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Discussion What were your thoughts on the "New Super Mario Bros" Series?

lemonfresh

lemonfresh

#Team2024
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So i remember played the og on my ds as a kid all the time and getting the wii one for Christmas and thinking it was just alright. Played the one on 3ds and thought it was mediocre and I played the wii u one at a friends house for a bit and thought it was just the same. Honestly one of the reasons my hype for mario wonder is tepid is because of my experience with the new series and my reactions to the games was that they were ok to mediocre. Unless nintendo really upped their game with the new one. The new direct got me more interested but we will see. Anyways what were your experiences with the "new" series?
 
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I only ever played/owned NSMBU, but I enjoyed it.

Edit: I would like to pick up the Deluxe version for Switch at some point and play Super Luigi U as well.
 
They are quite honestly very good games, getting in fact progressively better with each entry (with the last one containing some of the finest course designs in the history of the franchise). The music is my main issue with the games. Yes, it has highs, but it can be quite generic as well.

The most unique one is the very first one on the Nintendo DS.
 
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They are solid games, online discourse tends to rag on them because the art style was reused across 4 titles over 4 systems with a lot of the same tilesets/themes reused. Wonder at least has learned that lesson well even if it’s a mechanical evolution of the series.

Also NSMB 2 on 3DS is criminally underrated.

Also also, don’t play these games in co-op if you value your relationships. They really don’t work unless everyone is at about the same skill level or familiarity with Mario games.
 
shoptroll said:
Also also, don’t play these games in co-op if you value your relationships. They really don’t work unless everyone is at about the same skill level or familiarity with Mario games.
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On the other hand, going into New Super Mario Bros Wii with 4 player co-op resulted in the most fun and salty game ever. Especially since the twist and carry is the same button! Just pure madness. 10/10
 
They're decent, nothing more. I have a bigger issue with what they represent vs the actual games themselves; the lingering wii era of sterilization that hit Nintendo.
 
New Super Mario Bros games give me a huge copy paste feeling/vibes, too similar for each other
 
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They're fun and certainly competent Mario games. NSMBU and Wii definitely would earn their places alongside the NES and SNES games, in my opinion.

Plus...they bought back my boys and girl, the Koopalings. And that's another reason I appreciate the series. "Wah-Wah-rts" and all.
 
TreIII said:
They're fun and certainly competent Mario games. NSMBU and Wii definitely would earn their places alongside the NES and SNES games, in my opinion.

Plus...they bought back my boys and girl, the Koopalings. And that's another reason I appreciate the series. "Wah-Wah-rts" and all.
Click to expand...

Yeah, seeing the Koopalings return was such a big deal for those who grew up with Super Mario Bros. 3 and stuff. ❤️
 
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I like them! I don't love them. But I like them.

They're all fundamentally solid 2D Mario games. They control well (though the skidding and turning animations kinda mess me up, momentum wise), they have solid level design, and adding simultaneous multiplayer to 2D Mario was a great idea. Picking any individual one out means you're in for a good time, though they don't reach the highs of 3 and World. The bigger problem is that they blend together very easily thanks to their shared aesthetics and a serious lack of new structure/enemies/level gimmicks after a while. Even NSMBU, the "best one," borrows a lot from NSMBWii. I also can't say I loved the chaos of the multiplayer? I think the lack of contact is gonna make Wonder a much more comfortable time overall.
 
I have a soft spot for the games - NSMBDS was my first Mario platformer (and probably in my top 3); I have fond memories of Wii; NSMB2, while the worst of the bunch IMO, is still a solid game; and U has a lot of cool ideas. I think the series as a whole is underrated - I wouldn't say they're the objective perfect Mario experience, but you won't have a bad time playing through one.
 
NSMBW and NSMBU are really good games held back by asset reuse and general sameyness. NSMB was fun as a novelty throwback at the time but now there isn't a lot of reason to go back to it. NSMB2 is one of the most forgettable games I've ever played.
 
They’re fine, some better than others. For me: Wii > U > DS > 2.

However, I don’t have the same desire to replay them from start to finish like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World which is also fine. This may have more to do with being older and not having as much time/wanting to play the mountain of other games on my backlog.
 
