I have a long history with this game, but the most important detail is that this is the game I think back to that started my love for videogames. Sure it's not a grandiose collect-a-thon like Super Mario 64, nor is it an absolute classic 2D platformer like Super Mario World but it was the game that made me the person I am today.
That being said, hindsight always makes you look back at something and say "wow I really thought this was some kind of masterpiece?" While many believe this to be the stand out in creativity of the New Super Mario series, I see how many of the main tropes started here. The game is incredibly easy and I racked up an almost full life counter by the time I was halfway through it and really only lost lives to the trickier star coins or just plain dumb mistakes. It's very generic, borrowing elements from every critically claimed Mario game before it and the art style and music do not stand out at all. The only reason I remember these levels are due to nostalgia and I could not name a single one and describe it to you outside of the final level. All post-game content is left up to secrets and completing the game rewards you with absolutely nothing except some backgrounds for the bottom screen. This game is generic Mario as generic Mario gets.
But that leads me to literally everything else about this game because the rest is all amazing. Sure it may be generic and borrowed but there are genuinely creative ideas at work here. My only gripe with those themes is how they are used. Take World 6 for example with heavy themes of war-torn mountains with bob-ombs and bullet bills everywhere, and a heavy emphasis on moving pulley systems. But this theme is skipped in some levels that replace it with an underwater level and a grass level that were honestly probably placed there to intentionally make the game more familiar. Then the final castle of that world uses none of these themes outside of the (genuinely creative) boss. That world represents exactly what New Super Mario Bros. is to me: well-thought-out and incredibly unique fun that weighs itself down by being the first 2D Mario in a while and thus it had to be generic because Nintendo is just that stubborn.
If you have read this far, you will notice that I have intentionally left out this game's sequels despite calling the game generic repeatedly. I never like to compare a title to future or previous entries and while that still rains true here, I still cannot help but feel that the music and style of this game do not stand out at all, even as a standalone title. It's honestly hard to believe that there was not a title before this that had some kind of shift into this one because it sounds and looks like every other New Super Mario Bros. game. That being said, the style is really nice for a DS game. While future titles do little to push the hardware of their systems, this title actually looks really good for being released early in the handheld's life. The sound replicates this as well, being bland but bubbly and sounding really good for when the title came out. I just wish more tracks were added and voice lines were given. I really do not feel like I am fighting some big army of anything like Super Mario World, it just feels like the original NES game but with Bowser Jr. and some updated polish and voice lines.
While most of this review has been me complaining about one of my favorite childhood games, that does not mean I hate it or even think it's a bad game. Just looking back at it now and with the context of the (hopefully) complete New Super Mario Bros. series, this game just has no staying power, despite being a really well-designed game with plenty of fun to be had. But unfortunately, it can be easily substituted by any other games from its series and really has no place in history, leaving it effectively worthless to gamers all around the world. I will continue to love this game but I must come to terms with just how little it did to revolutionize the 2D Mario franchise.
That being said, hindsight always makes you look back at something and say "wow I really thought this was some kind of masterpiece?" While many believe this to be the stand out in creativity of the New Super Mario series, I see how many of the main tropes started here. The game is incredibly easy and I racked up an almost full life counter by the time I was halfway through it and really only lost lives to the trickier star coins or just plain dumb mistakes. It's very generic, borrowing elements from every critically claimed Mario game before it and the art style and music do not stand out at all. The only reason I remember these levels are due to nostalgia and I could not name a single one and describe it to you outside of the final level. All post-game content is left up to secrets and completing the game rewards you with absolutely nothing except some backgrounds for the bottom screen. This game is generic Mario as generic Mario gets.
But that leads me to literally everything else about this game because the rest is all amazing. Sure it may be generic and borrowed but there are genuinely creative ideas at work here. My only gripe with those themes is how they are used. Take World 6 for example with heavy themes of war-torn mountains with bob-ombs and bullet bills everywhere, and a heavy emphasis on moving pulley systems. But this theme is skipped in some levels that replace it with an underwater level and a grass level that were honestly probably placed there to intentionally make the game more familiar. Then the final castle of that world uses none of these themes outside of the (genuinely creative) boss. That world represents exactly what New Super Mario Bros. is to me: well-thought-out and incredibly unique fun that weighs itself down by being the first 2D Mario in a while and thus it had to be generic because Nintendo is just that stubborn.
If you have read this far, you will notice that I have intentionally left out this game's sequels despite calling the game generic repeatedly. I never like to compare a title to future or previous entries and while that still rains true here, I still cannot help but feel that the music and style of this game do not stand out at all, even as a standalone title. It's honestly hard to believe that there was not a title before this that had some kind of shift into this one because it sounds and looks like every other New Super Mario Bros. game. That being said, the style is really nice for a DS game. While future titles do little to push the hardware of their systems, this title actually looks really good for being released early in the handheld's life. The sound replicates this as well, being bland but bubbly and sounding really good for when the title came out. I just wish more tracks were added and voice lines were given. I really do not feel like I am fighting some big army of anything like Super Mario World, it just feels like the original NES game but with Bowser Jr. and some updated polish and voice lines.
While most of this review has been me complaining about one of my favorite childhood games, that does not mean I hate it or even think it's a bad game. Just looking back at it now and with the context of the (hopefully) complete New Super Mario Bros. series, this game just has no staying power, despite being a really well-designed game with plenty of fun to be had. But unfortunately, it can be easily substituted by any other games from its series and really has no place in history, leaving it effectively worthless to gamers all around the world. I will continue to love this game but I must come to terms with just how little it did to revolutionize the 2D Mario franchise.