What have three dimensions ever done for
us?
When
Mario 64 launched, it was like a dream. You were really inside the Mushroom
Kingdom and Peach’s Castle. No one can deny that this was not only a
revolutionary moment for gaming and also one of the most fantastic games ever
created. What scares me though is how quickly the 3D bandwagon took off, much
like the sudden upsurge in CG movies after Toy Story came out.
It seems now that every week a different
CG movie is released, centred on a load of animals; of course it’s
full of celebrity voices, pokes at other movies, slapstick for the kids and some
naughty jokes for the adults.
The trouble is that it has already
become a formula, and a tiresome one at that. My cinema advice would be to only
go to see CG films created by Pixar and Dreamworks, the rest are shite, trouble
is you didn’t ask me for my cinema advice did you? Oh well, you got it for free
anyway!
My point was that once Mario 64 was
released, everyone else had to create all their games in 3D too. Of course
there were and are some fantastic titles out there, but it’s easy to
forget we’ve had 2D games for over 30 years. Just because we can create 3D
games, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t create 2D ones anymore. Just because something
has an extra dimension, it doesn’t make it any better. The TV series
Sliders had lots of dimensions (a new one every week), still a crap show
though!
It’s surprising to think that Mario had
not really been back in a proper 2D platform title until now; after all, he
practically invented platform games, but that’s how life goes when you’re a
celebrity. Suddenly there’s no time for this and that when you have to play
Golf and Tennis all the time, not to mention driving Karts around the place.
Sure Mario is good at sports and driving, but he’s better at platforming.
Thus with the Mario history and personal vendetta out of the way I can finally
start to talk about the game, New Super Mario Bros!
You’ll never guess what!
Whilst Mario and Peach are walking around after their lovely mushroom pasta fest
picnic they see something attacking the castle. Brave Mario rushes off to sort
it out, leaving Peach all alone. What Mario doesn’t know is that Baby Bowser is
there to snatch Peach whilst he’s distracted.
Thus the story is set for another eight
worlds of pure platforming heaven.
Your job here is simple, get Peach back,
kick the Bowser Family’s ass and eat a few mushrooms along the way. Mario might
be mega rich and mega famous, but like us mere mortals, his life is repetitive
too. Kudos to Mario for not retiring to some gorgeous island and becoming a
recluse!
Pretty much everything you know and love
about the classic Mario games is here in this title;
from the great level design of Super Mario World to the world map with
travelling Hammer Bros from Super Mario 3. The only thing missing is Yoshi,
(but dino fans don’t cry, he is in the multiplayer mode).
All the best enemies, including Dry
Bones, Wriggler, Thwomp, Koopa and Boo are back and ready to knock Mario for
six. Well, that is until he has his mega mushroom. (Has anyone else noticed
the similarity to Popeye and his spinach, or is it just me being cynical?)
Your usual Mario type worlds are here:
Desert, Ice, Cloud, Water etc. They are all gorgeously created with lots of
effort put into the design. The first time you play the level you’ll see
something with no idea of how to get to it, you’ll be so annoyed that you'll keep
replaying the level until you find out how. Many levels also have a secret
exit, opening extra levels on the map. Cleverly, sometimes it’s easier to find
the secret exit rather than the normal one.
I’ll quickly mention Mario Party here.
Quite frankly the Mario Party games are very poor; I’ve played three of them so
far and don’t plan to try the others if I can help it. Before you email me, I
know that sometimes the multiplayer mini games are fun, but nothing else about
them is.
I find it quite shameful how Hudson Software have abused the Mario licence, and
what’s worse, why Nintendo haven’t taken the licence back from these idiots
slapped them around the face, because that is exactly what I would do.
The reason I mention Mario Party is
because in New Super Mario Bros, Mario has decided to bring two of the mushroom
variety he discovered in Mario Party 4. These are the Mega and Mini mushrooms.
They aren’t really that good, but do add a few little twists to the game.
Mega Mushroom – This makes Mario turn
MEGA in size, invincible and gives him the destructive power of an atom bomb.
He has something like 15 seconds to cause as much damage to the level as he can,
and not only that, this casual destruction is also rewarded with extra 1ups if
the damage meter level gets high enough. Sort of fun and can get you halfway
through a tough level without much effort, but not really something that was
necessary to the game.
Mini Mushroom – This is certainly a
better idea, Mario is turned teeny and can access areas that his big Spaghetti
filled gut was too big to squeeze into before, in fact two of the worlds are not
accessible unless you defeat some final bosses using Mini Mario. Oddly though,
Mini Mario can jump a lot higher than normal Mario, but he does run a bit
slower.
Mario also has a new power up to use in this adventure, he gets to wear his own
Koopa shell and spin into enemies and blocks, knocking them flying. It’s an
interesting new ability, but not one I found much use for, the trusty fireball
flower is much more my cup of tea.
Mario also has extra space in his
dungarees this time around, being able to keep hold of an extra power up until
he needs it, a simple tap on the touch screen brings it floating down from the
top of the level for him to use. Damn useful is this feature, whether it makes
the game that bit too easy, I’m not sure.
Graphically this game is great; the
environments are all superbly detailed, loads of special effects and even Mario
himself looks damn handsome. This game would not look out of place next to
Yoshi’s Story on the Nintendo 64. In some ways, it’s a shame this game is only
on the DS, the small screen sizes don’t do the game justice.
As you would expect, the sound effects
and music on this title are just right. Nintendo at their usual best here!
With eight worlds this will take you
some time to complete, but when you do, what is there to make you want to play
this game again? Only a load of hidden coins to collect! That’s right,
shamelessly nicking the idea from Rare’s Donkey Kong Country series, there are
three big golden coins to find on every level. Sometimes they are very well
hidden, especially in the Boo Houses!
Being on the DS, this game has the
obligatory touch screen mini games for you to play around with, they are all
quite fun and they can even be played in multiplayer if you have some friends
with a DS hanging around the place. It’s a shame that most of the games were
previously included in Super Mario 64 DS.
There is also a disappointing Mario and Luigi battle mode where the aim is to
collect all of the stars from the arena before the other, maybe it’s just me,
but this could’ve been a lot better, perhaps even a fully fledged coop mode.
Although being able to use Luigi instead of Mario in the main game (thanks to a
cheat) makes things a bit different!
Overall then, this is a great game, with
everything that a classic Mario fan could want. The boss levels are quite
upsettingly easy if you happen to be in possession of the Fireball Flower.
Nintendo really should have stopped the use of power ups here in my opinion, but
that alone cannot spoil this fantastic retro Mario fest!
Don’t forget that the best price for this game is displayed
below!