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Blurb: The New Super Mario Brothers for Nintendo DS doesn’t really feel that new at all. Don’t think of that as bad thing though. It’s been a long time coming, but now there is a true sequel to Super Mario World for Super Nintendo. What about Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine you ask? Well they were definitely not classic Mario games (although they did set precedent for the future of 3D gaming). Not since the explosive release of Super Mario World bundled with the Super Nintendo at launch, has there been a Mario title that feels and looks like this! Impressions: Well let me take back the last comment I just made. The new Super Mario Brothers does have a new look to it. Mario and the gang are all done up in 3D polygonal glory this time around. The colours are bright and vivid, the animations smooth and varied. The gorgeous level designs of the mushroom kingdom are simply breathtaking. One wishes that it was an easy task to link your DS to a Television screen in order to appreciate the graphics on a larger scale. The gameplay is true to the original Mario tittles, 2D side scrolling at its best. There are a few slight changes on the DS version. A couple of new features include a mini progression bar detailing your distance from completing a level. Also an extra power up can now be carried by Mario at all times, selectable when the player touches it on the bottom screen of the DS. Both are handy little additions to the overall gameplay. 
Bowser Jr. has kidnapped the princess in this installment instead of Papa Bowser, who had done so in earlier games. Mario hurries on in pursuit of Bowser Jr. who is a slippery little reptilian that always seems to narrowly escape whenever you catch up to him. He leads Mario through 8 worlds, with about 8 – 10 stages per world. The Mario universe has fleshed itself out quite a bit over the last 20 years. The variation of baddies is quite impressive in this new game. No longer are the enemies differentiated merely by colour. In fact almost every stage has unique little critters running or swimming around native to that level. Some of these little critters are from previous games like the Koopa (little turtles) and some of them are original to this Mario game. The Soundtrack is pretty good too, but not as great as Super Mario World’s in my opinion. The DS has a great sound system and the surround sound option takes full advantage of that. The Sound effects are much more varied than the Super Nintendo predecessor. Mario has all his Italian accented English sound bytes which fans have come to expect with Mario games (“Its-a-me, Mario!”) 
One surprising thing I found was that the stages seemed to be pretty short in length. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a portable Mario game, and it is meant to be played on the go (you could do 1 – 2 levels between subway stops). Trips to work did start to feel a mere fraction of the time they use to, when I started playing this game. There are also numerous secrets to be discovered and levels to be unlocked once you have completed the game. But wait there is more! Mini games galore and head to head wireless multiplayer action will keep you hooked on this game until the next 2D Mario incarnation; Please Mr. Miyamoto don’t make me wait 15 more years! Parting Words: The New Super Mario Brothers continues the tradition of the original Mario games that had a hand in developing mainstream console gaming. It’s good to have you back Mario! But hey where is Luigi? Here is a tip: press and hold the L and R buttons when selecting your file at the beginning of the game to select Luigi. - October 4, 2006 
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