New Super Mario Bros.
is a 2006 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was first released in May 2006 in North America and Japan, in Europe and Australia in June 2006, in South Korea in March 2007, and in China in May 2009. It is the first installment in the New Super Mario Bros. subseries of the Super Mario series and follows Mario as he fights his way through Bowser's henchmen to rescue Princess Peach. Mario has access to several old and new power-ups that help him complete his quest, including the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, and the Super Star, each giving him unique abilities. While traveling through eight worlds with more than 80 levels, Mario has to defeat Bowser Jr. and Bowser before saving Princess Peach.
New Super Mario Bros. released with critical and commercial success, with many considering it as the main contributor in the revival of the 2D platforming genre. Praise went towards the game's improvements and introductions made to the Mario franchise and faithfulness to older Mario games, while criticism was targeted at its low difficulty level and lingering similarities to previous games. It was called one of the best games available for the Nintendo DS by several critics with some further calling it one of the best side-scrolling Super Mario titles. It sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling game for the Nintendo DS and one of the best-selling video games of all time. The game's success led to [|a line of sequels], starting with New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Gameplay
New Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling video game. While the game is seen in 2D, most of the characters and objects are 3D polygonal renderings on 2D backgrounds, resulting in a 2.5D effect that visually simulates 3D computer graphics. The player can play as either Mario, or his younger brother, Luigi. Similar to previous Mario games, Mario and Luigi can jump, crouch, collect coins, stomp on enemies, and break open blocks. Moves from 3D Mario games appear for the first time in 2D Mario games in New Super Mario Bros., including the ground pound, triple jump, and wall jump. Enemies from previous games, such as Boos, are also reintroduced, while various other new enemies are introduced.Between eight and twelve levels are available in each of the eight worlds in New Super Mario Bros., which are shown on the Nintendo DS's bottom touch screen while the player is viewing the world map in the game. The map of the currently selected world appears on the top screen, which is used to navigate between the world's levels. The goal of each level is to reach a black flag at the end of the level. At the end of each world, a different boss must be defeated before proceeding to the next world. There are six power-ups available in New Super Mario Bros.; the game allows the player to store an extra power-up when they are already using one, a feature carried over from Super Mario World. Three power-ups from Super Mario Bros. return in the game: the Super Mushroom makes Mario grow in size, the Fire Flower lets Mario throw fireballs, and the Starman makes Mario temporarily invincible. Three more power-ups are introduced in New Super Mario Bros.: the Blue Koopa Shell lets Mario withdraw into a shell to protect himself and perform a "shell dash" attack. He also swims faster when in this form. The Mega Mushroom grows Mario to an incredible size, where he can destroy everything in his path, and the Mini-Mushroom causes Mario to shrink, allowing him to enter tiny passageways. Mini Mario is so light that he can run on water and jump extremely high.
The multiplayer mode in New Super Mario Bros. features two players against each other as they play as Mario and Luigi in one of five stages, in which they try to be the first to obtain a preset number of stars. Both players can attack each other in an attempt to steal the other player's stars. Jumping on the opponent's character will make them lose one star while performing a ground pound will lose them three. In addition, some minigames previously available in Super Mario 64 DS have returned with 3D graphics and now offer multiplayer options for added replay value. The minigames are divided into four categories: Action, Puzzle, Table and Variety. New Super Mario Bros. features eighteen minigames for single players and ten minigames for multiple players.
