New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario Bros. is the groundbreaking game in the Mario series and is the first new Mario platformer since Super Mario World for the Super NES 15 years before. It features full 3D graphics, but from a 2D sidescrolling view. This allows for cool effects like zooming in and out, real time manipulation of objects, and an overall very smooth game. It's now overall a very popular game and is arguably the most popular Nintendo DS game.

Plot
The game begins with Mario and Princess Peach taking a walk in a park about to go to a picnic. Suddenly, while Peach's Castle is in view from them, a cloud goes over the castle, and lightning starts to strike it. All the Toads start to scream, and Mario goes over to help, expecting that Peach would be okay. While Mario runs over to the castle, Bowser Jr comes out from behind a bush, and kidnaps Peach. Mario looks back, realizes this, and starts to run toward him. Bowser Jr will then throw a Koopa Shell at Mario and hide inside the nearest Tower with Peach.

Mario now goes throughout the grassy land toward the Tower. Once he gets there, Bowser Jr will decide to fight Mario. Once Mario wins, Bowser Jr takes Peach, and runs off, Mario will now have to go through many obstacles to get her back. While trying to find her, Mario will encounter a castle, and finds out that inside waiting is Bowser. Mario will get past him, and jump on the switch to break the bridge that Bowser is on, whom will fall in the lava and turn into a skeleton, turning him into Dry Bowser.

Mario will have to now go through the Mushroom Kingdom tracking down Bowser Jr, going through deserts, oceans, mountains, ice lands, jungles, and even the sky. Once he gets to the last land, the Lava World, he will encounter Dry Bowser. You will have to get past all the bones that he throws, and the monster himself, to hit the switch to once again make him fall through a pit of lava.

Now, Mario goes out to find Bowser Jr again, and comes up to a huge castle, which he enters in hope of finding Peach. Once he gets to the end, he finds Bowser Jr, whom will throw the Bones Bowser into a pot with potion that revives Bowser. Now, the two will fight you, where you'll have to get past both of them to hit the switch, which will drop the bridge. Now Peach will come down off her platform, and kiss Mario on the cheek, which ends the story.

Gameplay
Gameplay is similar to both the traditional sidescrollers and the 3D games, moreso the former than the latter. As in every Mario platformer, you're capable of jumping and running faster to get past certain parts quicker than normal and to leap farther. One mechanism that was present in the original Super Mario Bros. returns - being able to duck and slide at the same time to get under blocking walls with a small opening at the bottom. You're also allowed to, for the first time in a sidescrolling Mario game, perform a double and tripple jump, a backflip, and a wall jump - four moves that could all be executed in the 3D Mario games.

The actual graphics have evolved greatly from Super Mario World, which was, as all of the other sidescrollers before it, primarily a 2D world. However, this game features polygons rather than handmade sprites, making it seem similar to the 3D Mario platformers found on the current home consoles, though the entire world is entirely 3D. This is similar to Donkey Kong Country and Yoshi's Story, though unarguably features improved graphics.

Most enemies can be killed by simiply jumping on them, though some require more. For example, one enemy may have spikes on top of its head, implying that you're not allowed to jump upon it. With this said, you're allowed to find a Fire Flower within a '?' block or a Mega Mushroom and then pummel it with fire balls or just run into it, respectively.

If the player collects a Super Mushroom, then Mario (or Luigi) will slightly grow and will be given a bit more health. For example, without a mushroom he'll die automatically if touched by an enemy or obstacle, though if he touches a Super Mushroom he'll be allowed two hits.

The 80 distinct levels are featured in eight different worlds, each with its own theme (see below). Different obstacles and enemies are featured in each level, with the difficulty level rising more and more as you progress through each world. Each world contains a boss at the end and mini bosses throughout it, the latter of which usually happening to be Bowser Jr. of Super Mario Sunshine fame. Unlike Super Mario Bros., the main bosses differ greatly. For example, in one world you must fight Petey Piranha while in another you'll face off against the Koopa king Bowser.

The overworld map is similar to that of Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. You can travel back to levels you've already been to to accumulate a better score or find the multiple different Star Coins, or you can continue on to the next level. Secret levels can be found by entering a different exit, such as can cannons to other worlds.

Playable

 * Mario - Mario is the main character in the game. He will be able to do many of the abilities he can from both the past 2-D and 3-D Mario Games such as the triple jump and ground pound. He will also learn how to use many new items such as the Mega Mushroom and Mini Mushroom.


