New Super Mario Bros.

New Super Mario Bros. games, see

This article is about the 2006 Nintendo DS game. For othergames, see New Super Mario Bros. (disambiguation)

New Super Mario Bros. is a side-scrolling 2.5D action-adventure platformer game released for the Nintendo DS in 2006, 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 Mario Vs. Luigi mode, 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 since Super Mario Bros. 2. It received a follow-up game for the Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii in 2009, and eventually a sequel for the Nintendo 3DS, New Super Mario Bros. 2, in 2012.

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

Story

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Bowser Jr. about to kidnap Peach

Mario (or Luigi) and Princess Peach are walking together around Peach’s Castle, when a mysterious thundercloud appears and strikes the castle with lightning, causing Toads to flee from the castle. Mario goes near the castle to investigate, but while he is there, Bowser Jr. sneaks behind a bush, kidnaps Princess Peach, and flees, causing Mario to chase after Bowser Jr. After chasing Bowser Jr. off-screen, Mario takes a hit, reverting into his smaller form. Bowser Jr. runs away and Mario continues to chase him.

Two alternate versions of this intro can be seen if the player remains on the title screen menu for a certain amount of time. In one alternate version, after the part where Mario starts chasing Bowser Jr., Mario retreats from an incoming green Koopa Shell, and takes the hit off-screen. After jumping to hit the game’s logo back into place, he continues to chase Bowser Jr. In another alternate version, 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. Shortly after Mario runs off-screen, Luigi follows after Mario.

Bowser and Bowser Jr. in the final boss fight

Bowser waits for Mario or Luigi at the end of World 1-. Mario or Luigi defeats Bowser, causing him to fall 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, in World 8-, Mario or Luigi defeats Dry Bowser and he falls into a pit. In World 8-, Bowser Jr. tosses Dry Bowser’s remains into a cauldron, causing a resurrected and larger Bowser to break out of the cauldron. 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 Bowser Jr., sending them into another pit and saving Peach. Peach gives Mario or Luigi a kiss, which the hero responds to with a nervous chuckle. After the credits roll, Bowser Jr. is shown dragging an unconscious Bowser across the castle floor. When Bowser Jr. notices the player watching him, he yells at the player, then continues dragging Bowser.

Gameplay

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Mario, near the end of World 1-1.

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.

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. The game introduces several new power-ups to the Super Mario series: the Blue Shell which lets Mario or Luigi slide like a Koopa shell, the Mega Mushroom which makes Mario grow about three to five times his size (similarly to the mushroom seen in Super Mario 64 DS), and the Mini Mushroom which causes Mario or Luigi 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 the western release of Super Mario Bros. 3 and most 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.

A text box for the hidden Challenge mode

The game features a secret Challenge mode, wherein 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 also shows an arrow pointing right on the world maps and levels touch screen.

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 is not 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, three stars appear on the save file.

Within the levels, whenever the music plays a vocal riff (or in the case of the underwater levels, bell trees), some enemies and power-ups move to the beat. This includes the Overworld, Athletic, Underground, Desert, Beach and Volcano themes. Examples of enemy or object movements include Goombas and power-ups hopping, Koopa Troopas turning to face the player, Spinies switching direction, and Cheep-Cheeps doing 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 Mario finishes a level with the last 2 digits of the time limit the same except for 00, the “Course Clear” theme from Super Mario Bros. plays in place of the normal one. Firework explosions also occur, the amount of which varies depending on the digits (e.g. 2 explosions for x22, 7 explosions for x77 etc., where “x” represents the first digit displayed on the timer). Consequently, a Toad House appears on the first space of that specific world (unless there is one there already).

Worlds and levels

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Mario in World 1

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 pole. Some Star Coins are in clear sight while others are hidden in Warp Pipes, up vines, 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 appears 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, Mario gets to either of World 3 or World 4, and the world following both of those is World 5. After World 5, Mario 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.

The shortest possible path that Mario 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.[5]

– means the exit is obtained by defeating the Castle boss whilst in either Mario or Luigi’s Mini form, and means that the exit is obtained by using the world’s cannon.

Toad Houses

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Type of house

Image

Description

Red Toad House

Has a Roulette Block, which can give the player a power-up. The selection includes all power-ups in the game, except for the Mega Mushroom.

Green Toad House

Plays a minigame with cards. These can reward up to twelve 1-Ups, or none at all.

Orange Toad House

Gives the player a Mega Mushroom.

