Originally Posted by ArrowHead

Super Mario World's "Rainbow Road" was fun.

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

The Star Road was bloody hard back when it was on the SNES. It could be just me, but I thought the Star Road on the GBA version was much easier. However, I didn't like the changes that occured after completing it though. I'd rather see normal enemies than Koopas with Mario masks and such.

Originally Posted by Scottie Wolfe

Well, this game is eagerly awaited by many it seems. I work at EB Games and I've got a whole bunch of pre-orders on the title. So it's good to see that Mario still has some devoted fans out there.

Here's hoping they don't stop with the 2D!

Originally Posted by nazpyro

This game needs to have the Koopa Kids, and then it will be God... or greater... or at least greater than Pipe World... and Giant World... combined.

Originally Posted by Darkcomet72

I liked Yoshi's Island :(

Originally Posted by NovaX

You may be in luck. :)

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

It looks like they're turning Bowser into a funny villain and not a funny/evil villain. I miss the old Bowser.

Originally Posted by Malmer

It will be a hard year on the gaming-wallet...

Originally Posted by soniclover

No, he is a funny/evil villain. But actually, how do you know if he didn't act this way in previous Mario games. There never was a time when you got to see Bowser outside of when you were beating him up. He could have always been this way >_>

Originally Posted by www.nintendo-europe.com interview

- So what about his latest project, New Super Mario Bros.? Why did he decide to bring back Mario in the classic side-scrolling style?

“We are always challenging ourselves to make something really new and this new Super Mario Bros. game is going to be very important. Nintendo DS has been hugely successful, especially in Japan, and we owe a big part of the success to a software line-up called ‘Touch Generations’. People who have never played videogames before are purchasing Nintendo DS as their very first game machine.

“When we launch New Super Mario Bros. for DS this could be the very first videogame these people play. Of course we already have Super Mario 64 DS but it is a more advanced version of Mario. With New Super Mario Bros. we are going back to the basics. It’s going to be simple enough to control but yet have sophisticated enough content. We have been working hard to make the best Super Mario game we can.”

- We’re intrigued. Can he reveal what the game’s story will be, for instance?

“That’s rather interesting because a number of our staff members came up with a number of different stories,” says Miyamoto, smiling. “I told them that we really don’t need any story behind this new Super Mario Bros. at all. I have narrowed down the whole story to about half of what my team originally came up with. Peach is kidnapped, Mario has to go and rescue her from Bowser and the Koopa Kids. That’s about all you need to know for the story!” he laughs. “But what you really need to know is that in the quest you are going to encounter some unprecedented play ideas.”

- 'Can you give us some examples of these ideas?' we ask.

“Well, we have drawn everything from 3D graphics,” explains Miyamoto “so that from time to time you are going to encounter something really astonishing visually but as far as the gameplay and control is concerned, that is going to be very simple.

“When it comes to Mario, sometimes you may be able to do an ultra super jump and you are going to see a very unique and unprecedented jumping style. In terms of Super Mario, everybody already expects him to become bigger but this time, with the help of a Super Giant Mushroom, Super Mario can become gigantic, taking up almost all the screen, and he can destroy everything.”

- ‘And Mario can also become very small, by using another type of mushroom, right?’ we add.

“Right,” says Miyamoto “and that’s not all. For example, two players can play as Mario and Luigi at the same time, in the multiplayer mode. Sometimes you have to compete with each other to reach the goal, and sometimes they can fight against each other. You remember the game Mario Bros.? In that, Mario and Luigi could sometimes cooperate, sometimes compete. I think it’s more fun to have two players play simultaneously in this New Super Mario Bros.

“And you remember in Super Mario 64 DS we incorporated a number of minigames? Each of these minigames is going to be available in New Super Mario Bros. In each minigame both Mario and Luigi can compete against each other. Some you can play in two-player or four-player mode with one cartridge.”

- Sounds great! But hang on, didn’t Miyamoto mention Koopa Kids a second ago? We haven’t heard from them in a while. We inquire if the new game has the same kind of ‘Level, World, Fortress, Boss’ structure as in Super Mario Bros. 3.

“Unfortunately I am not in a position to tell you anything further, sorry, but basically yes you are right!” says Miyamoto, chuckling.

- OK, consider our appetites whetted! So New Mario Bros. is a classic style game, therefore, we want to know, are there going to be classic style cheats, like warp pipes and the old ‘walking along the top of the screen’ trick?

“Well, there will be many people who play New Super Mario Bros. that have never played a Mario Bros. game before," he tells us. "But at the same time we want to evoke a kind of nostalgic feeling in those people who used to play with the past series, so we are now trying to incorporate as many old tricks and tweaks as possible into this new DS version.”