Any Millennial or Gen Z gamer will be able to list their favorite Nintendo DS games. They probably had Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, and maybe a couple of Pokémon titles and Animal Crossing: Wild World for good measure. But most of the people who owned a DS of any form or model played New Super Mario Bros., and this isn’t just a guess – the game was the best-selling Nintendo DS game of all time, hitting 30 million copies. Like me, you might remember it as your first Mario game, but what you might not know is that today, May 15, 2026, is the 20th anniversary of the release of the game in the US. Yep, we’re all that old.
New Super Mario Bros. was the first Mario game in the sub-section of the franchise that was eventually named after it, which now includes New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U. This game was special for so many reasons, and as a platformer that combined a sort of half-blend between 2D and 3D graphics, it revolutionized the genre. It was also the first Mario scroller since 1996, taking time to develop due to the shift away from pixel graphics and the addition of mechanics from 3D games, like wall jumping, ground pounding, and more staples that we’ve come to expect in modern iterations of the game, like Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
New Super Mario Bros. is iconic not just because of its format, though, but also for its extremely atmospheric soundtrack, immensely engrossing level-design, and excellent diversity in its gameplay. This includes the then-new Mega Mushroom and Mini-Mushroom power-ups, which allow you to access some of the most fun elements I believe you can have in gaming. Of course, each of the individual worlds have their own themes, and towers and castles played a large part in the fun, but the highlight in my mind remains the Toad huts, which gave me my first dopamine hits as a wide-eyed child. In combination, you have one of the best Mario games.
20 years on, it’s hard to say that Mario as a franchise would be quite so hugely beloved without New Super Mario Bros. in its catalogue. Prior Mario games were excellent for the time, of course, but none, with maybe the exception of Super Mario 64, have aged quite so well. The platformer style of New Super Mario Bros. has become synonymous with the name Mario, and now that we have everything from a Super Mario Galaxy movie to MAR10 day, the game has been pivotal in defining Nintendo’s identity.
I can’t help but wonder, now that finding a working DS is becoming rarer, if or when Nintendo will add the best DS games, including this one, to the NSO membership Classics, because, on a personal note, I’d certainly be grateful for the chance to play my first Mario game again. Even watching someone else play it on YouTube feels so magical to me. The DS was my second console – the first being the Game Boy Micro – and being able to play something so formative to my identity again would be a sure money maker for Nintendo.
Was New Super Mario Bros. your first Mario game, too? Either way, share your memories with us for the 20th anniversary on the Pocket Tactics Discord while we wait for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book to arrive.