Adored the first on the ds but after replaying it recently it's not as good as I remembered but still a really fan 2d game. Loved the wii one, ton of great ideas and just great to see a new 2d mario on console, I was super hyped for new super mario bros 2 on 3ds but after playing it it was just ok and then the wiiU one was still good but nothing special. New super luigi U was really fun as a bonus game tho, might be the best game of the new series.
I think the double whammy of 2 and U both in 2012 completely destroyed all the goodwill the series had and it's not surprising that the next 2d mario would come after 10+ years, I still think they're good games but as wonder showed today 2d mario can be so much more than what the new super mario series showed.
 
Played and love all of them. I don't agree with the complaints but that's just me. I'm biased though as 2D Mario is my fave.
 
The first one is a very solid, workmanlike platformer that was actually sort of a neat anniversary game thing combining elements from across the series, including the 3D games. It's a bit underrated due to the sins of its successors. Most surprisingly, it has the best soundtrack of any 2D Mario, which was then butchered repeatedly and run into the ground.

Wii sterilized it quite a bit, and the level design takes a big hit from the introduction of co-op. Lots of huge empty spaces and very boring level gimmicks. So many spinning ground stages. Best final boss in a 2D Mario though.

2 is one of the worst Mario games, and because it was made by a separate team, it's an evolutionary dead end that had zero impact on U. It can't really decide whether it wants to be New Super Mario Bros. or this score attack thing, and the reason for its weird structure is that the three optional worlds are where they put all the levels that weren't up to standards.

U somehow manages to be the best one, really surprising after Wii. Getting the level design to be this immaculate and uncompromised by the multiplayer was probably an incredibly difficult feat, one which no player will ever notice or care about. On its own merits, it's the first game in the series that actually looks kind of nice, and it's a quality platformer whose main weakness is a mediocre soundtrack. It suffers a lot from the circumstances of its existence. It's the fourth New Super Mario game, the second in 2012 alone, and it was the big launch title for Nintendo's new HD system... That was already hopelessly outdated compared to the 2D platformers released after NSMBWii on the last system.

Even wiping all of that away, there's just a fundamental lack of ambition and creativity in New Super Mario when compared to the classic Mario games, which even themselves are a bit bland and primitive now compared to where the genre went in the 90's and beyond. NSMB started with a portable game, and the series never actually shook the feeling of being the watered down Land to a nonexistent World.
 
Each one is very solid in a vacuum, but I think the big picture of 4 games that all look and play pretty much the same (and especially 2 and U releasing the same year) hurt their overall image. 2 is probably the worst imo, and even that one is more just unremarkable rather than outright bad.

Like, I think if NSMBU released and it wasn't the 4th game to look like that, it'd be almost as highly-regarded as 3 or World. But because they're all so iterative rather than being these huge "redefining yourself" jumps, the impact is lessened.

I also think the reliance on the Koopalings in particular really didn't help matters. The first one on DS had unique bosses, so I was always a little confused as to why they fell into such a rut with the bosses in subsequent games.
 
DS and Wii were fun as hell, and four player madness on Wii was not unlike Smash Bros at times. Even the soundtrack didn't bug me at the beginning.

But then there was NSMB2...and NSMBU...and NSMBU Luigi...Super Mario 3D Land/World had the same art aesthetic...it just got exhausting. Fukken BAH BAHs were repetitive and neverending.

Truthfully Wonder still feels too close to NSMB art for my liking especially when the camera is so far back from the action you can't always clearly see how expressive the characters are, but I'll still get it day one.
 
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I genuinely think the discourse around these games would be a lot better if NSMB2 and NSMBU weren't revealed at the same E3 and released in the same year
 
The New Super Mario Bros. games are like the Subway of video games. They were never going to knock your socks off but man, sometimes you just need one. Sometimes you get a mediocre/bad one. Sometimes you get a GREAT one! Depending on the circumstances, sometimes you have one that is exactly what you needed in that moment in time and you’re glad that it was there for you.

I’m glad they exist. I wish they had maybe had a bit more creativity in ‘em. Sounds like Wonder is gonna solve that problem for me.
 
