_New Super Mario Bros DS (NDS)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-7 Control-8 Challenge-4.5/5.5*
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-6 Fun-7 Originality-4
Overall Score-7
*100% completion
+ New forms (mini, giant, blue shell), hidden collectables, alternate paths, run on water (see Sonic 3), wall jump, save after castles and before mushroom houses, keep 1 item for later (SMW), constant blue shell adds a new type of challenge to the game, decent variation, new elements are often unique to one level (volcano debris, spiders, moving block ride), red coin trail (gain random item), challenge rooms
+/- You have to beat the bosses of worlds 2 and 5 while in mini-Mario form to get to worlds 4 and 7 respectively, no Yoshi or tail/cape/shoe/frog suit (meaning there is no flight except for clouds and the occasional hovering via 'screw platforms'), no 2-player coop?, need to store mini-rushroom for some occasions (unlocking w4 and w7, getting some star coins), coin tolls (alternate paths and mushroom houses), no spinning jump, butt stomping blocks can lead to not reaching bonus areas (vines will grow downwards instead), wall jumping could be better (can't scale one wall, Mario automatically shoots out quite far from the wall before you regain control),
- Rehashes a lot (power ups, music, graphics, enemies, physics), generic presentation (plastic, mushroom houses with no dialogue, simplified hub world), some hit detection problems (mini-form, actual bugs (baby bowser), too forgiving overall), get showered with 1-ups, giant mario seems pointless (no challenge and you need to backtrack for star coins), some trial & error (red coins and p-block generated coins during autoscrolling levels, mechanics, some challenge rooms, some traps, can't jump on bowsers head), l and r buttons used to look left/right but not up/down which would've been more useful, uneven length on some levels, mostly pathetic bosses, only 2 control config options, no difficulty options, some control issues (mario takes a few steps before stopping when releasing d-pad, clunky blue shell controls, floaty controls and no jump height control in mini-form), some points of no return (to get star coins), Mario makes too much noise (can't turn off his voice)
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-6 Fun-7 Originality-4
Overall Score-7
*100% completion
+ New forms (mini, giant, blue shell), hidden collectables, alternate paths, run on water (see Sonic 3), wall jump, save after castles and before mushroom houses, keep 1 item for later (SMW), constant blue shell adds a new type of challenge to the game, decent variation, new elements are often unique to one level (volcano debris, spiders, moving block ride), red coin trail (gain random item), challenge rooms
+/- You have to beat the bosses of worlds 2 and 5 while in mini-Mario form to get to worlds 4 and 7 respectively, no Yoshi or tail/cape/shoe/frog suit (meaning there is no flight except for clouds and the occasional hovering via 'screw platforms'), no 2-player coop?, need to store mini-rushroom for some occasions (unlocking w4 and w7, getting some star coins), coin tolls (alternate paths and mushroom houses), no spinning jump, butt stomping blocks can lead to not reaching bonus areas (vines will grow downwards instead), wall jumping could be better (can't scale one wall, Mario automatically shoots out quite far from the wall before you regain control),
- Rehashes a lot (power ups, music, graphics, enemies, physics), generic presentation (plastic, mushroom houses with no dialogue, simplified hub world), some hit detection problems (mini-form, actual bugs (baby bowser), too forgiving overall), get showered with 1-ups, giant mario seems pointless (no challenge and you need to backtrack for star coins), some trial & error (red coins and p-block generated coins during autoscrolling levels, mechanics, some challenge rooms, some traps, can't jump on bowsers head), l and r buttons used to look left/right but not up/down which would've been more useful, uneven length on some levels, mostly pathetic bosses, only 2 control config options, no difficulty options, some control issues (mario takes a few steps before stopping when releasing d-pad, clunky blue shell controls, floaty controls and no jump height control in mini-form), some points of no return (to get star coins), Mario makes too much noise (can't turn off his voice)