Blue Toad House

The Blue Toad House in the game New Super Mario Bros..

Only appears in World 1 after beating the game. The player can spend Star Coins to purchase backgrounds for the bottom screen.

The following is the number of Toad Houses, of each type, per world.

Toad House type

World 1

World 2

World 3

World 4

World 5

World 6

World 7

World 8

Total

Red Toad House

Green Toad House

Orange Toad House

Blue Toad House

N/A

Total

Characters

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Story Mode characters

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Playable characters

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Image

Name

Description

Mario

Mario retains his conventional role in the Super Mario series as the game’s main protagonist in his adventure to once again rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser and Bowser Jr. He is the default playable character in the Story Mode.

Luigi

Luigi, Mario’s brother, returns to the Super Mario series as a playable character. The method to play as Luigi is not revealed until the game’s completion, but he can be played as at any time by pressing and holding

Supporting protagonists

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Image

Name

Description

Princess Peach

The damsel in distress.

Toadsworth

An ally who appears in Toad Houses.

Allies

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Image

Name

Description

Dorrie in New Super Mario Bros.
Dorrie

A large dragon-like creature that the player can ride over poisoned water.

Giant Wiggler

A giant Wiggler made up of many segments that the player can ride over pits.

Phantom Hand

Harmless, floating hands that point to secrets.

Main antagonists

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Story Mode bosses

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Minigame characters

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Enemies and obstacles

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New enemies are marked with an asterisk (*).

Bosses

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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. Furthermore, none of them have appeared in any other games except for Dry Bowser.

Items

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Objects

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Mario Vs. Luigi

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In this two-player mode, Mario and Luigi compete for a number of big stars. Those stars appears at random in the side-scrolling stages. The stages are wrapped, so players that cross the end of each of those stages loop to the beginning. When Mario or Luigi are hit by enemies, hit each other, stomp on each other, or are defeated, they lose a star, which can then be again collected by either of the brothers. Getting ground-pounded causes a brother to lose three big stars. The first brother to reach the previously set amount of stars wins the game. However, if lives are turned on, they will lose by losing all their lives as well. When a brother collects eight coins, a random power up appears – Mushroom, Fire Flower, Blue Shell, Mini Mushroom, Starman, or Mega Mushroom (which is only given to the losing player). When a brother has a certain amount of victories, he wins the match. The following stages can be played:

Grass[6] – A stage that is much like World 1-1 of the single-player game, a meadow near Peach’s Castle. It also based off of World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. and has many elements of it. This stage is a relatively simple stage with only Goombas and one Koopa Troopa.
Bricks[6] – An underground stage much like World 1-2 of the single-player game. It has many walls of blocks and has several holes. 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 and fall through the floor.
Ice[6] – 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 is a Blue Koopa Troopa in this level; jumping on it reduces it to being a Blue Shell which can be used.
Pipes[6] – A pipe world that resembles a level in World 7, it contains many Warp Pipes and Piranha Plants.
Fortress[6] – The most hazardous level, resembling most castle levels in the game. It contains Bob-ombs and moving walls which can crush Mario and Luigi, among other dangers.

Maps

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Map of the Grass stage.
Map of the Bricks stage.
Map of the Ice stage.
Map of the Pipes stage.
Map of the Fortress stage.

Minigames

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The 1 Player minigames menu.

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.

Vs. Battle

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1 Player

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Credits

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If the player taps the letters as the credits roll, they 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 does not 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 completes the game using Luigi, Mario’s voice clips are substituted with Luigi’s ones. Photos of the levels that the player has completed and the bosses that they have faced are shown on the top screen during the credits.

Staff

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General Producer

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Producer

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Hiroyuki Kimura

Director

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Shigeyuki Asuke

Assistant Directors

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Masahiro Imaizumi
Taku Matoba

Map & Level Design

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Masataka Takemoto
Yasuhisa Yamamura
Kosono Okina
Haruka Kakinuma
Shinya Hiratake

Critical reception

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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”.[7] It was also given a high rating by GameSpot, who rated it 9/10.[8]

Reviews

Release

Reviewer, Publication

Score

Comment

Nintendo DS

Craig Harris,
IGN

9.5/10

Admittedly there aren’t as many gameplay innovations in New Super Mario Bros. as compared to previous Super Mario releases, but that’s mostly due to the fact that much of platforming’s innovations are related to 3D designs. But that said, this Nintendo DS release still proves that Nintendo still has some great ideas brewing for its plumber in his classic setting. There’s an incredible amount of fresh, fun challenge to uncover in this revival.

