A few months ago, Nintendo launched it's first 2-D Mario Platformer in 10 years. New Super Mario Bros has been a huge hit for the company. It's currently sitting high up on the top games sold list. While critical reaction has been mostly positive, there has been a small amount of backlash floating around messageboards. Some people believe The New Super Mario Bros is a huge letdown. I've heard a bunch of complaints to name a few, power-ups, challenge, level design, and length have all been questioned. Apparently, Nintendo will never top Super Mario Bros. 3, the so-called "Holy Grail" of platformers. So I decided to go back and play the King of all platformers to give it a fair shake. Has Nintendo really released an average platformer, or is gamer's nostalgia hindering the ability to criticize logically? I've decided to attack each complaint.
Power-Ups - This one is easy, Super Mario Bros 3 had a huge amount of power-ups. Let's look at the breakdown
Mario 3 - Mushroom, Flower, Racoon Tail, Tanooki Suit, Frog Suit, Hammer Bros Suit, that weird shoe, P-wing, and some other map items
NSMB - Mushroom, Flower, Mega Mushroom, Mini Mushroom, Turtle.
The key to this arguement is actual execution, while Mario 3 had a huge amount of suits, it was very rare that you ever needed them or were you given them. The ability to fly gave Mario 3 a whole new level of platforming, something NSMB lacks. NSMB Mega Mushroom and Mini Mushroom worked on the same level, but actually served more of a purpose, a lot of secrets coudln't be unlocked without them. The Turtle shell was useless. So even though their were a lot more, maybe their were too many?
Mario 3 - 9 / NSMB - 8
Winner: Mario 3
Challenge - Is NSMB really that easy?
There are a lot of people that claim NSMB is way too easy. While I wouldn't say the game is easy, I would say it's easier then some of its older siblings. Mario 3's last few worlds are TOUGH. Luckily there are still plenty of ways to collect 1-ups to help you through. NSMB only reaches frustration a few times, and mostly just for coin collecting, and the 1-ups flow like wine. When I recently finished Mario 3, I had 30 lives in reserve. I had 75 lives by the time I finished NSMB.
Mario 3 - 9 / NSMB - 7
Winner: Mario 3
Level Design - What game has better levels?
I've heard more then a few complaints that the level design in NSMB is lazy, or lacks creativity. Well these people must have forgotten about most of Mario 3's levels. Frankly speaking alot of Mario 3's levels are pretty straight forward. Every once and awhile you will come up with something pretty genius, but mostly levels begin and end pretty quickly without much to do but run forward. NSMB has about a hundred ideas spread out through each of it's worlds. The variety may not be on the same level as Mario World, but in most cases it's right on par. Despite what nostalgia tells us, NSMB has a much more vaired level design. The same goes for the boss battles, which repeat over and over in Mario 3. Much more then NSMB.
Mario 3 - 7 / NSMB - 9
Winner: NSMB
Length - Is NSMB really that short?
No, NSMB isn't that short, in fact it's pretty average for a Mario platformer. It actually has more levels then Mario 3. The level's length are about the same as well. If anything Mario 3 feels longer due to the difficulty. Some levels may take most gamers a lot more practice extending gamplay. Another obvious advantage to Mario 3 is it's lack of save feature. You would pretty much have to finish the game within one sitting due to the lack of save. The re-releases over the years have given players a save option which makes things much easier. NSMB has an advantage when it comes to level replay. In order to collect everything you may need to play a level multiple times, in Mario 3 this option is not available. At least not on the original.
Mario 3 - 8 / NSMB - 8
Winner: TIE
In Conclusion:
Mario 3 - 9 9 7 8 = 33
NSMB - 8 7 9 8 = 32
So is Mario 3 really the better game. Yes, but not by much, and in no way should NSMB be considered a disappointment. In the long run it seems gamer nostalgia is really to blame. Anyone with a DS should own NSMB, it's a classic worthy of the Mario name.
Overall (not an average)
NSMB - 9.0
Mario 3 - 10.0 (minus nostalgia - 9.5)