Like Mario Kart DS before it, New Super Mario Bros (NSMB) takes all that was good about the original and stuffs in bits from other entries in the series to make one packed whole. Hence there's the left-to-right scrolling levels of old but interspaced with the castle layouts found in Super Mario World. The world map looks very much like SMB3, and some of the moves found in later games such as the wall jump and butt slam are present. It's certainly far and above what we were playing twenty years ago.

There's still the same, almost naïve sense of fun present however. It is almost impossible to play the game without a huge grin creeping over your face, as if this is some magical portal for the mind, taking you back to days long forgotten when games had no FMV, million-pound budgets or ragdoll physics. Despite all the upgrades, NSMB is still all about the gameplay.

Peach's de rigueur captor this time around is Bowser Jr. (probably still thinking Peach is his mother) whilst Bowser himself is relegated to level boss. Nothing much seems to have changed though with the showdown at the end of World One being similar in appearance and setup to that of old. What does surprise and shock is that success results in Bowser being killed off. Hold on, has Nintendo really gone all serious on us? Don't worry, he's not that dead, not just yet at least.

Just one indicator that NSMB does what it says on the tin: it's familiar and new at the same time. Goombas? Check. Koopa Troopas? Check. Piranha Plants? Check. Mushrooms made of rubber? Mario gets to be Tigger. Pipes that fire Mario in random directions? Okay. Platforms that rotate into the plane, causing Mario to fall off them? Now it's starting to get interesting. The ability to dynamically alter the landscape in places? It becomes apparent the power of the DS is put to good use for all these ideas, and that the design of the levels is deliberate in places to take advantage of some of the new moves.

The fact is that all the new features to the game feel integral to the original design; they don't jar or stand out by being misplaced, it is as if they seamlessly meld into the whole, that they were originally present in 1985. A few changes even have a vicious streak to them; Mario never had to contend with a colossal eel underwater before, and having to dodge copious homing fish at the same time whilst watching out for a whirlpool.

Like SMB3 though, there is a small choice of routes available should one prove too tricky to tackle initially. Each level contains three large coins, and these can be traded in to open new areas of each world, be it for a new route, or access to an item house. In the same way to SMW, an item can be held in reserve and accessed by hitting the touch screen if required at a particular time.

The items available include some new additions to the fold. Mega-mushrooms turn Mario into the equivalent of Godzilla, able to crush enemies in a single bound and completely destroy the landscape. Not only does it provide a laugh and an unbridled sense of ultimate power (in the same way a powerpill in Pacman lets you eat the ghosts), but extra lives are awarded depending on the amount of chaos caused.

Mini-mushrooms do the opposite and shrink Mario to Alice-like proportions. Not only are there some tiny pipes to be explored in this mode, but Mario can walk on water, jump much higher and float a bit. Finally a koopa shell allows Mario to perform a personal version of kicking one into a row of Goombas and is about the best defence acquirable. Unsurprisingly though, he can't quite jump as high with this lump on his back.

For all the new powerups added, their uses are somewhat limited to certain places, usually to do with acquiring coins or secrets. There is also one fundamental change made to their removal; when hit, Mario no longer shrinks back to his original size, but instead reverts back to standard (mushroom-powered) form. This does make it harder to die, or in relative terms, more likely death is due to falling foul of some part of the landscape rather than being caught out by an enemy. Items are also a lot more frequent from "?" blocks than would generally be expected.

Which is just a pointer to the only real issue with NSMB: that overall it is too easy to complete, though not quite as easy as Super Princess Peach for example. Whilst the other 2D Mario games have not been super hard to finish themselves, barring Satan-incarnate-itself Super Mario Bros 2 (Japan), NSMB is certainly a notch or two down from SMW and SMB, and many notches below SMB3. It isn't just that extra lives are a lot easier to acquire, but many levels don't provide a similar standard of risk, danger and skill necessary to get through them unscathed, despite their excellent design and enjoyability in completing.

Only in the last world will you find levels worthy of the skill-requiring, fist-biting, wavering-precariously-between-frustration-and-addiction tag earned by so many SMW and SMB3 levels before them. If the entire game was of a similar standard, then NSMB would probably be heralded as a SMB3/SMW beater, but it is not to be. It's damned close, but there isn't quite the overall sustained challenge within.

That is unless you are going for every last secret available within the game. Trying to acquire all the coins, reach the two hidden worlds and defeat every level will take some effort, some head scratching and some skill to achieve. This is really where the defining objective of NSMB lies, with the reward of having three stars by the save game slot.

Two hidden worlds I hear you cry? In good Mario tradition, there are eight worlds present, but only six available immediately. The other two can only be accessed at a certain time and via a certain way, and unless good enough at the time of chance to unlock them, merely compounds the problem that the game seems a bit "short" because only six worlds need to be beaten. Getting to the end sequence may only take a few hours, and may seem shorter in the mind simply because the game doesn't want you to put it down. That's due both to its addictive nature and that progress can only be saved at certain points during the first play through.

On top of all the platforming goodness, there is a wealth of minigames available for both single player (as per Mario 64 DS) and multiplayer. They are just as time-wastingly addictive as before, though the selection isn't quite as good as Mario 64 DS. The other multiplayer option is a one-on-one battle between Mario and Luigi grabbing stars throughout various levels which can get manic at times. Definitely worth a look at there.

Regardless of age or experience, NSMB has something about it that will appeal to all that play it. The ingenuity of design, the sheer level of fun, the warmth of nostalgia and the relief that 2D gaming is still alive and kicking, all combine to make NSMB an unmissable experience and show Nintendo are still masters of the platform game. Evidently this edition has been targeted slightly towards the less-abled player, but that doesn't matter too much when it's a joy to play from start to end.