It was my 28th birthday a little over a week ago. My little brother Garett got me a Nintendo DS Lite and New Super Mario Bros. It was a nice surprise.
The DS Lite is a smaller version of the original DS with a brighter screen. It has 2 screens in a case that folds like a clamshell. The lower screen is a touch screen, which adds a whole new dimension to gaming. The DS has 2 speakers, with a surround mode that sounds pretty good. It has a built in microphone for voice commands, a headphone jack, and a AC adapter port. It has a rechargable battery that is supposed to last 15-18 hours on the dimmest screen brightness.
When I turned on my DS for the first time, it had me go through some setup screens, like setting the time and date, choosing a profile name and color, and choosing some other preferences. After that it shows a default screen when it is turned on. The top screen has a clock and calendar, the bottom screen has buttons with different functions.
There is a built in picto-chat program, which can be used to chat wirelessly with other DS's. I wish the DS came with more built in programs, such as a notepad, ebook reader, and a scheduler. It would also be nice to have some built in apps that use the Nintendo Wifi connection, like a web browser or instant messenger.
New Super Mario Bros is a side-scrolling game that has elements from the 2D Mario games of the past. It has 8 worlds to explore. The world map is drawn in 3D, and is simular to the map style in Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World.
The levels are drawn in classic 2D style, with updated backgrounds. Mario and some elements use polygonal models to enable some effects, such as the giant Mario. The graphics are drawn in typical Nintendo style, with bright colors and cute characters.
Every level has 3 coins you can collect, to open special paths with require spending 5 coins. If you miss some coins you can always replay a level to try to find them. There are red and green mushroom houses in many of the special paths. In the green houses you can get up to 10 extra lives by hitting a sequence
of blocks.
New Super Mario Bros. also has 18 minigames that are mostly played using the stylus. There are some creative uses of the stylus, such as using it to aim a slingshot, or draw trampolines. Dani has been playing these mini-games every day.
There is also a 2 player mode, which I haven't used because I don't know anyone with a DS.
Overall, my DS lite is a very fun toy. I look forward to getting some more games for it. I think I'll start with Mario Kart DS and Metroid Hunters. Brain Age also looks interesting. I hope Nintendo makes a full featured painting cartridge, and more educational games. I think the creative and educational potential of the DS has not been fully realized yet.
