New Super Mario Bros. Euro Release Confirmed

March 8th, 2006, 18:12 Posted By: wraggster

Source Spong

Now, it’s not often that SPOnG gets overly excited by a game’s box art. And it’s even less often that we deem the release of box art to be worthy of a mention in news. However, when we see the new box art for New Super Mario Bros. DS and it’s this good we really have to draw your attention to it.

Okay, so it’s in no way groundbreaking or revolutionary. But it completely captures the simplicity and classic feel of the original and is sure to appeal to both the Nintendo faithful as well as casual and new gamers.

Prepare yourselves for a handheld Mario experience like you've never had before. Not only is it the first time that there has been a new 2D Mario adventure since the critically acclaimed Super Mario World, the bottom screen on the Nintendo DS will be reserved for storing items and using them quickly in game; Mario has a lot more moves and it’s possible to butt-stomp, triangle jump off walls and backflip. Plus there’s a load of new power-ups.

Perhaps most excitingly, there is also a wireless multiplayer mode in which one player takes control of Mario and the other plays as Luigi, in a race to finish levels first, whilst disabling your opponent in various ways with hilarious power-ups.

So it seems that Nintendo's much-vaunted New Ways To Play strategy is still - thankfully - being integrated with Nintendo's tried and tested Old Ways to Play.

Speaking exclusively to SPOnG today, a Nintendo UK rep had the following to say: "It's been more than 20 years since Nintendo's highly acclaimed franchise, Super Mario Bros. first came to the world's attention. Fans from Mario's classic days must wait no longer to see him return in an all-new platformer. The title features stunning 3D models moving through lavish, cleverly designed 2D worlds, culminating in a final showdown for the freedom of Princess Peach. New Super Mario Bros. is loaded with features and characters that could only exist in the Mushroom Kingdom, including all-new power-ups like the Blue Shell, in which Mario can ride, and a massive Mushroom that makes him ultra-huge."

In other DS news, Nintendo's groundbreaking online wireless DS gaming service has hit an all-time gaming record of 1 million unique users, despite being in operation for just short of four months. The forthcoming European releases of a number of Wi-Fi-enabled games including Animal Crossing: Wild World (March 31); Tetris DS (April 21) and Metroid Prime Hunters (May 5) only means the service is bound to continue to appeal to many many more gamers in the coming months.

As SPOnG has said before, it really is hard to see what Sony has up its sleeve for PSP to compete with Nintendo’s winning DS online strategy. Of course, there is SEGA’s forthcoming Outrun, but we can actually count the number of other PSP titles we are excited about on one hand, not including the thumb.

New Super Mario Bros. DS is out on May 7 in the US and sometime in Q2 in Europe – probably just in time for E3, cleverly enough. Check back right here for all up-to-date Nintendo news as we get it from the horse’s mouth.

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