Nintendo DS

Tom Bramwell,
Eurogamer

9/10

Fitting, then, that Nintendo saved some of his finest moments for this diminutive game-card – which, along with the emergence of DS and Wii, some have marked as a bookend to a period of dynastic chaos. The balance could yet shift again. But New Super Mario Bros., with its faultless controls, effortless variety and deceptive simplicity, argues that while market ratios can sweep back and forth and erupt and diminish in unexpected ways, the balance of ideas can always be relied upon to settle in one place: in the welcoming arms of a friendly little company from Kyoto called Nintendo.

Nintendo DS

Corbie Dillard,
Nintendo Life

9/10

Let’s face it, 15 years is a long time to wait for a new 2-D Super Mario Bros. game, but the wait was obviously well worth it. Nintendo has managed to take everything great and fun from the previous Super Mario Bros. games, roll it all together, add a fresh coat of paint onto the whole thing and come out with one of the best platformers we’ve seen released in years, not to mention a game easily worthy of the Super Mario Bros. name. This could be the best Nintendo DS game to date, and one that should have no trouble doing what its’ predecessors did, and that’s selling a lot of Nintendo game systems.

Nintendo DS

Jeff Gerstmann,
GameSpot

9/10

With its ability to recall the older games without leaning too heavily on its famous name, New Super Mario Bros. is an essential new classic that lives up to the legacy of the series quite well. If you’re looking for a quality DS game, look no further.

Aggregators

Compiler

Platform / Score

Metacritic

GameRankings

89.07%

Sales

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

Super Mario-Kun adaptation

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Mario trying to save Luigi from falling from the cliff before his distraction

New Super Mario Bros. is featured in the Super Mario-Kun manga. Only one volume is based on the game. 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

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Luigi falls when he is defeated by 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 a female star.

Pre-release and unused content

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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.[9]

Glitches

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Above the Ceiling

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In World 2, 3, and 5-Tower, Mario must go to the top of the tower. Then, they fight Bowser Jr., and must stomp on him twice. Then, he goes through his usual routine trying to jump on Mario. Mario must time it right so when he jumps to the highest point, they can jump on him. Also, Mario must use the technique where they can jump higher off an enemy. He 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 shows and the Mario or Luigi face signal turns halfway because the player cannot see Mario.

Bowser Jr. Death by Falling

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In World 5-Tower, Mario should get to the boss, then walk to the edge while Bowser Jr. charges at him. If done correctly, Bowser Jr. charges off the platform. Then the screen zooms out to show an empty area. The only way to escape is to fall off the platform. Once Mario loses a life, the screen shakes and teleport them to the map.

Mega Mushroom Storing Trick

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When Mario 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, etc.). He must jump against the Mega Mushroom and the block in the same frame. When done right, the character does not become Mega. Instead, a Mega Mushroom is put as Mario’s Stored Item.[10]

Gallery

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For this subject’s image gallery, see Gallery:New Super Mario Bros.

Media

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For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of New Super Mario Bros. media.

Dead Theme – The music that plays when Mario loses a life or runs out of time.File infoMedia:New Super Mario Bros – Dead.oga
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Differences from previous Mario games

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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 the previous Mario games (particularly 8-bit and 16-bit Mario games), when Mario 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.

References to other games

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References in later games

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Names in other languages

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Language

Name

Meaning

Japanese

New

スーパーマリオブラザーズ
Nyū Sūpā Mario Burazāzu
New Super Mario Bros.

Chinese (Simplified)
New 超级马力欧兄弟
New Chāojí Mǎlì’ōu Xiōngdì
New Super Mario Brothers

Chinese (Traditional)
新超級瑪利歐兄弟[11] (Taiwanese Nintendo DS detail site)
Xīn Chāojí Mǎlì’ōu Xiōngdì
New 超級瑪利歐兄弟[12] (Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary site)
New Chāojí Mǎlì’ōu Xiōngdì
New Super Mario Brothers

French
New Super Mario Bros
New Super Mario Bros

Korean
뉴 슈퍼 마리오브라더스
Nyu Syupeo Mario Beuradeoseu
New Super Mario Bros.

References

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New Super Mario Bros. coverage on other

coverage on other NIWA wikis:

StrategyWiki