New Super Mario Bros. Impressions
Holy ****ing s*** is this game awesome. I didn't know how much I missed a traditional 2D Mario game (models are in 3D, but the game plays form a 2D perspective). So far, Nintendo seemed to have put minor elements from most Mario games and threw them all in this game. For example, you can climb and hit fences like in Mario World. A lot of Mario 64 stuff has been thrown in the mix as well--and it works like magic. You can triple jump if you are running fast enough, you can butt slam, and you can WALL KICK! I already avoided dumb ass pit deaths because of this! Take THAT old Mario games robbing me of my precious lives! I can wall kick now! Some new moves are the ability swing across vines. You can even slide along cliff edges or hang off of them!
Like the original Mario, the two main power-ups are the normal Mario mushroom and the fire flower. However, I have come across a couple of interesting new powers. There is a mushroom that makes you as big as the screen practically (Mega Mario), and you can literally crush everything in your path. There is a mushroom that makes you very tiny (Mini Mario), but you can float jump and get into hidden areas because of that. There is also a blue shell power-up. While you dash, you can have Mario go inside the blue shell and slide around to your hearts content!
The good old world map is back (think Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World). To open pathways to some of the power-up houses (one that lets you win lives and the other gives you a chance at a normal or special power-up), you have to spend five big coins that you can find in every level (three coins to find per level).
How is the touch screen used? Well, there is an indicator that tells you how far along you are in each level. Also, much like Super Mario World, you can have power-up on reserve in case you get into a jam (if you win a special power-up like a Mega Mushroom, it will stay there untill you use it instead of it being overtaken if you touch a fire flower). I am sure the mini games (little more on that later) will use it more.
Like in Mario 64 DS, there are mini games to play. I haven't checked them out yet, but if they are half as fun as the ones in M64DS, then I will be happy. You can also play against a friend (who would be controlling Luigi) in specifially designed levels. Also, haven't had a chance to check that out yet.
Overall, this is an excellent game. I can see this easily becoming one of my favorite DS games!
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