New Super Mario Bros.(New スーパーマリオブラザーズNyū Sūpā Mario Burazāzu?) is a side-scrolling platform video game published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. The game was released in North America and Japan in May 2006 and in Australia and Europe in June 2006. It is the first original side-scrolling platform game starring Mario since Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins in 1992, and the first game to be a part of the main Mario series of video games since Super Mario Sunshine in 2002.
The game’s plot is similar to those of other side-scrolling Mario games. New Super Mario Bros. follows Mario as he fights his way throughBowser’s henchmen to rescue Princess Peach. Mario has access to several power-ups that help him complete his quest, including the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower, and the Starman, each giving him unique abilities. While traveling through eight worlds with a total of 80 levels, Mario must defeat Bowser Jr. and Bowser before finally saving Princess Peach.
Reviews of the game were very favorable. Praise focused on improvements made to the Mario franchise, while criticism targeted the game's simplicity, and similarity to previous games. New Super Mario Bros. received several honors, including Game of the Month awards from Game Informer and Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Editors’ Choice Awards from IGN and GameSpot. In Japan, the game broke the record for the best-selling debut for a Nintendo DS game. Overall, the game has sold 26.21 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling game for the DS, and the second best-selling non-bundled video game of all time.[2]
Its sequel, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, is playable with four players simultaneously, and was released in different regions between November 12 and December 3, 2009 worldwide.