If one thing was guaranteed to get me excited when I was younger it was playing Super Mario Brothers on my NES and Super Nintendo. My two younger brothers and I were addicted to the classic side-scrolling platformers; from Mario Brothers 1-3 on the NES, to the mighty Super Mario World on the SNES. Super Mario Land and Wario World on the Gameboy were also great games that ate up days of leisure time.
Of course, Mario went 3-dimensional with the release of Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64. I never bought the console, having been converted to Sony's Playstation, so never played the game myself. But it seemed to me there was just something fundamentally wrong with Mario in 3D worlds. It was as if Nintendo were just showing off the 3D capabilities of the N64, without realizing that the Mario formula was fine as it was.
My gaming habits waned in the late-90s, but I bought a Playstation 2 with a hope to reinvigorate my gaming life. It wasn't to be. I don’t think there was a single PS2 game that could eclipse the memories of the NES/SNES days. Maybe I was just getting older, but even adult titles like Resident Evil never gave me the sense of fun I associate with video-games…
Then, a year ago, I saw a friend playing Mario Kart Double Dash on their Gamecube and realized there had been a Mario-shaped hole in my life for ten years! A huge wave of nostalgia kicked hit me like a tsunami and I bought myself a Gamecube off Ebay – purely to play Mario Kart DD! I was very impressed with how the game-play hadn't been sacrificed for snazzy graphics. However, I was massively disappointed with Super Mario Sunshine; those sprawling 3D worlds were still too slow and difficult to explore, therefore losing the adrenaline rush and simple fun of retro Mario.
So is this leading anywhere, I hear you cry? Yes, it certainly is! You see, it seems Nintendo now share my nostalgia for old-school Mario, as they are about to release New Super Mario Bros for the handheld Nintendo DS! That's right, a brand new side-scrolling Mario platform game with new levels, baddies and power-ups! This is pure gaming nirvana! The levels are all basically 2D, but with 3D characters and stacks of new moves to master. The graphics are what you'd expect if the N64 ever did a 2D Mario game instead of 3D, so the quality is great for a handheld device.
You can check out some fantastic Flash clips of the game here. I think you'll share my enthusiasm after viewing! Check out the giant Super Mario stomp those pipes! Of course, the only downside is that I don't own a Nintendo DS.
Mind you, I didn’t own a Gamecube until my second wave of Mario Kart mania hit me, so I wonder if Ebay has any going cheap…