I had more gripes with them in the WiiU era than I do now. My biggest issue was the idea that Ninty wouldn't touch any other dormant series unless they could think of some way to reinvent the wheel, but they were content to put out four Mario games that were stylistically/mechanically veeery similar.

That said, I've finished the original and U and played a good amount of the others. They're all good.

Shout out to Mario Run, which I consider part of this series and enjoyed playing through all the levels of it when it came out.
 
I like them, mostly DS and Wii, the main problem was that they released 4 (5 if counting Luigi U) that were just too similar to each other.
 
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I like the DS one, the Wii and 3DS ones are kinda mid to bad at parts, and the Wii U one ended up being another one I like. I do think they are kinda the most boring of the bunch when it comes to 2D Mario aesthetics, but it's still the definition of fine. Doubt people would dump on them too much if not for the cardinal sin of them being the only new 2D Mario games for SEVENTEEN WHOLE YEARS. Mario Maker exists and is excellent, but it's a revisit game so it didn't really fill the need for something new.
 
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I love New Super Mario Bros. U. It brought back a cohesive world map to 2D Mario and came off all the better for it. Level design is air-tight, and the 3-coin concept trully blossoms here, as it allows for the stages to be built around them and create these amazing little secrets and challenges. Difficulty curve is on point too.
 
Maybe not as picture perfect as World or SMB or whatever
But fantastic games in their own right that have top tier level design, a fun world that makes levels feel naturally a part of them, and never fail to be a fun timesink

DS and Wii U are great games

joker-imtiredofpretending.gif
 
Fun games to run through and play, but bland, stale and lacks the ambitious that you find in DKCR+TF in terms of level design, the quirky ideas/locations, art direction and ost, let alone the ambitious of 3D Mario Games. Most of the series ideas feel like it could be done even during the 16 bit era with some compromises.
 
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Strange that I have almost the exact opposite reaction to them as most people here.

NSMB (DS) was shockingly bad considering it was the long-awaited return of the series. The DS wasn't powerful enough to make the 3d artstyle work (they should have stuck with sprites), the soundtrack was shockingly annoying, the new powerups were incredibly lame by Mario standards, and the level design was completely uninspired. It also didn't use the touch screen in any meaningful way. It wasn't worthy of being a sequel to SMB3 or SMW, and frankly wasn't as good as SMB on the NES either. I genuinely consider this to be one of the most disappointing games Nintendo has ever put out.

NSMB (Wii) was an improvement almost solely because they now had better visuals and more screen real estate to play with, but the level design definitely improved as well and they added a fun multiplayer mode. Still not a great game, but acceptable.

NSMB2 was much closer to the required standard than the original had been. It didn't pretend SMB3 had never happened, and the level design strongly reminded me of that game - which was a huge improvement. The main gimmick of coins flying everywhere was honestly reasonably fun - the golden fire flower had decent gamefeel, if nothing else. But by this stage it felt like the NSMB brand name was poisoned, so it wasn't particularly well received.

NSMBU, for my money, is the best 2d Mario game ever made. Better than 3 and World. I still have some issues with the soundtrack, but otherwise, what a fabulous game.

So where others got bored with the series over time, I thought it started horribly and totally justified itself in the end.

Also, unpopular opinion but I consider Wonder to be NSMB 5 and I won't let anyone tell me different.
 
Boring. Never played DS one though. I love 2d Mario though and really enjoyed what they showed about Wonder.
 
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I loved U and DS (this one mostly for nostalgia, after the advance games felt nice to have a new Mario).
I enjoyed Wii but mostly for multiplayer, hated the waggle, hope we get a rerelease with buttons only eventually.
2 was ok. Wouldn't play it again.
 
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NSMB Wii was by far my favorite, and my third favorite 2D Mario game behind 3 and World. U was decent as well, but by then the series was just too homogenized, especially with NSMB 2 just releasing 6 months earlier.
 
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To keep it short, they are 6/10 games whereas the classic Mario games were 9/10 or 10/10 for their time.

Solid, but that's all they are.
 
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I only played the first one, the DS game, and I believe I went for 100% completion.

Largely forgettable game that pretty much put me off 2D Mario for 17 years. Like, I can't remember a single thing I might have truly enjoyed. Not a song, nor a level, etc.
 
