New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling 2.5D action-adventure platformer game for the Nintendo DS, starring Mario and Luigi. It is notable for being the first side-scrolling platformer in the Mario series in 13½ years (discounting re-releases and remakes), with the last sidescroller before it being 1992's Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. The game features a solo story mode with Mario or Luigi, a two-player wireless game Mario Vs. Luigi, as well as a minigame mode for up to four players. The multiplayer games support both single-card and multi-card play. Most of the minigames are the same as those featured in Super Mario 64 DS, which are no longer required to be unlocked.

New Super Mario Bros. is the first Mario platformer to be originally released outside Japan and is the first Mario game to be officially localized to Spanish for Latin America, but only on re-releases. It received a follow-up game on the Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii in 2009, and eventually, a sequel on the Nintendo 3DS, New Super Mario Bros. 2 (which is a follow-up to the Wii game) in 2012.

In 2015, the game was re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console.

Story
Mario (or Luigi) and Princess Peach are walking together around Peach's Castle, when a mysterious thundercloud appears and strikes the castle with lightning. Mario goes to investigate, but while he is there, Bowser Jr. sneaks behind a bush, kidnaps Peach and flees. Mario gives chase, and Bowser Jr. drags her behind him. While Mario is chasing Bowser Jr., they go off-screen, and Mario takes a hit, reverting into his smaller form. Bowser Jr. runs away and Mario continues to chase him. In the intro where the player keeps the title screen idle, after the part where Mario starts chasing Bowser Jr., Mario retreats from an incoming green Koopa Shell, and takes the hit off-screen. He continues to chase Bowser Jr. after jumping to hit the game's logo back into place.

In an alternate intro, Luigi walks into the scene before the green Koopa shell follows after Mario. Mario and Luigi both run from the shell simultaneously, and take the hit off-screen. Mario then jumps to fix the game's logo and runs after Bowser Jr. Luigi, who is far behind, follows after Mario in a desperate attempt to catch up to him.

The end of the first world has Bowser as its boss and after Mario or Luigi presses a switch that destroys the floor, Bowser falls into a pit of lava. Bowser's skin is burned off and he becomes a skinless, Dry Bones-like version of himself, named Dry Bowser. Later, at the game's final world, Mario or Luigi has to face this undead version of Bowser as the penultimate boss. Dry Bowser falls into a pit, but Bowser Jr. somehow finds his father's bones, and he revives him by tossing his remains into a cauldron, which results in not only Bowser resurrected, but him roughly three times in size. Mario or Luigi, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. then proceed to battle. Princess Peach is watching with fear from a platform above.

In the end, Mario or Luigi defeats Bowser and his son, sending the two into another pit and saving Peach. The platform breaks, and Peach gives Mario or Luigi a kiss, which the hero responds to with a nervous chuckle. Then they return to the castle together, and the credits roll. After the ending sequence, Bowser Jr. is shown dragging his unconscious father across the castle floor. When he notices the player watching him, he growls at the player and then continues on dragging his father.

Controls
The gameplay of New Super Mario Bros. is very much like that of the classic 2D platformers, mostly Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, and substantially builds upon them to create gameplay both classic and contemporary. One of the two control modes can be selected in the Options menu: jumping with /  and dashing with  /, or jumping with  /  and dashing with  /. Mario is controlled with the, and the Touch Screen is only required to activate the stored item, which is used similarly to stored items in Super Mario World. When Mario enters a pipe to a secret area, the top screen and the touch screen are switched, and the gameplay continues on the touch screen until Mario exits that area. During that period the stored item cannot be activated.

Moves and items
The Wall Jump makes its first appearance in a 2D game since being introduced to 3D Mario games starting with Super Mario 64. In contrast to the 3D games, Mario has to slide down a wall for a small amount of time before being able to jump. This technique lets Mario or Luigi reach new areas by bouncing off the side of any wall or vertical object, and is useful for escaping from a fall down a pit. Mario has the ability to Ground Pound by pressing down when he is in the air, allowing him to crush blocks under him. There are many new power-ups, like the Blue Shell that lets Mario travel like a kicked Koopa shell, the Mega Mushroom that makes the player grow about three to five times Mario's size (similarly to the mushroom seen in Super Mario 64 DS), and the Mini Mushroom which causes Mario to shrink to about half of Small Mario's size, allowing him to fit through tiny pipes and passages, jump higher and longer, and dash across the top of water. However, some items remain unchanged, such as the Super Mushroom, the Starman, and the Fire Flower.

