A surprisingly derivative effort from Nintendo. Though not bad, New Super Mario Bros. certainly isn't the series' best.
It is a bit suspicious that New Super Mario Bros. seems to have garnered such voracious acclaim. Though on its most basic level, it feels like a good old Mario title like Mom used to make, it certainly falls short when compared to more recent titles in the series. It lacks the creativity that fueled Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island and the extensive gameplay that was Super Mario 64's trademark. What we have instead is a plain vanilla hybrid of the two that has far more in common with the very first title in the series than it does with any recent entries.
Perhaps it's not fair to bash New Super Mario Bros. because it's something of a nostalgic throwback. In an age where we have 20,000 Mario Party titles released every year, taking the series back to formula was actually something of an innovation. It works on several levels; there's a charm in the comparatively basic gameplay, and gamers aren't subjected to any Mario Sunshine-esque awkward plotlines. Nope, all we have here is sweet 'n sexy Princess Peach getting abducted by Bowser, and that's all we need.
It's the details where New Super Mario Bros. really trips up. The game wastes the DS' touch screen (except in the mini-games, almost wholly ripped off from Mario 64 DS), making gamers wonder why it wasn't just a GBA title with pretty sprite graphics instead of ugly 3D ones. Worse yet, the new power-ups, being the giant and mini mushrooms, seem shoehorned in and have woefully limited use. This leads to some dumb design choices; two of the game's eight worlds are completely closed off until you go back and beat certain bosses in mini mode. It's a pretty lame and cheap way to inject replay value. Even still, perhaps the largest offenders are the level-design and music. Unlike the unique and distinctive locales found in other Mario games, NSMB recycles dull environments like "forest" and "snow land." And it seems like Nintendo bothered only to compose two songs for the entirety of the game. What a letdown.
Of course, despite quibbles and nitpicks, this is still a solid Mario game that at least tries some new things while still feeling old school. The mini-games, stolen as they may be, are fun and will keep players coming back for more, even after they clear all of the levels in the easy single player adventure. Gamers, especially those who haven't been Mario fans all of their lives, will dig the game while it lasts, and some may be able to ignore the flaws.
Those looking for something beefier, though, would probably do better to grab Yoshi's Island DS.