See? It's pretty easy to cook up plot devices for the series, because ANYTHING goes, as long as it's family friendly.

But what makes New Super Mario Bros such a success when they had all these spinoffs that were just okay? I wonder if the people who didn't grow up playing New Super Mario Bros, what did they think of the game? I love it based on the references, the similarities and the new features. But would a 10 year old picking the game up today like it just as much?

I'd love to see more, but I also don't want it to be just "bleh" like all the spinoffs. I never did like SMB2 :p No veggies please. I tried getting into Yoshi's island but I just wasn't really that into it. After Super Mario World, I just lost interest in all the other games.

SMW2YI was great! I'm psyched they're making a sequel while staying true to the style. Give it a second look. . .

I have heard that most younger gamers think the original Marios suck.
Little whippersnappers don't respect where all these 3D games are comin' from!

It's hard to appeal to everyone, and I can totally understand why old school gamers would love Mario and new gamers would think we're nuts if all they're used to is like 3D games that involve Pokemon. Mario was my hero growing up, now it's all about Kirby and Pikachu.

I didn't like Yoshi's Island because I hate having to keep track of Mario. I'd rather just shrink and risk getting hit and dying. Not into the chasing after the floating baby thing. :p

Anyways, I do hope they make more, and include things that let you fly and stuff. :D

If you need a strategy guide to know how to play a game, then I suggest you stop buying them and start using your own brain. It's more fun that way, and you'll save money, and perhaps become smarter!
I love it because it's just plain fun. New SMB is also a great way for new people to get into the series. I desperately want to play Super Mario Bros now!

Ok smarty pants, there once was a time when I was 12 too and had all the time in the world I could sit there for hours and explore everything. Now that I have a full time job and going to school, I just don't have all day to sit around and do everything there is to do in a game. There are games (FFXI being one) that are impossible to play without some sort of guide, even the printed guides suck so you have to go online to figure things out.

I know my post came out the wrong way because I buy guides for RPGs so I can find out everything, but how about you stop being an ass and just answer the question? Don't even talk to me about being smarter, especially coming from someone like you. Because I'm SO SURE that playing a game without a manual will raise my GPA and make me CEO.

I seriously doubt anyone needs a guide for Mario to learn how to jump. Thanks.

Something just seems wrong about what you said. I mean, aren't strategy guides for people who want to do everything there is in a game? It seems like if all you wanted to do was play a game straight through, without doing extra stuff, you could easily do this without using a strategy guide. That's just me though, I'm not trying to start an argument or anything.

There's the option to do everything there is to do, and the option of figuring out what to do. Using a guide is still faster in terms of blazing through the game because you don't waste anytime talking to NPCs :p I don't do everything there is to do in a game, but with a guide I can pick and choose what I want to do and where to go next.

My main point is, I just don't want to waste my time trying to figure out where that secret level/item is vs just reading about it. Again this is off topic since I'm not really referring to Super Mario here. To me, guides are more useful when it comes to non linear RPGs.

I don't even know how I got onto this topic, I think all I said was that manuals generally suck :p And again, I didn't even say it was Mario's manual that sucked. I've discussed the issue with game producers and there's a business reason behind them sucking but I won't even get into that.

Anyways, go back to talking about what you want to see in later Mario games.

Wasting your time? Finding everything is half the fun, using a guide would be just like a boring collect-a-thon.

Anyway I can't wait for Yoshi's Island 2, I mean it's got Baby DK. It's already GOTY.

Is it possible to save your game at a tower or castle again after you've completed one or both?

I tried, it didn't work. If you are looking to save, basically use your stars and head towards a mushroom house, that usually prompts a save.

Or...press Start and choose 'Save'? Or maybe that option is only available after you've beaten the game once...I forget. Then I fall off the chair and roll down the stairs.

I would have loved this game so much if the music was so awful.

That main overworld theme was an assault on my poor little ears.

If the music was actually, "good" then this game could have been truly great.

Except the music is awesome :(

Also, a rather nifty little secret has come to my attention. If, on the level map screen, you pause, then press (L)(R)(L)(R)(X)(X)(Y)(Y), then you unlock a rather nifty mode in which you cannot scroll backwards through the level. It's rather nifty. :)

I thought the music was wonderful. It's not your typical Mario sounds but the music is still top notch. To me, hearing the different style of music throughout each level made the game that much more enjoyable to play. Then again, I'm such a Mario fan that my opinion might be a little biased.:ashamed:

Moving the New SMB discussion from the DS thread into here...
Since when is 80 or so levels short? What more do you expect? LOL I guess I like short games then. This is no shorter than any other Mario platformer ever, I didn't hear anyone complain about them. I didn't hear any of the 40 million Super Mario Bros owners call it too short and it's like 10 times "shorter". I think it's a lame reason to knock a game, that's all. Especially the best game on DS.

Okay, but if they are 80 levels that are made to be finished in like less than five minutes each (since they are timed), the game really isn't that long. Just because there are a lot of levels doesn't mean that the game is long, which is true of the original SMB (Seriously, how long does it take you beat that game? It doesn't even have any type of save system (password or otherwise), so it obviously wasn't made to be a terribly long game.).

You seem to think that just because I'm calling the game short that I'm saying it's bad as well. But I'm not. I love the game, as I like a lot of games, no matter how long it is. Truth is though, this game was pretty short, and I don't see anybody else really disagreeing with that.

I started from the first stage, and played every stage between there and the last stage (I never used the warp cannons), and I got every star coin along the way, and this game took me way less than 10 hours to complete. That isn't a very long time to me, and since the Omnislash was asking for games that could last a while, I just mentioned that I felt that this game wasn't very long (especially for the amount of time he seemed to be needing it for).

As for calling it the best game on the DS, whatever, that's your opinion. I don't personally agree with it (it's one of the best, but not the best, especially in terms of using all of the DS functions), but that's not even what we're talking about, so I won't touch on that subject (I really don't even see why you brought it up).

I don't think it's the best game on DS. It's good, but it's short. I also found it's not as replayable as past Mario's either, which detracts a little from it.

Half the time I'm thinking of it as Elevator music.

So you guys that actually like the music, what did you think of the Underground Theme "update"?

The music isn't great, but it doesn't detract from the game at all.

Some of the music is pretty bad, but I liked the castle theme this time around.

- WraithTwo -

I actually liked the music. Sure I've heard better from the Mario franchise, but I found it fitting. Though, it definitely lacked a classic feel, which is odd for such a classic game.

OMG I finally got the game and I've only played with it a little bit so far and I'm liking it already. It's awesome how it closely resembles the classic games, complete with the same SFX! The Mega Mushroom makes it look too easy though, but I can just not use it when it comes.

I also checked out some of the mini-games, with myself and with multiplayer with my sister and they're quite fun compared to other mini-games, which normally are boring. It's good to see Monty Moles make an appearance, but hey, Where's the Koopa Kids? :(

They died a long time ago. Ran out of fucking lives! >8U

There's only a few times you'll want to use it. It's completely useless otherwise. So don't worry about that.

They became Bowser Jr.