 * Luigi - Luigi will be playable once you type in a certain password (this password is (L+R+A when selecting a file) that you'll learn after you beat the game. In the game, he can do everything that Mario can.


 * Yoshi - Though Yoshi never appears in the main game it self, he will appear as a playable character in multiple mini-games. In the mini games, you will use Yoshi to throw snow balls, fly with balloons, and more.

Non-Playable

 * Princess Peach - In the game, Princess Peach and Mario are going on a walk when suddenly, Peach's Castle gets attacked. Mario goes off to Peach's Castle to stop it when Bowser Jr. suddenly kidnaps her.
 * Bowser - Bowser is the first main boss, as well as the last. In the game, he sends out Bowser Jr. to kidnap Peach, and since he knows that Mario will go after her, he sends out his army to stop him.
 * Bowser Jr. - At the beginning, Baby Bowser kidnaps Peach, and takes her to the closest tower. There, Mario will battle him to get back Peach, once Mario wins, Bowser Jr goes to another tower. This will happen multiple times until Bowser and Bowser Jr. team up for the final Boss fight.
 * Toadsworth - You will find Toadsworth at the Toad Houses where he will uses his magic cane to give you multiple different items depending on which color of Toad House you entered.
 * Dorrie - You'll find Dorrie the sea dinosaur in the jungle, where she will allow you to cross over the poisonous water. She will not stop swimming unless a wall is directly in front of you. If you ground pound the dinosaur, she will duck, and start to swim much faster.

Bosses

 * Bowser - Bowser is the main enemy boss in the game. You will first encounter him as the final boss in world 1, plus the final boss of the game.
 * Bowser Jr. - Bowser Jr will be the mini boss of each world, and will join up with Bowser as the final boss.
 * Mummipokey - A big Pokey in world 2 that will pop out of the sand to either spit out thorns at you, or just try to come up under you.
 * Cheepskipper - A huge, fat cheep-cheep in world 3 who will pop out of the water to try to kill you. He will also send smaller Cheep-Cheeps at you as well.
 * Mega Goomba - As the name suggests, he is a big Goomba in world 4 whom will try to smash you.
 * Petey Piranha - A walking Piranha Plant in world 5 that will try to fly above you, smash you.
 * Monty Tank - A regular Monty Mole in world 6 that has a big tank that shoots out Bullet Bills,and throws Bomb-ombs.
 * Lakithunder - A Lakitu in world 7 that will climb on his cloud and either try to shoot electricity at you, or just ram you.
 * Dry Bowser - Bowser, in skeletal form after falling in lava as one of the bosses in world 8, and will throw bones at you.

Worlds

 * World 1 - Grassy area.
 * World 2 - Desert area.
 * World 3 - Island/Ocean area.
 * World 4 - Jungle area.
 * World 5 - Ice/Snow area.
 * World 6 - Mountain area.
 * World 7 - Sky/Cloud area.
 * World 8 - Lava area.

Items

 * Mushroom - While Mario, you can gain this item to become Super Mario. This item allows you to break through brick blocks, and allows you to get hit twice before you die.


 * Fire Flower - While you are Fire Mario, you can do anything Super Mario can do, but also be able to shoot fire balls out of your hand. Fire Mario can also get attacked three times before he dies.


 * Mega Mushroom - When you collect a rare Mega Mushroom, Mario becomes Mega Mario. Mega Mario can smash through almost all obstacles, and can't be harmed by any enemy. Though it only last a few seconds, the effect can be very helpful, even allowing you to defeat bosses just by running into them.


 * Mini Mushroom - When you collect a mini mushroom, Mario becomes Mini Mario. Mini Mario can jump extra high, can fit through small pipes and openings, and can also run above water.


 * Blue Shell - When Mario collects a Blue Shell, he becomes Shell Mario, allowing him to slide around just like a kicked Koopa shell does. Shell Mario can also duck and take cover so no enemy can hurt him.


 * 1-Up Mushroom - You'll find these green mushrooms in multiple levels and Toad Houses. Once you collect one, you'll gain a life.

Multiplayer
This game also has a wireless multiplayer mode (up to 4 players) where you can battle it out to get the most stars. To get a powerup, you can either get it the traditional way, by jumping up on a "?" box, or you can collect 8 coins. To hurt your opponent, you can either jump on them, shoot them with a fireball, or do anything else that would normally damage an enemy in New Super Mario Bros.. To win, you must obtain the amount of stars that was set before the game, defaultly 5.