As in Super Mario Bros. 3 and later games, Mario or Luigi does not power down to Small form if he is powered up with a Fire Flower or Blue Koopa Shell when he takes damage; he instead reverts to Super Mario, unlike in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World.

Levels
The game features a world map, with alternative and secret paths (like Super Mario World). Alternate paths can be unlocked with Star Coins. There are three in each level, usually adding an extra challenge for the player apart from simply reaching the flagpole. Some Star Coins are in clear sight while others are hidden in Warp Pipes, up Beanstalks, or other inconspicuous places. On the world map, signs block paths that require five Star Coins to open. After a player defeats Bowser and Bowser Jr. in Bowser's Castle, a new, mysterious Blue Toad House will appear just above World 1. It is a market, and for 20 Star Coins, the player can buy a wallpaper for the bottom screen. The fifth and final background is only available after all of the 32 Star Coin Signs have been opened. Sometimes Hammer Bros. and Flying ? Blocks appear on the map; offering items within the beginning of the level.

Mario or Luigi only has to go through 3 of the eight worlds — using the World 1 cannon to go to World 5, and World 5 cannon to World 8. After World 2, the player gets to either of World 3 or World 4, and the world following both of those is World 5. After World 5, the player can get to either World 6 or 7 in the same fashion. Mario or Luigi must defeat the World 2 or World 5 bosses in Mini Mario form to instead reach World 4 and World 7, respectively. Another secret is Challenge Mode. This means the player cannot scroll the camera to the left or downward like in Super Mario Bros. It is only available when the player has completed the game. To unlock it, the player should go to the map screen (any world) and press, then press , , , , , , ,. It will also show an arrow pointing right on the world maps and levels touch screen. This means that the player cannot turn back in all the courses (including towers), which adds the feeling of the original game even more.

It is also possible to play as Luigi in single player mode by holding down ++ when selecting a file. There are no gameplay differences between the brothers. The character does not get locked as default - players can choose a different character every time they load the game. After the final boss has been beaten, a star appears next to the Save Game function. When the player has completed all levels, there are two stars next to it. When the player collects and spends all the Star Coins in the game, there will be three stars on the save file.

Within the levels, whenever the music plays a vocal riff "bah bah" (or in the case of the underwater levels, s), some enemies and power-ups move to the beat. This includes the Overworld, Athletic, Underground, Desert, Beach and Volcano themes. Examples of enemy/object movements include Goombas hopping, Koopa Troopas turn to face the player, Spinies switch direction, power-ups hop and Cheep-Cheeps do side flips. Goombas can actually dodge a Koopa Shell with the hop. This also happens in every other game in the New Super Mario Bros. line.

If the player finishes a level with the last 2 numbers of the time limit the same except for 00, the "Course Clear" theme from Super Mario Bros. plays in place of the normal one. Fireworks also occur, appearing the amount the numbers specify (e.g. 2 blasts for x22, 7 blasts for x77). A Toad House will also appear on the first space of that specific world (unless there is one there already).

Supporting protagonists

 * Princess Peach - The damsel in distress.
 * Toadsworth - An ally who appears in Toad Houses.

Main antagonists

 * Bowser Jr. - The main antagonist.
 * Bowser/Dry Bowser - The other main antagonist alongside Bowser Jr. and the final boss.

Story Mode bosses

 * Bowser Jr. - Boss of every Tower
 * Bowser (first time) - Boss of World 1
 * Mummipokey - Boss of World 2
 * Cheepskipper - Boss of World 3
 * Mega Goomba - Boss of World 4
 * Petey Piranha - Boss of World 5
 * Monty Tank - Boss of World 6
 * Lakithunder - Boss of World 7
 * Dry Bowser - Boss of World 8
 * Bowser (final time) & Bowser Jr. - The second Boss fought in World 8 and the Final Boss

Minigame characters

 * Yoshi - Yoshi appears in some Minigames.
 * Wario - Wario also appears in some Minigames.
 * Several Toads - Toads appear in the background in some Minigames.
 * Bob-omb Buddy - Bob-omb Buddy appears in a few Minigames.
 * Bowser Jr. - Bowser Jr. appears in the two player mode.

Enemies
New enemies are marked with an asterisk (*).

Bosses
There are nine different bosses found in New Super Mario Bros., with Bowser and Bowser Jr. encountered multiple times. With the exception of Bowser, Bowser Jr. and Petey Piranha, all the other bosses in the game made their first appearance. To an even greater extent, none of them have appeared in any other games except for Dry Bowser.

