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Six years later, the DS original still feels fresh, thanks to its sequels.
I think it's safe to say it now – New Super Mario Bros. is officially "Old." It's been over six years now since Nintendo released its revival of 2D Mario side-scrolling on the original DS, and even then we all laughed at the choice of name – "New" Super Mario Bros. wouldn't stay that way forever, destined to have its meaning depleted by the passage of time in the same way that New Mexico, New Jersey and New York are all now ill-described by that same adjective. It seemed like a bad bit of branding on Nintendo's part. A certain mistake.
And yet New Super Mario Bros. still feels "New." Chronologically the original game is aging, yes. But what we once saw as a singular homage to days gone by has, instead, become the template for an entirely new series of "New" sequels. It's living on and refreshing itself over and over again – once on Wii already, and twice again on the 3DS and Wii U later this year.
The Nostalgia
So let's break down the oldest New Super Mario Bros. into its distinct design components, to better illustrate how Nintendo has tapped into it as a template that New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U have more recently revisited. First up, the sheer nostalgia factor of bringing back side-scrolling Mario.
It's hard to remember now since its imagery has become the standard Mario look ever since, but the rendered artwork of 2006's NSMB brought the whole Mushroom Kingdom world into the modern era with a fresh, consistent style. Some characters we'd seen frequently over the years, but other classic enemies like the Hammer Bros. hadn't been prominent in ages. Seeing foes like that again – along with the gameplay's simplicity of running to the right grabbing coins, breaking bricks and jumping on a flagpole at the end of each stage – was powerfully nostalgic and formed the foundation of the first game's appeal.
But in hindsight, Nintendo was wisely judicious about how much nostalgia went into the 2006 release. Different old-school callbacks have stepped up for each sequel since, filling in this same position in the New Super Mario Bros. template. New Super Mario Bros. Wii brought back the Koopalings and Yoshi-riding. New Super Mario Bros. 2 has Raccoon Mario as its appeal to yesteryear. And New Super Mario Bros. U will reference Super Mario World, both in environment design and the return of Baby Yoshis. These elements are all carefully doled out to each sequel – no one game has them all. Nintendo knows that just a little nostalgia can go a long way.
The Power-Ups
Another way that 2006's New Super Mario Bros. has set the standard for its later sequels is in its array of available power-up items. It began by bringing back the basic, normal set of three – the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower and the Starman – but then innovated with three new additions to bring the "New." The Mega Mushroom expanded Mario into a giant, standing as tall as half the screen and mowing down everything in his path just by walking. The Mini Mushroom took him the opposite direction, decreasing his dimensions to make him more diminutive than ever – which allowed him to fit into tiny pipes and float through the air with light, airy jumps. And finally, the Blue Shell. The bane of Mario Kart players became a wearable costume for our hero in 2006, albeit without spikes or wings, allowing him to spin along the ground and break through bricks just like all those other shells he'd kicked over the years.
Each of the three New Super sequels has followed this same formula. They all start with the same basics – Mushroom, Flower, Star – then establish their own power-up identities with new additions. New Super Mario Bros. Wii brought us the Ice Flower, the Penguin Suit and the Propeller Suit. New Super Mario Bros. 2 will give us Gold Mario with an incredibly powerful Gold Flower, capable of making enemies explode into coins. New Super Mario Bros. U boasts the Flying Squirrel Suit, and could very well have another surprise or two in store as well – we'll find out more about that one as its release date draws closer.
The Multiplayer
Next up, the multiplayer part of the equation. It's not often regarded as a selling point of the 2006 game, but multiplayer was included there – you could connect two DS systems wirelessly and have one Mario player and one Luigi player go head-to-head against one another in a set of Versus courses. It was the first time simultaneous control of the Mario brothers had been offered in any of the series' games, making it an important milestone to remember.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii, of course, is the game that made the feature much more prominent. It took that tagged-on part of the original template and promoted it to being the centerpiece of its design, expanding the capacity to support four simultaneous players and letting them all experience the entire main campaign together – not just a set of set-aside challenge stages.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 will keep the multiplayer action going by making its own main campaign playable by two players at the same time, and New Super Mario Bros. U will bring back four-way play and add Mii support to the mix to put its own stamp on the mode. No doubt you've enjoyed NSMB multiplayer yourself, and you're probably looking forward to doing it again – and it all traces back to 2006.
The Star Coins
When New Super Mario Bros. arrived as an actual, original Mario side-scrolling sequel six years ago, it was in the wake of years and years of re-releases – the Super Mario Advance series had revisited nearly all the previous games throughout the Game Boy Advance era with slightly remixed editions. One idea that 2006's NSMB resurrected from that era was hunting for special, rare, hidden coins in each level. They were Yoshi Coins on the Game Boy. On the DS, they became the Star Coins.
Three giant, special Star Coins were hidden in each level of New Super Mario Bros., and seeking them out became a new secondary goal to pursue beyond the normal goal of simply reaching the end of each stage alive. If you could find them and claim them – which usually involved discovering a secret area or expertly executing a tough series of jumps – you could then use them as currency to open up new paths on the overworld map and buy wallpapers to display on the DS touch screen.
