BlueGuy
(Ten years in the joint)
12/23/2013 13:22:08
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VideoGame Rather lackluster in hindsight
While the first New Super Mario Bros. game was initially a success on all counts, in hindsight it seems rather mediocre.
The main problem is that it's just not very memorable. I can't remember very much about the game save for the Mega Mushroom, Blue Shell, the final castle, and some of the music. Sure, that may not sound like much, but games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World were very memorable, with a great many levels that really stick out a decade or two later.
The other problem is that it's rather easy. Miyamoto openly regretted doing this, and I can't say he's wrong.
Though my review may seem rather short, it's just that there's not a whole lot to the game, and that's why I don't like it. In short, it gets a 2.5/5.
VideoGame The best New Super Mario Bros., an excellent game unfortunately tremendously tainted by its sequels.
Normally I don't really care about reviews, but I'm making an exception for this game this time now that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is just around the corner and want to mention some things that I feel very strongly about this game.
Namely, this game is criminally underrated, like it was said on the "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny page and respective examples this game may very well be the game hit the most hard by that in all gaming and is a case where it's outright unfair to the game itself. Ask anybody about New Super Mario Bros. and chances are that this game will almost always lumped together with New Super Mario Bros. Wii/2/U as being derivative and unoriginal but that is simply not the case at all. This game has several differences (AKA Early-Installment Weirdness) compared to its follow-ups that make extremely different and unique. It also added a lot of stuff to the franchise.
First off, this game was Mario's—-and the video game industry in general's—-grand return to 2D gaming, and due to that it preserves the classic 2D Mario gameplay we all know and love, however it's not just the same gameplay recycled, the game significantly expanded Mario's moveset by incorporating elements introduced in 3D Mario games in the interim (Wall Jumps, Triple Jumps, and Ground Pounds) to 2D Mario games alongside other actions such as drill spin jumping via Spin Blocks to further expand the gameplay and make it more complex and just plain more fun, which you'd be hard pressed to see most people remember.
The game also added various new power-ups. I've seen players think that Wonder is the first time something crazy like breaking the flagpole has happened, however the credit for that goes to this game's Mega Mushroom which allows you to destroy anything in your path for a limited time and was just plain fun in this kind of game. The Mini Mushroom, on the other hand, is a Power-Up Letdown but Difficult but Awesome, making you die in one hit in exchange of allowing you to have a really high floaty jump, fit into small secret passageways, and the ability to float in the water. It acts like a hard mode of sorts being the way to unlock secret worlds in-game, as reward for beating certain bosses under its effects, personally I found that challenging and refreshing. Besides those and the classic returning powerups, there's a brand-new Blue Shell Power-Up that allows you to basically play like a Koopa Troopa with all of his abilities, it’s super satisfying, fun to use (and challenging if you use it while running), and unique, allowing you to experience the game in a whole different Koopa way, even if it’s a completely optional bonus Power-Up after you unlock it you can use it to your heart’s content in the game.
The game also introduced various locations to the series, this also is often lumped together as recycled but that is simply not the case, for example, the game features a grassland but it's not the same as the one in SMB/SMB3/SMW, it's a distinct one with a vastly different landscape and landforms, just like the ones in each of those games are not the same. The game also has new locations never seen before then in any way locations like a Forest with a purple poison lake doubling as lava and vines ala Donkey Kong Country allowing you to swing the same way, and a haunted landscape complete with crows and pumpkins which acts as the first part of the final world before reaching the exterior and interior of a Volcano for the second and final part.
It also had various unique levels build around obstacles never seen after this game, it had of all things Dorrie from Super Mario 64 as a vehicle, Moving Snake Blocks as platforms required to clear the final towers just like in Super Mario World, and Castle Mazes with correct and incorrect paths just like Super Mario Bros, a Giant Wiggler as the moving floor of an entire stage in the Sky World, a Mega Unagi that chases you in underwater levels..and even a level switch that turns the entire level upside-down in the final castle level. Finally, and perhaps most notably, had various enemies mostly not seen in future entries and unique bosses like Dry Bowser, Petey Piranha, Monty Tank!, Mummy Pokey!, even Lakithunder which even plays a part in the game’s minimalistic plot as a nice Easter Egg; all of them being unique in the truest sense of the world and playing completely differently needing separate strategies to be defeated. That is one of the greatest things you can have in a platform game, and this game certainly derived on that, and I consider this game to be superior than even SMW and SMB3 in this regard, which I may remind everyone only had the Koopalings and Bowser as bosses (alongside Big Boo in SMW; and this game's sequels as well, alongside a Sumo Bro. and Kamek each once).
When its sequels came all of them started reusing the artstyle and locations from the first game and then the unoriginality started.
Wii did alter the core gameplay by bringing back Yoshis, adding a new mid-air spin jump and the action of picking objects similarly to Super Mario Bros. 2, and the very important addition of simultaneous Co-Op multiplayer which Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to do ever since the NES but couldn't until the Wii due to technical limitations, all were great additions that made the game a worthy successor in spite of the recycling the first game’s artstyle and locations. However, afterwards when 2 and U came out—and in the same year—, they didn't do anything to further improve the core gameplay (besides U's notably having a fully featured world map) and started recycling even Wii's music instead of having original music, the first game had a superb OST full of Awesome Music and Wii's was great as well—when it was original. 2 infamously didn't add anything other than a coin-collecting gimmick and Golden/Bone palette swaps of enemies and power-ups and is considered by many—myself included—the weakest game in the series and even if not an outright bad game a significant disappointment overall. U, on the other hand, did at least add some stuff like new Power-Ups/Baby Yoshis and new non-essential challenging additional modes. As it may be, gone are the unique bosses, enemies, and obstacles from the first game in the sequels and their many similarities to Wii ended up forever tainting the whole series' reputation and most unfortunately, the original Nintendo DS game's.
This was a really unfortunate situation that the game didn't deserve. The only truly valid criticisms against the game are that it is too easy and that it lacks a fully featured world map with branching paths like Super Mario World. It really is an easy game, although not a complete cakewalk either and, if you don't abuse the Mega Mushroom to cheese them, certain stages and all of its bosses can still present a challenge. I personally don't see that as a big flaw, but that will depend on what each person values the most in a game and I do agree this is a valid criticism, as even the game's devs mention their only regret was that they wish they had made the game harder (hence the Sequel Difficulty Spike in Wii and U, and if you prefer those games due to that or their further improvements to the gameplay and less additions in spite of being derivative, that's perfectly fair, while I like them personally I'm in the other camp of preferring the first game for its uniqueness).
This game has aged like fine wine and it's just as good if not even better than it was in 2006 in hindsight and well worth playing, it really is one best Mario games—and I personally consider it to be right up there with Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 (and Super Mario Land 2)—thanks to introducing various unique new power-ups, locations, obstacles, enemies and bosses to the franchise and just being a plain fun, well designed, polished, and creative Mario game. If had to rate it I'd give it a 9.5, maybe even a 10.
I love this game, almost as much as my personal favorite Mario game (Super Mario World, which fortunately doesn't need a review like this), and I strongly think this one is a worthy successor to the classics, and can't stand still at its good name being defamed and lumped together with its sequels as another unoriginal entry in spite of its numerous factual improvements and additions to the Mario franchise. There's only so much I can do about this but hope that this review at least can make that clear regardless of personal feelings, as I still care about this game feel very strongly about its unfortunate situation, otherwise I wouldn’t have even bothered doing this. If you read all this, thank you.