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[UncleGuito]

You underestimate the average human being, man. You really should see how ravenously some of my female friends played NSMB, and they`re not gamers. Hell, they don`t have DSes. I just lent them by spare DS to share with each other.

I consider myself a hardcore gamer and I would never spend my time collecting coins in NSMB. The regular game killed it for me, and spending my time collecting the coins would mean nothing to me. I dunno, the extras in the game seem pretty damn insignificant to me.

 

[random]

I second the recommendation to play the game with earphones. The DS speakers don't do the game justice. There are so many little sound effects, echoes and little touches like the music changing subtly depending on the situation you'll miss without them.

And I think the fact that it's quite easy coming to the credits, but challenging to unlock everything, is one of the reason of the games universal appeal. Even unexperienced player can feel rewarded beating the game, while experienced platformers (as in the players, made the word up) will get the challenge they want from finding all the coins and secret exits.
Nintendo games are often good at finding this kind of balance, showing the credits after a challenge even someone playing that kind of game for the first time could master, and offering plenty of additional stuff to unlock later for the skilled players.

 

[RaidenZR]

I just wanted to take this opportunity to post that I admired when the Japanese release went Famicom-retro yellow with the case.

 

[RPS37]

Uh...Blue shell and Mini Mario...?

Utterly useless powerups. Mini mario is only used for getting star coins and unlocking 4 and 7. And...

Fire Flower > Koopa shell

 

[Ike]

Utterly useless powerups. Mini mario is only used for getting star coins and unlocking 4 and 7. And...

Fire Flower > Koopa shell

The blue shell was just uncontrollable.

 

[Lobster]

Utterly useless powerups. Mini mario is only used for getting star coins and unlocking 4 and 7. And...

Fire Flower > Koopa shell

You're Crazy!

I found the game amazing. The 3d was a really nice addition. Multiplayer was great.

 

[cvxfreak]

Second best Mario game behind World, in my opinion. It was a simple, straightforward, charming Mario game.

Spoiler

I hold the rather unfortunate opinion of finding SMB3 to be overrated and not as good as NSMB, let alone World.

 

[Ike]

Second best Mario game behind World, in my opinion. It was a simple, straightforward, charming Mario game.

Spoiler

I hold the rather unfortunate opinion of finding SMB3 to be overrated and not as good as NSMB, let alone World.

Blasphemy!!!!

 

[Dr-L337]

Yeah I thought it was really mediocre. Trying to mimic the first Mario Bros. is a devolution, and all the worthless powerups can't hold a candle to flight.

 

[BGBW]

Yeah I thought it was really mediocre. Trying to mimic the first Mario Bros. is a devolution, and all the worthless powerups can't hold a candle to flight.

The first Mario Bros was a simple game involving enemies coming out of pipes.
It's seen many remakes, especially during the GBA years where it featured on every Super Mario port.

 

[BitchTits]

Yeah I thought it was really mediocre. Trying to mimic the first Mario Bros. is a devolution, and all the worthless powerups can't hold a candle to flight.

I kinda thought that was the point of the game? That it is was NEW 'Super Mario Bros.' stripping the series back to the first Mario, without Yoshi and feathers/capes.

I loved it, I still have a blast on it now and again when I pick up my DS as I still have a few of the big coins to get that I never reached. I've played it through a couple of times.

The music is very under-rated too. At first it sounded a bit insipid, but earphones help. The tropical theme is excellent, and one of the main overworld themes where there's a kind of Ragtime / Dixieland type of segment is absolute genius and one of the best Mario themes IMHO.

 

[AndyMoogle]

Second best Mario game behind World, in my opinion. It was a simple, straightforward, charming Mario game.

Spoiler

I hold the rather unfortunate opinion of finding SMB3 to be overrated and not as good as NSMB, let alone World.

I also find SMB3 to be overrated. SMW is clearly better imo.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Utterly useless powerups. Mini mario is only used for getting star coins and unlocking 4 and 7. And...

But.. You just proved that it's not useless at all. It's needed to get 100%.