Once again, the more recent New Super sequels have taken this same element and run with it, each one approaching it in a different way. While the DS game demanded single-player skill to score the collectibles, the Wii game promoted teamwork with other players to reach their out-of-the-way locations. The 3DS sequel gets a little subversive, since its extreme focus on collecting normal coins can often make you miss the chance to grab the rarer versions. And the Wii U game? Its social connectivity with the Miiverse should make it easier than ever to track down the most elusive Star Coins, as if you're having trouble finding one you can always just ask your Friends List.
he Hardware Showcase
Lastly, we'll point out that a final important element of 2006's design was its emphasis on bringing out the best of its hardware platform. New Super Mario Bros. celebrated the fact that it was on the DS, doing such subtle things as having Mario move from the top screen to the bottom screen when he went down a pipe into an underground area and using the touch screen as a quick, tappable extra input to activate power-up items being held in reserve. It even had a progress meter to show you how far you'd made it through the current level – useful info if the countdown timer's running out and you're still only halfway to the flagpole.
Each subsequent sequel has similarly leveraged the specific strengths of its particular platform, and it's been such a point of emphasis that – like Mario Kart – each system seems to only be getting one installment of this series before it migrates to the next piece of hardware. The Wii game used four controllers, as we've said, but also tossed a bit of motion into the mix by mapping actions like the Propeller Suit's spins to be activated by quick shakes of the Wii Remote. Next month's 3DS sequel will display its levels in 3D, of course, but will also take advantage of StreetPass to create tension with your friends through Coin Rush high score sharing. And over on Wii U, that new GamePad will let you keep playing on the screen in your hands if your mom, your roommate, your spouse or a stranger off the street wanders into your living room and wants to watch the TV.
This same focus on promoting each platform has made the series' release schedule pretty consistent too – which means, after this year, we can probably expect a break from more New Super sequels until either the 3DS or Wii U is replaced by another successor.
Taken as a standalone title, New Super Mario Bros.' name will seem even sillier as more years go by. It's not new. It's old, and getting older. But Nintendo's done something unexpected with that 2006 DS game – they've kept it feeling new through the arrival of new sequels. At the time, six years ago, we thought it was a one-shot series revival. But, instead, it became the beginning of an all-new era for old-school Mario side-scrolling.
So I guess, in the end, that "New" name wasn't so bad an idea after all.
I think it's safe to say it now – New Super Mario Bros. is officially "Old." It's been over six years now since Nintendo released its revival of 2D Mario side-scrolling on the original DS, and even then we all laughed at the choice of name – "New" Super Mario Bros. wouldn't stay that way forever, destined to have its meaning depleted by the passage of time in the same way that New Mexico, New Jersey and New York are all now ill-described by that same adjective. It seemed like a bad bit of branding on Nintendo's part. A certain mistake.
And yet New Super Mario Bros. still feels "New." Chronologically the original game is aging, yes. But what we once saw as a singular homage to days gone by has, instead, become the template for an entirely new series of "New" sequels. It's living on and refreshing itself over and over again – once on Wii already, and twice again on the 3DS and Wii U later this year.
The Nostalgia
So let's break down the oldest New Super Mario Bros. into its distinct design components, to better illustrate how Nintendo has tapped into it as a template that New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and New Super Mario Bros. U have more recently revisited. First up, the sheer nostalgia factor of bringing back side-scrolling Mario.
It's hard to remember now since its imagery has become the standard Mario look ever since, but the rendered artwork of 2006's NSMB brought the whole Mushroom Kingdom world into the modern era with a fresh, consistent style. Some characters we'd seen frequently over the years, but other classic enemies like the Hammer Bros. hadn't been prominent in ages. Seeing foes like that again – along with the gameplay's simplicity of running to the right grabbing coins, breaking bricks and jumping on a flagpole at the end of each stage – was powerfully nostalgic and formed the foundation of the first game's appeal.
But in hindsight, Nintendo was wisely judicious about how much nostalgia went into the 2006 release. Different old-school callbacks have stepped up for each sequel since, filling in this same position in the New Super Mario Bros. template. New Super Mario Bros. Wii brought back the Koopalings and Yoshi-riding. New Super Mario Bros. 2 has Raccoon Mario as its appeal to yesteryear. And New Super Mario Bros. U will reference Super Mario World, both in environment design and the return of Baby Yoshis. These elements are all carefully doled out to each sequel – no one game has them all. Nintendo knows that just a little nostalgia can go a long way.
