Reviews Videogame / New Super Mario Bros

In Japan, "New" means "new version of something old". That's why New Adventure Island for the Turbo-Grafx 16 played pretty much entirely like the very first Adventure Island.

So by New Super Mario Bros., what they meant what "a new version of Super Mario Bros."

What to me is stupid, is keeping the "New" title for the next few games.

Oh yeah. Because I totally remember mega mushrooms, propeller mushrooms, blue shells as a transformation for Mario and Luigi, and penguin suits in the old Mario games.

The point is that the game is very similar to the original SMB, but with changes and new stuff added. (Referring to NSMB specifically here) Thus, it's "Super Mario Bros.", but it's "New".

Well that is not really a defense in fact it works against the New part. the older Mario games were more different. Super Mario Bros 1 isn't the same as Super Mario Bros 2 or 3 or World or Yoshi's Island. New Super Mario Bros in comparison, just seems eager to rehash the same basic world themes and levels.

Yes, it's very similar to the original Super Mario Bros. But there are still several new features added, not just in items, but in the levels themselves as well.

"Super Mario Bros 1 isn't the same as Super Mario Bros 2 or 3 or World or Yoshi's Island"

I like when people say that the original games "were all different" they pretend Lost Levels didn't exist and instead add the Doki Doki Panic reskin (so "rehashing" is not OK but reskinning is?).

Yoshi's Island isn't even a "Super Mario" game and people can argue that Super Mario World is similar to Super Mario Bros. 3.

"New Super Mario Bros in comparison, just seems eager to rehash the same basic world themes and levels."

As if Super Mario World had different themes. Heck, it has LESS themes than Super Mario Bros. 3. And I don't remember Super Mario Bros. having a level where you ride a giant Wiggler, or platform in a fortress that shifts gravity, or having more than 4 themes or songs.

What I'm saying is your argument is flawed and bias.

"If you want a platformer in the modern ages, go get Little Big Planet 2"

Ew. With those physics?

I don't get the hate behind the New Super Mario Bros series. It's a new look at the old style of game - new powerups, new levels, but with a familiar presentation and a nostalgic romp through some familiar themes.

The newer 3D platformers always bring something new to the table, but it's nice to play through a Mario game with the same aesthetics as the earlier titles. Hate it all you want, but imo it's really not as bad as you make it out to be - it's actually pretty fun.

(Also, Yoshi's Island could be considered a Super Mario World game by virtue of it's full title: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_World_2:_Yoshi's_Island Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]. But w/e.)

Thought I'd chime in on the discussion here. =)

While I do think Luigikart64 is entitled to his/her opinion, I myself have always been a big fan of the sub-series. To me, it's a fun, fresh revival of the classic games. It's easy to overlook now, but at the time, New Super Mario Bros. DS was the first side-scrolling Mario game in over a decade. We were overdue for some more 2D Mario. There are a lot of similarities, yes, but that's the whole idea. They're meant to play like the old games, while still featuring new items, enemies, and levels of their own. It was the same idea with Lost Levels and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

As for the thing of Bowser kidnapping Peach, I don't have a problem with it. People didn't play Super Mario Bros 3 or Super Mario World for their plot either.

A lot of people complain about the over-saturation, but again, I don't see it. NSMB 2 and NSMBU were released in the same year, but aside from that, they've only released a new game once every few years. Nintendo even said that they only plan on making one 2D Mario per platform. The one per console rule makes a lot of sense to me. And with that being the case, it'll probably another few or several years before we see the next sidescroller in the series.

Lastly, and most importantly, the NSMB games feature some great and creative level design, which I feel gets overlooked because the games don't look different enough. The level where you're riding on the giant Wiggler collecting coins, the skeleton rollercoaster level, the one where you're being chased by the toxic cloud while dodging raining rocks, and "Light Blocks, Dark Tower" from NSMBU all come to mind.

I'm going to have to come down on the side of the reviewer here and say that while the games do try to distinguish themselves from the originals, they don't really try hard enough in my opinion, especially when NSMB started up. They're getting a little better about it nowadays, but it's still really not catching my interest. I wouldn't really mind the existence of NSMB if they had another 2D platformer series that was a little more experimental, but I can't think of anything like that that Nintendo's doing currently. I'm kinda just holding out on Wario Land coming back; I love those games to death.

Yeah, these games play the nostalgia card. That's why it's called New Super Mario BROS. Bros is on NES (1, 2 and 3), World is on SNES (with Yoshi's Island being labelled fully as Super Mario World: Yoshi's Island). It is a revisit to the 2D platformers of the series' past, with Bros being the decided "series" to base the new games on.

The Wii U installment, I can't speak for. Nor the 3DS version. But I know for a fact that the Wii version is great and the DS version, while paling in comparison imo (though it did come out like 4 years earlier) is still pretty good. It's fine not to like the games, but they really aren't that bad.

The fact that they play like the old games is what I love about them. It still feels like a logical extension of the series to me.

Anybody who honestly thinks that the "New" Super Mario Bros. games are better than the Galaxy series or 3D World is looking at the needs to take off their Nostalgia Goggles.

Anybody who honestly thinks that the "New" Super Mario Bros. games are better than the Galaxy series or 3D World needs to take off their Nostalgia Goggles.

• Apologies for the double post. Had to fix a typo.

Or they might have a bizarre thing called "a different opinion from SammyDragon92". I know it's hard to believe, but it just might exist.

@doctrainaum

Which would you rather have? An imaginative 3D game that features new ideas and actually shows off the capabilities of Nintendo's latest consoles while still maintaining a level of familiarity for long time Mario fans? Or a bland 2D game that features VERY little "new" concepts and was made for no other reason than to pander to people's nostalgia for the old (pre Super Mario 64) games? Personally, I'd pick the former...

But the fact remains that the quality of the NSMB games is subjective. I prefer Galaxy and 3D World as well, but there's nothing wrong with the people who don't.

Opinions are opinions. They're not right or wrong.

For me, the only two worthy entries in this subseries are the first two. The DS one because, for its time, it managed to bring back the spirit of 2D Mario platforming, blending the elements of SMB 1, 3 and World; the Wii one, meanwhile, introduced more elements like co-op multiplayer, Koopalings (which, sadly, today are overused), and even a few nods to underdogs like SMB 2 (playable Toad, POW blocks, the ability to carry and throw objects) and Yoshi's Island (Kamek transforming the bosses into more powerful versions).

That's where the "New" part should have ended, and then they could have brought an ACTUAL new 2D game. Oh well.....