New Super Mario Bros.

THE BAD:

SUMMARY:
Finally, another 2D Mario Game after a long, long wait. And it's suited to the Nintendo DS nicely...

The game play is fantastic. It feels so smooth controlling Mario. Nothing feels better than guiding him through the air, bouncing on Koopa's heads to flatten them, or stomping on turtles to send their shells colliding across the through knocking out any other enemies that so choose to get in the way. Throughout the levels Mario will be able to find different types of mushrooms and power ups. These items will give Mario different powers and play a large part in playing through the game. A normal mushroom will make Mario bigger and will prevent him from dying on a first hit. A fire plant will give Mario the ability to shoot fireballs at enemies. A large mushroom will make Mario giant size for a short period of time. Letting you destruct almost everything in your path! Mario can also turn tiny[so small you can fit through specially small pipes and places scattered over some of the levels] and can obtain a blue shell on his back. Making him liable to spin across the ground inside his shell, knocking out all enemies.

There are 8 worlds in the game, and each of them generally have over ten levels in each. The levels each take around 3-5 minutes to complete and naturally, some are harder than others. In each level, there are three star coins to collect. Some are simple and straight forward to collect, and some will take alot of thinking to get as some are completely tucked away in secret areas in the levels.

The graphics in New Super Mario Bros are a treat. The worlds and levels are packed full of colour and work really well in the background as Mario[who is 3D!] jumps and dashes around the levels. As for appearance of all those pesky creatures that will get squashed underneath Mario on a regular basis? Nothing to fault.

The music in this game is up-beat and enjoyable. As far as I'm aware some of the tunes are classic Mario, while a few others are new to the whole Mario gaming scene. They all work quite either well and are nice on the ears.

Arguably the biggest downside to this game is the lifespan of it. It will only take 6-8 hours to finish off the main game, and although going through all the levels and worlds collecting star coins will take up a good few more hours, it just gets a bit boring and tedious after a while.

Still though, a nice amount of mini games are there for you to play while you get bored. Nothing beats playing mini games against your friends too. You may end up spending a few hours on multi player mini games! Believe me, they are fun. And best thing is, only one person will actually need the game for up to four people to be able to play.

All in all, this game is a solid Mario platformer. Good fun, it just gets letdown by it's short lifespan. I'd recommend borrowing this from a friend if possible. Purchasing it second hand might not be a bad idea either. but DONT waste your money on buying it new though. Unless you can get a good deal for it...^^