Blue shell is fairly useless, but it controls fine if you know how to use it. The blue shell is great to use in certain situations.

 

[Evlar]

But.. You just proved that it's not useless at all. It's needed to get 100%.

Blue shell is fairly useless, but it controls fine if you know how to use it. The blue shell is great to use in certain situations.

And it's far from useless underwater.

 

[Peru]

Mini mario isn't useless, his jumping mechanics are super duper.

 

[ZeoVGM]

And it's far from useless underwater.

Actually, yeah. I forgot.

Blue shell rocks underwater.

 

[Oblivion]

Meh. It's essentially designed around letting people fly through the level without doing any work. Mario World's cape was a joke. At least the leaf in Mario 3 had some limitations placed on it so you couldn't just breeze through half a dozen levels.

But see, that's exactly why it was so awesome. You COULD zip through the level if you wanted to. But who said you had to? I like it when games give you the freedom to do such things. I'm not a fan of limitations.

 

[SovanJedi]

I consider NSMB to be the "true" Super Mario Bros. 2 in a lot of ways (if you disregard some of the impracticalities of that analogy, like the fact that it uses 3D graphics.) It's an evolutionary step up from the original Super Mario Bros. but still a little behind Super Mario Bros. 3. Certainly people who expected this game to be a turbo-charged Mario World/Yoshi's Island/Mario 64 sequel and come away disappointed are, in my opinion, missing the point - as Anihawk said already, it's NEW Super Mario Bros., so has to be seen in the same light as that game. Anybody who has seen the TV adverts should see that they're even doing the comparisons for you.

It reeks of oldschool design mechanics. Almost every level can be blasted through in a matter of minutes and the game itself can be completed in only a few hours, but you could also take it nice and slowly and try and discover lots of other things in the levels (in particular the Star Coins.) Multiple level goals and branching world maps make a welcome return to the series.

And people who claim the game is far easier in relation to the older games should go back and play the other games again and get a dose of reality. For comparison's sake I managed to collect 27 lives and not die once before I even reached Iggy's Castle in Super Mario World, and I certainly find it much, much, much easier to get to World 8 in the original SMB than it was when I was 10 and playing it for the first time.

 

[the androgyne]

The whole "game is to easy" argument is a crock of shit. What ****ing difference does it make how many lives you get, when after continuing, you can basically start right where you left off. It's pointless, and doesn't have a single bit to do with how good the game is or isn't. And, any perceived difficulty in the earlier titles was purely due to the lack of save feature.

 

[turkification]

SMB1 > SMW > NSMB > SMB3 > SMB2

NSMB was great. We want a sequal please.

 

[Oblivion]

NSMB is a great game if you set your expectations accordingly. It was a throwback to SMB (even though it seemed more similar, level-wise to SM3), and as such knowing that, I'm not that disappointed with the lack of a flying item, and the like.

Also, I don't think any of the previous Mario games (sans SM2 Japan) were really difficult or challenging. They were just really fun.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Hated the power ups, hated the challenge, hated the bosses, hated the map, disappointing music, wasn't a fan of the level design particularly as the game went on...but it sure did look pretty.

 

[AshStrife]

NSMB was awesome. Some people set their expectations way too high.
Not every Mario game is going to change gaming as we know it. The impact of SMB and Mario 64 is not going to be ever replicated again.

 

[Gattsu25]

Hated the power ups, hated the challenge, hated the bosses, hated the map, disappointing music, wasn't a fan of the level design particularly as the game went on...but it sure did look pretty.

Pretty much. Not the most polite way of saying it but it covers everything I disliked about the game. Not to say I hated the game or anything, I finished it (no, not 100%), but out of SMB1-3 and SMW1-2, it was my least favorite.

The bosses weren't that bad and the map still got the job done. The difficulty and especially the level design, music, and items really were the worst in the series. Naturally, this is all just my opinion.

