I just hate them because I waste more Marios on those levels than any other.

Control: 85%
The game of course only uses two buttons and the directional pad during standard play. But you can use the L1 and R1 buttons to scroll around the world map and in the levels at times. But if you are going to update a game for a new system that has more buttons than the original did maybe you could use all the buttons by adding new features to the game that take advantage of the extra controls. Maybe it is just me being picky and trying to find something about this game that I don't like so that I feel I gave it a 'fair' review. But they did include two button configurations in case you don't like one you can try the other. You can have dash set as X and Y or X and B while jump can be set to A and B or A and X.

Overall: 88%
  The standard game is accompanied by 18 minigames in both single and Vs. versions as well as the ability to compete head-to-head against another player in the main game itself making the game more varied and worth the $30 price tag. If you have a DS and Christmas grift left over then you will not be disappointed if you spend it on this game. I have already played around 10 hours of it and from the looks of it I will be playing it for more than 50 hours more. That's pretty good by my standards which is a minimum of ONE HOUR of gameplay for ONE DOLLAR and I foresee at least 2 hours per dollar.

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