New Super Mario Bros. -- Save Me With Your Charm.

I'm rounding up the last things to do in world 7. I just need a couple more Star Coins. I already have all the hidden exits. Then it's off to the final section of the game, world 8. Last time I said there were a couple aspects of the game that were less than great. Having played through most of the game at this point, I can say with more certainty that those aspects remain. The first one is the save system. You can't save whenever you want. They obviously decided on this to increase the game's overall challenge. You can save after key levels, like the tower and castle stages. Or by spending Star Coins on the world maps to unlock new paths. You'll be prompted to save after each path is opened. The problem is this method sometimes keeps the player playing longer than he might have wanted to. If you're going back to get that missed Star Coin or look for the hidden exit from some level and that takes you a good deal of time and effort once you're successful you'll have to advance forward up to a few levels to be able to actually save. It becomes about budgeting your time. It's I'll complete this level, and then I'll go back and look for that coin I'm missing, and then I'll go on and open that path so I can save. Or even worse, I'll go on and complete the tower or castle so I can actually save. It's a hassle. The other area that is less than great is in the having to go hunt down the items you need to get by certain parts of the game. Mostly in collecting the star coins and finding the hidden exits. You'll need a mini-mushroom so you can jump that extra bit, or you'll need a blue shell so you can break those blocks. The problem is the game doesn't make those available to you with any certainty. You'll have to try your luck in one of the item houses, assuming they're still around, try your luck with one of the random item generating boxes, or try your luck with the ?-boxes or Hammer Bros. that are moving about the map. It's compounded by needing to actually luck into getting the item you need, then actually holding on to it through whatever level you found it in. You must complete the level to keep it. Then you have to go back to the level you need to use it on, and actually manage to make it back through the level to where you'll make use of it without losing it. Then you have to manage to successfully use it, and then actually make it through the rest of the level. And then there is the save system coming into play again. Now that you've managed to pull that off, you have to play on to actually get to a save point. I know Nintendo feels the sleep mode is an answer. And for those who actually might use their NDS on the road, it might be. I don't.  I play at home. And the solution isn't to put my game into sleep mode. I want to save and power off. I don't agree with the design choices employed by Nintendo here at all. I think they're two real mistakes that detract from the game.