The game’s supervisor also reveals the earlier idea of an enhanced version and their reasoning for the ’New’ prefix.

Nintendo’s latest Iwata Asks feature about New Super Mario Bros. Wii is so huge, with lots of different and in-depth discussions on many topics, that for readability’s sake we’ve split it up into multiple articles. This one will cover New Super Mario Bros. on DS which, as you can imagine, received a fair amount of conversation in the feature.

The level of difficulty in the game comprised the majority of the discussion, and actually turns out to be an area Shigeru Miyamoto wasn’t all that pleased about. Responding to Iwata’s question about whether he has any regrets about the game. Iwata explained, saying "While [Miyamoto] succeeded in coming up with a Mario title that anyone could play, for those players who were seeking a bit more of a challenge, it may have been a touch too easy."

"As you can imagine," Miyamoto continued, "no matter how hard you try, it just isn’t possible to settle on a difficulty level that will satisfy everyone ranging from people who haven’t played a game in years right through to players who know all the Mario games inside out. You have to focus it on either one or the other."

As a result of this, Miyamoto and his team even had the idea of making an enhanced, harder version title for the other end of the spectrum, but he feels the new Wii version fits both audiences very well. "With the Wii version of New Super Mario Bros. this time round, its biggest single defining feature lies there," he said. "We didn’t just want first-time players to enjoy it; we wanted to make a new Mario game that players looking for a stiffer challenge would be able to relish."

Going back now to before New Super Mario Bros. DS was in development, Miyamoto explained the leadup to Nintendo’s decision to make the title. "At that time, Mario had advanced to 3D and we would discuss the fact that there were now two different strands to the Mario series: there was the Mario that had developed in step with consoles as they had become more advanced, and there was also the basic Mario that anyone could play. When I talked about this with Tezuka-san [one of the game’s designers], he said: ’Right, if we make another one, it should be a side-scrolling Mario.’" This game, of course, was New Super Mario Bros.

The problem, however, would be making the game relevant in the current generation of handhelds. "...[A]s you’d expect," he said, "looking at it from the perspective of those who were in step with technological developments, one could ask: ’Why are you making a 2D side-scrolling game now?’ And then the counter-argument would be: ’We can use 3D polygon graphics, but by making a side-scrolling game, won’t we be appealing to a larger number of people?’ So we decided to make a Mario that made a fresh start by returning to its core principles. That’s why we put ’New’ in the title." Considering the game is now the DS’s second highest selling title—with over 18 million sales worldwide—you could say they’ve certainly succeeded with their goals.

Be sure to read the rest of the huge the Iwata Asks feature here, as there is plenty more in it than we have covered in this article. It is interesting to see so many facts come out of Nintendo after all these years.