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Turing 16 is a big deal for some people. It’s when teenagers can get their driver’s licenses, earn more freedoms from their parents, or throw the biggest party they can get away with. While Mario isn’t a stranger to big celebrations, one series has been quietly hanging out on the sidelines. The series in question is New Super Mario Bros and while the sequels aren’t really regarded with the highest of praise, it’s the first game of this franchise that is still regarded as the pinnacle.

Mega Mario wrecking through blocks
Mega Mario wrecking through blocks

So what madeNew Super Mario Bros. such a big hit on the Nintendo DS? For starters, the “New” in the title wasn’t just for show. This was the first new 2D side-scrolling Mario game since Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins. Sure, we got the Game Boy Advance games, but those were re-releases of older games, leaving 2D Mario fans experiencing quite the dry spell. Even when the DS launched in 2004 it came with a remake of Super Mario 64 that got fans excited, and it helped make the DS a household name. Sadly, that wasn’t enough, so Nintendo got to working.

Like the title says, New Super Mario Bros. is a brand “New” Mario game. This isn’t a case where the developers just threw in some new power mushrooms and called it a day. They also added some of Mario’s 3D abilities, such as the wall and triple jump. The Ground Pound was also added, and all these abilities translated well in a 2D setting. As for new power-ups, the game was given 3 fresh abilities. Unfortunately, they aren’t remembered as fondly as other power-ups that would make their debuts in games to come.

First was the Mega Mushroom, where Mario is made invincible and literally smashes everything in his path. Destroy enough obstacles and you’ll get rewarded with more 1-Ups. Next is the Mini Mushroom, which makes you much shorter, but you have a higher jump and can run on water (which I think was pretty neat!). Finally, there’s the Blue Koopa shell, which certainly seems to be the least favorite. After running a few steps, Mario would hop into the shell to smash some blocks and bounce off of others.

Mini Mario with and a spot only he can go through
Mini Mario with and a spot only he can go through

As for the story, it’s standard Mario fare; Peach gets kidnapped and you have to go save her…again. This game does switch things up a bit, as it’s Bowser Jr. who kidnaps Peach and not Bowser Sr.. This game also changes up main bosses, as some worlds give you another character to battle besides Bowser. For worlds 2-7, all the bosses are remixes of an enemy from that world, be it a mummified Pokey or a Goomba that got a hold of a Mega Mushroom. These aren’t super hard fights, but it’s still fun to see different Mario enemies as the final challenge of a world.

The game released to rave reviews and the sales figures cemented another Nintendo hit. According to Nintendo’s own website, New Super Mario Bros. sold 30.80 million copies worldwide making it the best selling DS game ever. It surpassed Nintendogs by nearly 7 million copies. It seemed like everyone or anyone who owned a Nintendo DS had/has this game in their library, making you a somewhat rare breed if you didn’t. It’s undeniable that this game helped the sales of the DS to become the second-highest selling console of all time.

Boss battle with a Mega Goomba
Boss battle with a Mega Goomba

What happened to the franchise after its successful debut? Nintendo once again followed their own drummer by releasing the Wii, which eventually brought about New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This installment offered 4-player multiplayer, which sounds like a good idea, but was true chaos in practice. New Super Mario Bros. Wii wasn’t a bad game, it just didn’t do too much outside the tried-and-true formula. Yes, these were “New” Super Mario Bros. games, but they didn’t really add anything ‘new.’ Besides a few power-ups and multiplayer aspects, the series stagnated a bit when it got to the Wii U. There were some good ideas like the coin rush in New Super Mario Bros. 2 and the Year of Luigi levels for New Super Mario Bros. U, but sadly, even Luigi’s challenging levels couldn’t save that title’s debut.

In retrospect, New Super Mario Bros. really is a solid 2D platformer. The game had secrets to unlock through the 3 star coins hidden in the levels, and 2 whole worlds that couldn’t be accessed unless you beat the last boss with a certain power-up. This game was begging players to come back and replay the main story to find all its secrets. It even included a series of mini-games that showed how cool using the stylus was.

New Super Mario Bros. truly is a fun game to play, and if you want to get it today, it’s not a hard title to find. It also doesn’t hurt that by this point, it’s quite easy on the wallet as well! While subsequent entries are up for debate, New Super Mario Bros. DS brought many a new gamer and lapsed fans back to the Mario franchise, making it more than worthy of a Sweet 16 celebration.

About benmagnet

benmagnet

When Ben isn't writing or hosting Basement Arcade: Pause Menu, or The Fake Nerd Podcast, he's probably playing games or reading about them. When he isn't playing games, he's usually reading, watching a movie, or playing with his cat.

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Comments (10)

streex

2y ago

What a spectacular game this was. Just reading this makes me want to dig it out and play through it all over again. Might even be my favorite game on the platform.


sligeach_eire

2y ago

I remember this game well. I bought it with a white DS Lite when it launched. I also bought Sonic Rush at the time. 16 years ago! Jeez, this makes me feel old/older.

I really enjoyed the game. But, ya, the charm had worn off with the later versions. I'm not sure where my copy of NSMB is now or the case. I know the DS Lite got cracked hinges and eventually went to handheld heaven.

I can't remember if I accessed the 2 worlds at the end, I'm sure I would have done, I'm usually a completionist. Those mini-games were really addictive and great fun.


cortjezter

2y ago

Still enjoying this game, though now with my own children.

Had 100% everything, but in a moment of non-supervision, my five year old son miraculously exited the game, stumbled upon the exact menu, and deleted it all 😩

Will be awhile before I have time to restore my progress… perhaps when he is my age 😅


tmc1983

2y ago

Game was fun, but too easy.


bakfug

2y ago

The DS will (most likely) always be my favorite system, due in part to having games like this. I absolutely loved this game when it came out, as it was something I was hoping we would get back to some day.

Overall, it actually ends up being one of my least favorite Mario games, however, but to no fault of its own. I enjoy everything about this game, but I feel every Mario game before and after offer a lot more to hold my attention. I am forever happy that the reception was so huge for this game that we got more, as I absolutely love the rest of the NSMB games as well.

While Super Mario Maker/2 are brilliant games, and I have been extremely pleased with what they have and offer, I am still hoping we get a new SMB game in the future.


thegreatking

2y ago

I remember when it came out. I loved the graphics so much


nin2000

2y ago

@benmagnet

Fantastic review! Brings back such memories. One thing to note, I don’t believe NSMB Wii was split screen. Each of the four players was on the same screen at the same time.


frenchfryguy

2y ago

There should always be a place for 2D Mario games to exist alongside the 3D ones. The same goes for 2D top-down Zelda alongside the fully 3D world ones. Now if we could just get a long-awaited new platformer Wario Land.


dk_fan

2y ago

"New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This installment offered 4-player multiplayer, which sounds like a good idea, but was true chaos in practice"

And? That was what made the game fun! How is that bad?

Also, NSMBWii deserves much more credit. It sold lots of wiis in 2009 when the console was slowing down..it even outsold Call of Duty in the super truper hd twins! Why do you think the NPD started to lump all multoplatform games sales in one? Because of how bad NSMBW was making CoD look.

NSMB DS is a great game, but NSMBW is much better.


ajmora16

2y ago

Definitely gotta to play this Gem again! Thanks for the article!