Mario Vs. Luigi
In this two-player mode, Mario and Luigi compete for a number of big stars. Those stars will appear at random in the side-scrolling stages. The end of each of those stages is their beginning (the stages are looped). When Mario or Luigi are hit by enemies, fall down or hit each other, they lose a star, which can then be again collected by any of the brothers. The first brother to reach the previously set amount of stars wins the game. When a brother collects eight coins, a random power up will appear (Mushroom, Fire Flower, Blue Shell, Mini Mushroom, Mega Mushroom, Starman). When a brother has a certain amount of victories, he wins the match. The following stages can be played:


 * Grass Stage - A stage that is much like World 1-1 of the single-player game, a meadow near Peach's Castle. It also uses many elements of World 1-1 from the classic Super Mario Bros. This stage is a relatively simple stage with only Goombas (and one Koopa Troopa). This is a recommended stage for first-time Mario Vs. Luigi mode players.
 * Underground Stage - An underground stage much like World 1-2 of the single-player game, it has covered with many walls of blocks, and has several holes which may be fallen into. The stage is very short. Mario/Luigi should be very careful if they get a Mega Mushroom in this stage, as they can easily crush through the bricks that most of the course is made of.
 * Ice Stage - A slippery stage that resembles levels found in World 5. Bullet Bills are hazards in this stage. There is a spin block which can be used to access higher Big Stars as well as coins. There are Blue Koopa Troopas in this level; jumping on it will reduce it to being a Blue Shell which can be used.
 * Pipe Stage - A pipe world that resembles a level in World 7, it contains many Warp Pipes and Piranha Plants.
 * Castle Stage - The most hazardous level, resembling most castle levels in the game. It contains Bob-ombs, and moving walls which can crush a brother, among other dangers.

Minigames
In addition to the modes above, this game also features a selection of minigames. Most of the minigames featured in New Super Mario Bros. are the same as the ones from Super Mario 64 DS, but some new ones are also present. The games are not divided based on the characters that unlock them by catching rabbits, and instead are divided into several categories. This game also features the option to either play several single player minigames, or play several multiplayer minigames, in which multiple players compete against each other in a series of minigames specially designed for multiple players to earn the highest score.

Credits
If the player taps the letters as the credits roll, they will make sound effects heard throughout the game, with each letter of the alphabet making a different sound, except for letters D and E, which share the same sound (however, the letter Q doesn't appear at all during the credits). Punctuation marks also make sound effects. Tapping the background makes the sound effect of Mario jumping. If the player completed the game using Luigi, Mario's voice clips are substituted with Luigi's ones.

