Hands on with New Super Mario Bros

Proving that there's more to game conferences than just idle talk, Nintendo seized the opportunity of last week's GDC event in sunny San Jose to actively demo many of its forthcoming wares. Whilst the first DS outing for Zelda predictably hugged the spotlight, the title we were itching to get our hands on was New Super Mario Bros.

Due for release this summer, it's already shaping up to be one of Nintendo's big hitters for 2006 and is set to welcome old hands and newcomers alike into Mario's colourful kingdom.

The action will be immediately familiar to Mario fans, with the opening level seeing our Italian hero jumping onto and into blocks to release gold coins and other power-ups as he vies once again to rescue Princess peach from the evil Bowser (although you'd think that, by now, she'd have had some better security installed!).

Your path is blocked by the usual assortment of enemies, most of whom can be removed by a well-timed bounce on their bonce, while mushrooms once again offer a welcome power-boost. In this latest outing the friendly fungi serve a double function: helping Mario grow in size and simultaneously acting as a shield, enabling you to take more damage before getting shunted back to the start of the level.

Another level we played took place in an ice cavern, with Mario sliding all over the place, at least until a blue tortoise shell power-up added some weight. The latter also proved useful in smashing through some tough blocks to get at a stack of bonus gold coins hidden beneath.

And it's this layered approach that Nintendo will be polishing up in the intervening months, to ensure the balance between risk and reward, power-ups and player skill is just right. Considering the size of the game, though, it will be a Herculean task - there are 8 different worlds, each consisting of around 16 levels to explore.

In the unlikely event that this doesn't keep you busy, though, there are a host of additional mini-games to enjoy that all put the DS' touch screen to work. The examples we saw included a catapult game where you have to fire balls into moving baskets and one where you have to guide a little Bomb through fire and flames to stop him exploding. Also worthy of note were a microphone-based game, in which you blow to inflate Yoshi's balloons so he can fly, and a series of card games featuring Luigi as croupier.

All-in-all then, there's plenty to look forward to! So don't forget to check back here for the latest Mario Bros news or click the Track It button to get email updates sent straight to your inbox.