Plot
/Luigi and Princess Peach are walking together near the Mushroom Kingdom, when all of a sudden, they notice dark gray clouds appearing over Princess Peach's castle, striking lightning down onto it. As Mario/Luigi runs towards the castle to investigate, Bowser Jr. sneaks up on Princess Peach from behind and kidnaps her, prompting Mario/Luigi to chase Bowser Jr. to save Peach. In one of Bowser's castles, Mario/Luigi faces Bowser Jr. on a bridge above a pit filled with lava as he leaves Mario/Luigi to fight Bowser. Mario/Luigi activate a button, causing the bridge to collapse and Bowser to fall into the pit filled with lava below him. The lava burns off Bowser's skin and flesh, leaving an undead skeleton and introducing Dry Bowser. Later, in one of Bowser's castles, Mario/Luigi face Bowser Jr. on a bridge above a deep pit as he leaves Mario/Luigi to fight Dry Bowser. They activate a button, causing the bridge to collapse and Dry Bowser to fall into the deep pit below him and break. Bowser Jr. then retreats to Bowser's main castle, where Mario/Luigi faces Bowser Jr. on a bridge above a deep pit as Princess Peach is seen in a cage in the air. Bowser Jr. then puts Bowser's destroyed skeleton into a cauldron, causing Bowser to turn back into his original state and making him more powerful. Mario/Luigi then defeats Bowser Jr. and activates a button, causing the bridge to collapse and Bowser to fall into the deep pit below him. Princess Peach is then freed, and she kisses Mario/Luigi on the cheek. In the post-credits scene, Bowser Jr. is seen dragging Bowser, who is unconscious, by his tail. Bowser Jr. then looks at the screen and growls, breaking the fourth wall, and continues dragging his father.Development
The idea of a new side-scrolling Super Mario title for the Nintendo DS was first conceived in late 2003, shortly after the release of Super Mario Advance 4. People wondered if there would be a fifth entry, but director Hiroyuki Kimura decided to make a completely new Super Mario title during development of the Nintendo DS, with inspiration from the Super Mario Advance series. New Super Mario Bros. was first showcased alongside the reveal of the Nintendo DS at E3 2004. The game was not playable at the event, with the press only providing information from a fact sheet, b-roll footage and screenshots. The footage was distributed widely online during the event, in which the game–at this point–was nothing more but a tech demo to showcase potential gameplay scenarios.Early in the game's development, the developers planned not to use voice acting for the game to stay true to the spirit of Super Mario Bros.; however, voice acting was eventually embraced by the developers, who decided that it would positively serve the game. Although voice acting was used in earlier 2D Mario remakes, New Super Mario Bros. is the first original 2D Mario game to use voice acting. Charles Martinet returned to voice Mario and Luigi. The team also set a goal to implement more engaging and functional ways of using 3D models in a 2D platformer. The usage of 3D models wasn't only seen as a natural change, but also as an evolution when the game was released. New Super Mario Bros. features original music composed by Asuka Ohta and Hajime Wakai under the direction of the Super Mario Bros. series composer, Koji Kondo, who also created the "Aboveground BGM", the main theme for regular levels. The game's music dictates gameplay; enemies jump and dance in time to the music. Predicting enemy movements, players can time their jumps with enemy movements to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
New Super Mario Bros. is the first original 2D platform game to feature Mario since Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins in 1992. New Super Mario Bros. was available for play at E3 in 2005. The game's designers were given much more freedom with designs in New Super Mario Bros. compared to previous 2D Mario games. Characters, enemies, and objects could now be created with much more detailed animations, without requiring that they would be designed by hand. To provide visual cues, the developers made the game's camera more dynamic; it zooms in and out of action depending on the situation to provide focus where necessary.
New Super Mario Bros. was later covered in the 883rd issue of Weekly Famitsu–dated to early November 2005–which included an interview with producer Takashi Tezuka. As described in said interview, the game's multiplayer mode would've had coop features, but the primary focus was making most of this mode competitive, as it was the most fun. The winner of each round would've been decided by a number of factors, including which player hit the flagpole first, though the interview doesn't elaborate. The team was also planning minigames similar to Super Mario 64 DS. Physics play an important role in New Super Mario Bros. improved game mechanics. Without the rigid restrictions of tile-based sprites and backgrounds, the designers were free to explore new gameplay mechanics. Mario can swing on ropes and walk on wires that bend and stretch under his weight.
Nintendo announced on January 21, 2006, that New Super Mario Bros. would launch for the Nintendo DS on May 7, 2006. The game's new power-ups were also introduced at the same time, including the Blue Koopa Shell and the Mega Mushroom. Nintendo further mentioned that the game would be played in 2D, but use 3D models to create a 2.5D look and feel. The May 7 release was later delayed towards May 21, 2006, but the game's release date was eventually only pushed back slightly to May 15 of that year; Nintendo also planned to release the game around the same time that the Nintendo DS Lite launched, on June 11, 2006.