New Super Mario Bros. is an extremely entertaining experience that is easily recommendable to anyone with a DS.
NSMB's gameplay is straight up 2D platforming, so if your looking for am innovation to the platforming genre, this game really isn't it. What NSMB does is perfect the genre, by making the gamplay tight, responsive, and extremely polished. The level design is absolutely phenomenal, with creative obstacles that always keep you guessing. And while NSMB may look and feel like a kids game, it does get incredibly challenging in the later stages, especially if you try to collect all of the big Star Coins. The Star Coins add most of Mario's length to the single player game, and trying to get all three in each level is alot of fun.
The visual presentation is also outstanding, and is just as clean and polished as the gameplay. There are tons of sharp-looking visual effects, and in fact most of the game's graphics are in 3D. These 3D effects are flawlessly implemented into the 2D gameplay.
The audio is no pushover either. There are tons of great audio effects (and thankfully Mario's script is kept to a minimum) all around the game, and these all sound crystal clear. The music is great too, with some new tunes added as well as remixes of past mario tracks, all of which you have a good chance of catching yourself humming.
NSMB packs alot of gameplay into its package. First off, there is the compelling and suprisingly lengthy single-player mode, and then even more fun is the multiplayer mode. The multiplayer is fast-paced, frantic, and overall tons of fun. Anyone with a DS can play with you (meaning they don't have to own a copy of the game), and you could find yourself spending hours and hours delving into the deceptively simple multiplayer. Included in the package are the minigames from Super Mario 64 DS, which is certainly a nice addition, since most of them are helplessly addicting. Even more nice it that they have been reworked for multiplayer, so these add quite a chunk of value into the already jam-packed game.
NSMB is an outstanding game. The DS has already been graced with some outstanding titles, and this one couldn't be more welcome. This is certainly a must-own title; easily recommendable to anybody with a DS. And if you were thinking about buying a DS, its hard to imagine a better time than now.