New Super Mario Bros

Mario... smash! The Godzilla-style rampage is... um, well, it seems like a bit of a gimmick, actually.

After bouncing through a couple of level's-worth of traditional Mario fun, you finally find a mushroom that takes several head-butts to dislodge, growing each time.

Scoff it and Mario gets super-sized, ready for a block-walloping rampage that only lasts about 20 seconds. Fun, but ultimately just a bit distracting.

The real fun's in the more conventional Mario action. Though it's similar to the original, the action's been subtly altered to reflect developments in platform games.

So, for instance, Mazza's got a double-jump, as well as a wall-bounce and a flying arse-splash. This may be nothing new to platform veterans, but it's certainly an interesting addition to pipe-n-flower land.

Slightly disappointingly, however, the touch-screen's barely used, except as an inventory - it's possible to keep up to three power-ups in the clip at once, tapping them to activate.

It's also upsetting that there isn't more detail in the characters. At the moment, they look almost as if they've been imported directly from the likes of Mario World and Double Dash, instead of being developed specifically for this game.

Mario Bros does exactly what retro-heads would expect, but anyone raised on the madness of Jak & Daxter might want to look elsewhere for their platforming thrills.

CATEGORIES
Latest in Super Mario
Super Mario 64
Blindfolded Super Mario 64 speedrunner declares "70 Star is DEAD" after he "absolutely obliterated" his old record
Mario odyssey screenshot showing mario standing with sentient forks
8 years later, Super Mario Odyssey players are still getting awed by the discovery that you can destroy metal crates by turning into a bird and pecking them 200 times
Image of the Nintendo Switch box art for Princess Peach Showtime, Ys X Nordics, Unicorn Overlord and Super Mario Jamboree on a GamesRadar pink background.
Mario Day's colossal savings on these games is enough to make me forget about the Switch 2 for now
Super Mario 64
A week after suffering webcam tragedy, blindfolded Super Mario 64 speedrunner casually breaks 3 world records in 4 days: "Another day in the office, another world record"
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 speedrunners thought a trick that requires landing on a spot "the width of a red blood cell" was virtually impossible - now it's been done blindfolded
Super Mario 64
Behold, Super Mario 64 speedrunners can do "an absurdly lengthy and precise series" of 41 button presses to make Mario stand underwater: "This has no known practical purpose"
Latest in Features
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Captain Planet #1
Captain Planet is back after 33 years with a "sexy" makeover and a message that's as important as ever: "Reality has gotten a lot less subtle"
Assassin's Creed 3 screenshot of Desmond hilding a circular Isu artifact
Assassin's Creed Shadows' modern storyline is kind of non-existent and I couldn't be happier about it
An Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail showing Yasuke and Oda Nobunaga armored up and on horseback, ready to ride to battle
"We really wanted you to live this history": Assassin's Creed Shadows is all about "perspective", says the game's cinematic director
A screenshot of a pink-haired protagonist in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, surrounded by other BLADE soldiers and a Skell.
I spent 10 years waiting for the answers to Xenoblade Chronicles X's haunting cliffhanger ending, and it was worth the wait
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot of an enemy falling backwards through the air away from Yasuke who's just performed a War Kick
Forget the hidden blade: if you're not yeeting enemies in Assassin's Creed Shadows, you're missing out