 Several reviewers drew comparisons between New Super Mario Bros. and their favorite Mario games. Although some found that other Mario games were better, most reviewers were still pleased with the overall experience of the game. Some fans however, criticized the game for its low difficulty compared to other Mario games. Craig Harris of IGN was enthused with New Super Mario Bros., stating that it was his new favorite platform game, beating out his previous favorite, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Even though Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 were considered the best 2D Mario games by GamePro's Mr. Marbles, he decided to add New Super Mario Bros. as his third favorite Mario game, which he admitted had much more replay value than the other two. Despite including new features such as a versus mode, the game made Game Revolution disconcertedly ask the question, "Can Mario ever truly be new again?" It also disappointed Greg Sewart of X-Play, who found that the game did not live up to the standards set by its predecessors, but still considered the game the best side-scrolling video game available for the Nintendo DS. Finally, the game got a 96 % from The Official Nintendo Magazine, and thus, earned a 'Gold Award'.