The Power-Ups
Another way that 2006's New Super Mario Bros. has set the standard for its later sequels is in its array of available power-up items. It began by bringing back the basic, normal set of three – the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower and the Starman – but then innovated with three new additions to bring the "New." The Mega Mushroom expanded Mario into a giant, standing as tall as half the screen and mowing down everything in his path just by walking. The Mini Mushroom took him the opposite direction, decreasing his dimensions to make him more diminutive than ever – which allowed him to fit into tiny pipes and float through the air with light, airy jumps. And finally, the Blue Shell. The bane of Mario Kart players became a wearable costume for our hero in 2006, albeit without spikes or wings, allowing him to spin along the ground and break through bricks just like all those other shells he'd kicked over the years.
Each of the three New Super sequels has followed this same formula. They all start with the same basics – Mushroom, Flower, Star – then establish their own power-up identities with new additions. New Super Mario Bros. Wii brought us the Ice Flower, the Penguin Suit and the Propeller Suit. New Super Mario Bros. 2 will give us Gold Mario with an incredibly powerful Gold Flower, capable of making enemies explode into coins. New Super Mario Bros. U boasts the Flying Squirrel Suit, and could very well have another surprise or two in store as well – we'll find out more about that one as its release date draws closer.
The Multiplayer
Next up, the multiplayer part of the equation. It's not often regarded as a selling point of the 2006 game, but multiplayer was included there – you could connect two DS systems wirelessly and have one Mario player and one Luigi player go head-to-head against one another in a set of Versus courses. It was the first time simultaneous control of the Mario brothers had been offered in any of the series' games, making it an important milestone to remember.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii, of course, is the game that made the feature much more prominent. It took that tagged-on part of the original template and promoted it to being the centerpiece of its design, expanding the capacity to support four simultaneous players and letting them all experience the entire main campaign together – not just a set of set-aside challenge stages.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 will keep the multiplayer action going by making its own main campaign playable by two players at the same time, and New Super Mario Bros. U will bring back four-way play and add Mii support to the mix to put its own stamp on the mode. No doubt you've enjoyed NSMB multiplayer yourself, and you're probably looking forward to doing it again – and it all traces back to 2006.
The Star Coins
When New Super Mario Bros. arrived as an actual, original Mario side-scrolling sequel six years ago, it was in the wake of years and years of re-releases – the Super Mario Advance series had revisited nearly all the previous games throughout the Game Boy Advance era with slightly remixed editions. One idea that 2006's NSMB resurrected from that era was hunting for special, rare, hidden coins in each level. They were Yoshi Coins on the Game Boy. On the DS, they became the Star Coins.
Three giant, special Star Coins were hidden in each level of New Super Mario Bros., and seeking them out became a new secondary goal to pursue beyond the normal goal of simply reaching the end of each stage alive. If you could find them and claim them – which usually involved discovering a secret area or expertly executing a tough series of jumps – you could then use them as currency to open up new paths on the overworld map and buy wallpapers to display on the DS touch screen.
Once again, the more recent New Super sequels have taken this same element and run with it, each one approaching it in a different way. While the DS game demanded single-player skill to score the collectibles, the Wii game promoted teamwork with other players to reach their out-of-the-way locations. The 3DS sequel gets a little subversive, since its extreme focus on collecting normal coins can often make you miss the chance to grab the rarer versions. And the Wii U game? Its social connectivity with the Miiverse should make it easier than ever to track down the most elusive Star Coins, as if you're having trouble finding one you can always just ask your Friends List.
he Hardware Showcase
Lastly, we'll point out that a final important element of 2006's design was its emphasis on bringing out the best of its hardware platform. New Super Mario Bros. celebrated the fact that it was on the DS, doing such subtle things as having Mario move from the top screen to the bottom screen when he went down a pipe into an underground area and using the touch screen as a quick, tappable extra input to activate power-up items being held in reserve. It even had a progress meter to show you how far you'd made it through the current level – useful info if the countdown timer's running out and you're still only halfway to the flagpole.
Each subsequent sequel has similarly leveraged the specific strengths of its particular platform, and it's been such a point of emphasis that – like Mario Kart – each system seems to only be getting one installment of this series before it migrates to the next piece of hardware. The Wii game used four controllers, as we've said, but also tossed a bit of motion into the mix by mapping actions like the Propeller Suit's spins to be activated by quick shakes of the Wii Remote. Next month's 3DS sequel will display its levels in 3D, of course, but will also take advantage of StreetPass to create tension with your friends through Coin Rush high score sharing. And over on Wii U, that new GamePad will let you keep playing on the screen in your hands if your mom, your roommate, your spouse or a stranger off the street wanders into your living room and wants to watch the TV.
This same focus on promoting each platform has made the series' release schedule pretty consistent too – which means, after this year, we can probably expect a break from more New Super sequels until either the 3DS or Wii U is replaced by another successor.
Taken as a standalone title, New Super Mario Bros.' name will seem even sillier as more years go by. It's not new. It's old, and getting older. But Nintendo's done something unexpected with that 2006 DS game – they've kept it feeling new through the arrival of new sequels. At the time, six years ago, we thought it was a one-shot series revival. But, instead, it became the beginning of an all-new era for old-school Mario side-scrolling.
So I guess, in the end, that "New" name wasn't so bad an idea after all.
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