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Played them all through U (didn’t play the Deluxe release though) and found them all mostly inoffensive and sometimes pretty entertaining. NSMB2 might’ve been my favorite just because I enjoyed the money gimmick, very satisfying lol. Don’t think I’ll miss the series and definitely ready for a new step forward, however that turns out with Wonder.

I almost thanked the series for a redesign of the Koopalings but I looked up the SMWorld art for them and was surprised by how close they match up actually (Save for Iggy) so never mind
 
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The only I've never played through in full is the first one on DS, namely because I don't own it, but what little I played didn't impress me all that much. NSMBWii is a solid game whose biggest claim outside the multiplayer is being host to the best final boss in a 2D Mario game. NSMB2 was alright. The coin gimmick was fun. NSMBU stands amongst the best that 2D Mario has to offer, and I feel a pain in my chest whenever people claim that it's the worse of the bunch. That said, the art style did stagnate pretty heavily and truly did make all the games feel a bit too samey, so despite loving the Wii U installment to bits, I was right there with everyone else begging for a revamp of some kind regardless.
 
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Objectively they're good to great platformers but the presentation really brings things down. Despite being somewhat inspired by the NSMB games 3DLand/3DWorld having so much more charm and life to its worlds and music really highlighted how important that can be. Glad to see Wonder is fixing all of that while still clearly being an evolution of the NSMB line of platformers.
 
I enjoy the New Super games a lot! The original was one of my top ten favorite DS games and I had such a great time tackling the main game and playing the multiplayer battle mode with friends. New Super Wii is awesome and if you don’t combine Super U with Luigi U it is my favorite of the series and my favorite traditional 2D Mario game overall. I’m strongly considering replaying New Super Wii in particular next year. New Super 2 is definitely the low point of the series, but still a solid game I had fun with. New Super U is quite rad and a great time while New Super Luigi U was a wonderful twist on classic Mario. I plan to replay both games eventually, but neither is a priority. If you include Mario Run, that was an awesome phone game and I really wish Nintendo put that much effort into a phone game again. The Remix 10 mode in particular was delightful and I learned Love Live music in particular really goes well with autorunner Mario haha.
 
At the time I LOVED the first one. It was so cool to have a new 2D Mario game. It al went downhill fast with the Wii game, that I still enjoyed but I hated how similar it looked to the first one... I never tried the other two.
 
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I loved it, up to the last entry.

Sure, art style was pretty sanitized and soul-less, but level design was fire from Wii onwards. It always felt like the home console entries were oriented to a more hardcore audience btw, even NSMBWii being designed mainly for 4 players, it was a good single player challenge, to the point you didn't even notice the design target, unlike with Super Mario 3D World.

To me, the New series has always been underrated. Also, always enjoyed the music, never understood the bah bah hate, and enemies dancing to it was a cute touch.
 
I don't distinctly remember all of them, except New Super Mario Bros U which is amazing and Wii which is very good. I think the series gets too much unjustified flak due to the simple aesthetics, the games are solid.
 
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The New Super Mario Bros. games are just AS good as the classic NES, SNES and Game Boy titles. No buts or ifs. They are greatly designed and, beyond the steril visuals (that only became an issue after a few sequels), they also are creative and introduce new level mechanics, enemies and such.

Just for the record, before Wonder releases... I never really was a fan of dissing the NSMB games like they were some cheapo titles in the vein of Sonic 4 or something. I was hoping for some fresh new take, but mostly on visuals, because the NSMB games never really disappointed when came to be fun and comfort Mario experience.

I remember my anticipation to New Super Mario Bros. Wii's release.. I simply couldn't be more hyped; Super Mario Bros. 3 was my first Mario game on NES and everything about NSMBWii felt like it was hitting all the right notes; I was gifted it on Christmas and I loved every minute of it.

I'm not taking any revisionary takes on the quality of those games just because Wonder now exists. If anything, the only criticism I do agree is that they shouldn't had put out NSMB2 and NSMBU in the very same year, that did contribute on the fatigue (and I do agree that NSMB2 is the most vanilla of them all, still a good game tho)
 
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