References to other games

 * Mario Bros. - The respawn jingle from this game plays in the Mario Vs. Luigi game when the player respawns from defeat.
 * Super Mario Bros. - There are two unlockable skins for the bottom screen that resemble something of this game; one shows a close-up of 8-bit Mario and Luigi sprites, and the other one is a secret unlockable skin and it features Mario, Luigi and some Goombas in World 1-1. The overworld Multiplayer stage is also based on World 1-1. Bowser and Dry Bowser are defeated the exact same way as in the castles in this game - by hitting the Axe/Skull Switch which makes the bridge he's standing on fall into the lava or a bottomless pit, respectively. The latter also applies to the final battle against Bowser and Bowser Jr. The color scheme of the Mega Mushroom in New Super Mario Bros. is the same as that of the Super Mushroom in this game. If the player finishes a level with the last two numbers of the time limit being the same, the "level complete" theme from this game plays in place of the normal one. A cover of this game's death theme plays when the player loses a life. The first four levels' settings of the game are very similar to those of this game: the first level takes place in a grassy field, the second takes place underground, the third takes place up high on trees/giant mushrooms, and the fourth is a tower/castle level with a boss waiting for Mario at the end. The music in the Toad Houses is a cover of this game's ground theme. Also, if the player presses, , , , , , , while in the pause menu on the map, then the player can no longer backtrack in levels, like in this game. In the minigame Danger, Bob-omb! Danger!, the background music is an arrangement of the castle theme from this game. The sound effect for when Mario or Luigi slides down the flagpole is reused, albeit reversed. Other sound effects are reused including the coin, stomp, bump, fireball, jump and warp pipe/power down sounds.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3 - One of the hazards of the Castle multiplayer stage is the moving ceiling that will crush players; this seems to be based on the moving ceilings in some of the fortresses in this game. The world themes are similar to the ones in this game. Toad Houses return. When Mario is taking on a castle boss, the music is a cover of the boss theme from this game. The Toad House theme is arranged in the minigame Bob-omb Reverse. The Spade Bonus theme is also arranged in the minigame Wanted!. Bowser Jr. fights like Boom Boom did in this game.
 * Super Mario World - The Item Stock returns from this game. A Monty Mole, which first appears in this game, appears as a boss called Monty Tank. Wigglers also appear in the game. Grinders don't appear in New Super Mario Bros., but spiked balls appear in the game, having the same function. Also, this game features Warp Pipes that can shoot the player into the air like Cannons. The jump sound effect is reused when Mario or Luigi jumps.
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - The sound effects when collecting Red Coins originates from here, including the distinct sound for the last red coin.
 * Super Mario 64 - There are several characters from this game reappearing here, such as Dorrie and Sushi. Some of the Mario Bros.' techniques, such as the Triple Jump, are also borrowed from this game. Also, a few voice clips are reused, like "It's-a me, Mario!", and "Here we go!" The theme used for Invincible Mario/Luigi is the same as the theme for Wing Mario and Vanish Mario in this game.
 * Mario Kart 64 - The artwork for the Blue Shell is edited from the artwork for the various shells from this game.
 * Super Mario Sunshine - Bowser Jr. reappears as the main antagonist in this game. The instruction booklet even says, "Didn't Bowser Jr. once think Peach was his mother?", referencing this game. When the player enters Petey Piranha's room, (for the first time, from the beginning), who first appears in this game, the cutscene that plays mirrors the beginning of his second battle in Bianco Hills. He is found sleeping peacefully only to be disturbed by something (in this case, Bowser Jr. jumping on him) and, enraged, starts to fly. During the card minigames, the music from Casino Delfino plays. Based on the background, it is very well possible that these games take place in Casino Delfino.
 * Mario Party 4 - The Mini Mushroom and Mega Mushroom return with the same function as in this game.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!! - Some character voices come from this game.
 * Super Mario 64 DS - The characters reappearing from Super Mario 64 look as they do in this game. Additionally, the Mega Mushroom grants the same effect as grabbing a Super Mushroom in this game. Most of the minigames in New Super Mario Bros. return or are edited from this game. When the Nintendo DS is closed and opened, Mario will say "It's-a me, Mario!" and "Buh-bye!". Also, New Super Mario Bros. runs on a heavily modified version of this game's engine.
 * Mario Party 6 - Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach’s artwork is reused for this game.

References in later games

 * Mario Kart Wii - The Mega Mushroom appears as an item. Also, Dry Bowser is a playable character.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl - The Mega Mushroom appears as a sticker. Plus, the New Super Mario Bros. ground theme is one of the many covered songs in this game.
 * Mario Super Sluggers - A cover of the New Super Mario Bros. castle music is used for the Bowser Castle stadium.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii - This game is an indirect follow-up to New Super Mario Bros.. Some text in New Super Mario Bros.'s instruction manual is reused in this game's instruction manual (for example, the Blunders and Game Over section).
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - The Blue Shell reappears. The Mega Mushroom also appears in one of Broque Monsieur's attacks.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games - In the Wii Version Dream Figure Skating, Bowser Castle, World 1-1, and Peach Castle appear in the Mario Medley. The World 1-1 Theme can be bought in the Music Store. During Mario World in Dream Figure Skating, three backgrounds from New Super Mario Bros. appear. They are World 1, Bowser's Castle and Peach's Castle. Also, in the Wii version of the game, the same Starman theme plays.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2 - The direct sequel to New Super Mario Bros.. Also, this game's two secret worlds, World Mushroom and World Flower, are automatically skipped, similar to World 4 and World 7.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U - A sequel to the follow-up, New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Bowser and Bowser Jr. are fought at the same time in the final level again.
 * Fortune Street - Like in Mario Super Sluggers, there is a cover version for the castle music in the stage Bowser's Castle.
 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - The lava level music is partially covered in this game.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey - Bowser Jr. was involved in the transformation of Bowser and Dry Bowser similar to in New Super Mario Bros., although the main difference is that it was in reverse (and was unintentional on Bowser Jr.'s part).

Critical reception
New Super Mario Bros. received, overall, critical acclaim, with the most praise going to it being an excellent revamp and revival of the 2D platformers, while still being a new and original game in its own right. IGN gave it a 9.5/10, saying the game "marked a brilliant return to Mario's side-scrolling environments, with elements that reintroduced the classic touch". It was also given a high rating by GameSpot, who rated it 9/10.

