Can you remember the first time you played Mario Brothers on your NES? Or on Mario All Stars if you're a little younger? All those Goombas, Troopas and Paratroopas. That music! That incredibly frustrating game play! So many suicides and running into that first enemy you saw. Yes, we've all done that. Ahh, the nostalgia sets in. Didn't you wish there were more levels though, or more secrets for you to find?

Jump to 2004… a 2D Mario game was unveiled and now finally, 2 years later, it is released. NEW Super Mario Bros is one of Nintendo's ways of getting so called 'old school' gamers back into games and also who wish to relive the past. And guess what... It delivers, it really does.

Before I start dishing out the metaphorical bucket load of compliments though, let me get one thing out of the way. I'll be honest; I really don't like the name. I know it may seem like such a small detail (and yes, I know it is) but why isn't this game called "Super Mario Bros. 4" or just "Super Mario Bros DS"? Okay, I'll stop moaning now. Let's get down to the real meat of this game. NEW Super Mario Bros plays exactly like you'd expect a Mario game to play… lots of running, jumping and Goomba stomping!

As for the story of NEW Super Mario Bros, expect the predictable. Bowser (or baby Bowser in this case) has stolen Peach once again whilst Mario's back was turned to other matters. Of course, what else is Mario going to do but to save her? Okay, so it's not going to win any awards for originality but it really doesn't matter in a game like this anyway. As you see Baby Bowser running across the first map into a tower (and every subsequent tower/castle on each map) you'll get a nice over view of where you have to go next. The over world is reminiscing of Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World.

To help Mario in his quest this time he has a variety of new moves and items. Mario can now do several moves from his first 3D outing on the N64, such as the famed tripple jumps, ground pounds and wall jumps. Although you hardly ever need to triple jump, it feels nice for it to be included. The wall jumping and ground pounding however, are very useful to get into hard to reach areas or to kill enemies. As for new items, Mario now has access to a blue shell, allowing him to swim much faster under water and do a spin attack like Troopa's do when jumped on by Mario. His other two items come in the forms of mega mushrooms and mini mushrooms. You may notice these from other games such as Mario Party and Paper Mario. A mega mushroom turns Mario into a screen sized colossus as he runs through the level. Everything can be destroyed, even warp pipes, and to fuel your crushing ambitions, a gauge bar is filled with everything you trample and rewards you with extra lives. Mini mushrooms make Mario vulnerable to attacks and he can only kill enemies through ground pounds. It also makes him super light so his movements are very floaty. However, using mini Mario you can access some secret places.

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As well as these new items, Mario's good old favourites are back; the standard mushroom and the fire flower. Although there are 3 new items, they don't really pop up much so you'll be relying on your normal ones more often. Also, there is a lack of a flying ability in this game which may disappoint some.

NEW Super Mario Bros has great and intelligent level design; it's one of the core things that Nintendo just know how to do right which has always made Mario games such a joy. Although some of the levels are short, there's never one that wouldn't give you a challenge or provide a few minutes of total uninterrupted fun. Some levels also have secret exits to new levels or warp cannons to blast around the world.

As for boss fights, baby Bowser pops up a lot as well as previous Nintendo bosses. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you but you'll be seeing some familiar faces which are pretty cool. Don't expect much of a challenge though, especially if you have a fire flower at your disposal.

NEW Super Mario Bros proves that such an old game formula still works but only with the spot on controls that Nintendo can offer. This game also offers many mini games, even if they do come in the form of the rather tired Super Mario 64 DS ones. Although some of them are new, they don't really have that much appeal, and did we really need to see the return of the boring Luigi card games?! Each to their own I guess.

As for multiplayer aspects, this game offers two modes: mini game and Mario Bros modes. Mini game mode allows you to play with up to 4 people and compete in the mini games, whilst the other mode allows you and a buddy to fight it out for stars across repeating levels. Neither of which are all that good, but it's a nice addition. Both game modes can be played over multi or single pack, the difference is that single pack takes longer to load.

Providing more proof that the DS really is at its best in 2D, NEW Super Mario Bros boasts some lovely little effects. Mario's animations are ripped straight from his 3D adventures, super fluid and still very cool looking. Goombas, Paratroopas and Dry Bones are freed from their simplistic four frame animations of the past and are given intelligent moving patterns and full colour pallets... until they walk into a bottomless pit that is! The locations are all very reminiscent of previous Mario adventures. World 1 generically takes place in a grassy environment world; later on you'll see a sand world and a snow world etc. Although the themes of the game worlds aren't new, they look fantastic on the DS' little screen and you wont be disappointed by them. NEW Super Mario Bros uses a mixture of polygon textures and sprites to a great effect that gives you a mix of the old and the new.

As for the sound, NEW Super Mario Bros is fantastic. It has a great mix of tunes. That being said, only a few of them will have you humming them. Also cool to note though, one is a remix of the Mario 1 first level music! As for sound effects, Mario's "Hoo!", "Haa!" and "Wah-Haa!" have been kept to the minimum to keep up with the retro feel that the game is shooting for. Another cool feature is that on a couple of the tracks the enemies dance to the music, a great little touch.

Overall, NEW Super Mario Bros takes the place of Kirby as the top plat former on the DS, but man did it have to fight. This game does excel 2D Mario games in a new and exciting direction and with 800,000 copies sold in the first week in Japan alone, I think a sequel is fairly certain (we can hope). The bottom line is you must own this. It's your duty as a DS owner.