 

[Future]

The only thing I didnt like in this game was the shell costume. Every time you use it you pretty much die if you run alot, since you turn into a turtle shell and bouce all over the place. I didn't understand this design at all. Micro Mario was the shit, and Giant Mario was a little gimmicky, but useful in many places. Fire Mario was a bit too strong for the bosses, but still good.

Come on guys, the challenge is pretty damn difficult if you try to fully complete the game. Of course they had to make the main quest somewhat easy so newbies to platformers can get through. Hardcore gamers like us should KNOW that. Unlike many games, there is no "easy" mode for gamers to select to help them. And even if there was, platforming usually means instant death around every corner so a difficulty setting wouldn't even help. This isn't the NES and SNES days where almost every gamer was hardcore. For a hard platformer with long ass levels, see Yoshi's Island 2...a game that only few will ever complete.

The only thing I think they could have afforded to make a little harder were the bosses. Fire Mario beats them all easily as does Giant Mario. Beating them with Micro Mario adds some challenge, but the game only encourages you to do that twice for the alternate world exits.

Great game. I DO think it was a little simplistic in comparison to the progression the series was going in after Mario World, but it's still fun and brings Mario back to a new audience I think. Good shit

 

[cae]

The main game and beating Bowser and such wasn't that great.

The extra worlds, getting all coins, stuff that actually CHALLENGED you, ROCKED SO ****ING HARD. Awesome game.

Exactly how i feel. I breezed the game as quick as i could, the result was Meh. Some months ago, took the challenge to get the 3 stars (getting all special coins, going thru all stages) and it was AMAZING. I really recommend it.

 

[gutter_trash]

the character animation of NSMB is excellent. It adds an extra layer of feedback when controlling Mario.

I wish more games offered great animation, it helps to over-all feel of the game to flow

 

[Evlar]

The other use of the blue shell is to make you impervious to most enemies. Simply press down while standing still and you're immune to most attacks in the game, similar to the Tanooki Suit from SMB3... even better really, since you can stay in the shell as long as you like.

 

[nincompoop]

Why do people who like Mario 64 complain about the difficulty anyway? Mario 64 is probably the easiest platformer of all time.

 

[ivysaur12]

I love NSMB. Not as good as SMB3, but little is. It's my second favorite Mario game. So charming, so much soul, so many extras, it's just fantastic.

 

[Iam Canadian]

I thought New Super Mario Bros. was a great tribute to the classic Mario titles. I don't put on the same pedestal as I do Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World, but NSMB is a worthy ode to those games.

Really, though, NSMB is what I wish was the "same old, same old" for Mario games. It's a very solid 2D platform game that's thoroughly a Mario game. It's actually rather disappointing how rarely a Mario game like NSMB comes out. You'd think the character that starred in the first platformer as we know them today would have a few more actual platform games under his belt.

 

[charlequin]

Sign me up with Drinky Crow on this one. Taken as an actual game that one actually plays during the moments it is within your hands, NSMB is a fantastic pure 2D platformer -- one of the best released in years. People have memories of the Mario franchise that cloud their impressions.

I'm really curious to see how the inevitable NSMB2 is taken by GAF, especially if it does in fact take a more gonzo, SMB3-esque approach.

 

[fabs115]

looking back on this game, i did not like it, the new save system isnt that good, and the fact that you have to get a small shell, etc just so you can access a level, or to get a coin is pretty ridiculous

the controls feel a little floaty as well

 

[Gamecocks625]

It's important to note that to really extract the charm from the game, you should aim to fully unlock everything. Getting all those coins is where the level design really shines.

Exactly. However, after that there's nothing to do. But yeah, collecting all the coins really makes the game shine.

 

[AniHawk]

I consider myself a hardcore gamer and I would never spend my time collecting coins in NSMB. The regular game killed it for me, and spending my time collecting the coins would mean nothing to me. I dunno, the extras in the game seem pretty damn insignificant to me.

I never play games out of obligation ("well I got THIS far, might as well do THIS!"). When I began collecting coins in NSMB, I realized there was a good, entertaining challenge and wanted more.