Sales
New Super Mario Bros. is the best-selling game of the Nintendo DS, having sold 30.80 million copies worldwide.

Super Mario-Kun adaptation
New Super Mario Bros. is featured in the Super Mario-Kun manga. Only one volume is based on New Super Mario Bros. Though it follows the story in some segments in these volumes from the game, it continues the key plot element differences, as in every volume in the Super Mario-Kun manga series.

Differences in the Super Mario-Kun manga

 * Luigi falls when he is defeated be Mario in the Mario vs Luigi segments. Mario runs to the cliff when he sees his brother about to fall, grabbing him to save him, until he is distracted by the female star.

Pre-release and unused content
In some demo versions used in kiosks during 2005, and in the E3 2005 trailer version, Mega Goombas were a generic species, rather than an individual boss. They appeared as difficult enemies, in one of the 2005 demos, as well as being a boss, similar to in the final game. A screenshot featuring of early map icons exists on page twelve of one of the final versions of the US manual. There were originally three item reserve spots rather than one. Spindrift was also supposed to be in the game, but got replaced by the blue spinning platforms in World 1-3 and other levels.

Above the Ceiling
In World 2, 3, and 5-Tower, the player must go to the top of the tower. Then, they fight Bowser Jr., and must stomp on him twice. Then, he will go his usual routine trying to jump on the player. The player must time it right so when he jumps to the highest point, they can jump on him. Also, the player must use the technique where they can jump higher off an enemy. The player has to aim towards the ceiling, and, if done correctly, Mario or Luigi should be on top of the roof. The usual animation of Bowser Jr. running away will show and the Mario or Luigi face signal turns halfway because the player can't see Mario.

Bowser Jr. Death by Falling
In World 5-Tower, the player should get to the boss, then walk to the edge while Bowser Jr. charges at the player. If done correctly, Bowser Jr. will charge off the platform. Then the screen will zoom out to show an empty area. The only way to escape is to fall off the platform. Once the player loses a life, the screen will shake and teleport them to the map.

Mega Mushroom Storing Trick
When the player finds a "wild" Mega Mushroom in a level (1-1, 1-2, 4-4 and 7-5) (not in a Toad House) they must let the Mega Mushroom run to any unbreakable Block (empty ? Block, empty Brick Block, etc.). The player must jump against the Mega Mushroom and the block in the same frame. When done right, the character will not become Mega. Instead, a Mega Mushroom will be in the player's Item Storage.

General Producer

 * Takashi Tezuka

Producer

 * Hiroyuki Kimura

Director

 * Shigeyuki Asuke

Assistant Directors

 * Masahiro Imaizumi
 * Taku Matoba

Map & Level Design

 * Masataka Takemoto
 * Yasuhisa Yamamura
 * Kosono Okina
 * Haruka Kakinuma
 * Shinya Hiratake

Trivia

 * New Super Mario Bros. is the last game in the Mario series in which the sound effect of a Warp Pipe is also the damage sound effect for Mario/Luigi. Later Mario platformers use the Super Mario World variant of the pipe sound to indicate damage, while still keeping the original Super Mario Bros. sound effect for pipes.
 * Likewise, the Coin sound in this game is very similar to the Coin sound from the 8-bit Mario games, whereas in later games in the series, the sound effect sounds closer to that of Super Mario World.
 * In previous Mario games (particularly 8-bit and 16-bit Mario games), when the player picks up a 100th Coin for a 1-Up, the 1-Up Mushroom sound cancels the Coin sound. Instead, in this game, the Coin and 1-Up Mushroom sound play together whenever obtaining a 100th coin. This feature is also present in future New Super Mario Bros. games.
 * In addition, the "bump" noise when hitting a block/wall, or a shell bouncing off is also the same as the 8-bit Mario games. In later installments, the "bump" noise is given a new one.
 * Bowser's voice effects in New Super Mario Bros. are his computerized roars and growls from the N64 era. In all follow-ups to this game, he uses his modern voice clips as provided by Kenny James.
 * The original European version of New Super Mario Bros. got a PEGI 3+ rating, however due to content regulations in Europe growing stricter over the years, the European Virtual Console re-release instead got a PEGI 12+ rating because of the gambling in the table minigames. This also applies to Super Mario 64 DS.
 * The shortest possible path the player can take is World 1-1, World 1-2, World 1-Tower, World 5-1, World 5-2, World 5-3, World 5-Ghost House, and all of World 8.