Luigi
To play as Luigi, go to the file select screen, then press, and hold down L + R, then select a file, you will now play as Luigi. Luigi is the exact same as Mario in terms of abilities, though the color of his clothes, and his size, plus other features are much different. Also, his voiced has changed as well. In multi-player mode, he will be playable as the second player.

Action

 * Snowball Slalom - A game where you roll a snowball to try to past the finish. Once you do, you can try again to beat your previous time.
 * Lakitu Launch - You must use the touch screen to fling spiny's into two giant shells that Lakitus are holding withing the set time.
 * Danger, Bob-Omb! Danger! - using the Touch screen, you guide a Bob-omb on a square platform with fireballs going all over, along with fire from the robot Bowser. If one of the obstacles hits your Bob-omb, then you loose.
 * Whack-A-Monty - There are multiple holes in the ground with either Monty Moles or Luigi inside. If you hit a Monty Mole, you'll gain more time and points. If you hit Luigi, you'll loose times.
 * Balloon Racing - You will control Yoshi, and will blow into the mic to raise Yoshi past the Shy Guys to the platform above. If you accomplish this, you can try again to beat your past time.
 * Snowball Slam - A multiplayer game that features Yoshi as the playable character. You will be able to throw snowballs at either the enemy Yoshi, or at the snowmen on the opposite side which gives you more ammo, or snowballs.

Puzzle

 * Wanted - Multiple photos of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Wario will appear on the bottom screen. On the top screen, it will show a picture of the character that's wanted, and within the time you must find the photo of the character on the bottom screen.
 * Which Wiggler - A Wiggler appears on the top screen with a particular design, now you must find another Wiggler with the same design on the bottom screen.
 * Hide And Boo Seek - The player must use the stylus inside a haunted mansion to uncover Boo's in the dark.
 * Puzle Panel - The player must use the stylus to turn blocks to make it resemble the design on the top screen.
 * Coincentration - Wario will hit a block, and many coins will come out of it and fall into blocks below. You must touch the blocks which have coins in them, if you touch one without any, then you loose.

Table

 * Memory Match - A player must pick two cards out of a certain amount of turned cards to try to find a match.
 * Picture Poker - You must play Poker against Luigi using many diffrent items from the Mario universe. To win you must beat Luigi.
 * Pair-A-Gone - You must match two cards that are next to each other on a table with many cards. When you delete a pair, they will dissapear, and other cards will take there place.

Variety

 * Mario's Slides - three Piranha Plants and a star is on the bottom screen. On the top, a face of Mario is there, and will drop, you must guide Mario across many diffrent routes to guide him to the star.
 * Sort or 'Splode - There are two sections, a red one, and a black one. You must guide the color of the Bob-omb that comes out to the the matching section. If you guide one to the wrong one, then you will loose.
 * Bounce And Trounce - The player must touch multiple Marios to make them jump. If you jump on a Fly-Guy, you will gain points.
 * Bob-Omb Squad - The player must use a giant sling-shot to shoot cannons at over head Bob-ombs and Lakitus. If four Bob-ombs hit the ground, then you loose.
 * Trampoline Time - The player must draw trampolines with M's on them using the stylus for Mario to jump on and land on a safe platform above.

Critics
Websites-
 * Gamespot: 9.0/10 - ''New Super Mario Bros. is a terrific 2D side-scroller that makes you think of the old games but never feels like it's just cashing in on past success."
 * IGN: 9.5/10 - This game marks a brilliant return to Mario's side-scrolling environments, with a look, feel, and play that feels unbelievably classic, with new elements that do a fantastic job advancing the design.
 * 1up: 8.8/10 - Nintendo's crafted a thoroughly enjoyable game here, a solid portable experience packed with everything that makes Mario so great

Magazines-
 * Nintendo Power: 9.5/10, 9.5/10, 9.5/10, 9.5/10, 9.5/10
 * Electronic Gaming Monthly: 10/10, 9.5/10, 8.0/10

Electronic Gaming Monthly also gave the game a gold rating, and the "Game Of the Month" award as well.

Ending Letter Sounds
During the credits, you will be able to press the letters in the words. Each letter will make a different sound. The following is the sound that each letter makes.