Super Mario Reviews
Review Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii U eShop / NES)
A truly super Mario game
Super Mario Bros. 3’s recent arrival on the Wii U eShop seemed like a conspicuously low-key affair compared to the considerable hype that surrounded its hugely anticipated original release back the early nineties. However, that doesn't mean that the lack of booming fanfare should be interpreted as a cause for concern; over...
Review Mario Party: Island Tour (3DS)
Rolling the dice
Back in 1999, Mario and his crew could have taught Prince a thing or two about how to celebrate the coming of a new millennium. Establishing itself as a mainstay on the Nintendo 64, the Mario Party series showed up three times to blister hands and bring friends and family together to yell at each other at the top of their lungs...
Review Super Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / NES)
Forever running to the right
Mario. Say it loud and there's music playing. Say it soft, and it's almost like praying. Super Mario Bros. was, is, and will always be one of gaming's great masterpieces, and its availability on any additional format is a good thing. It's come to the Wii and 3DS Virtual Consoles before, and now jumps onto the Wii U...
Review Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS eShop / NES)
Sweet dreams are made of these
By now we all know the story of Super Mario Bros. 2: concerns about the Japanese sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. kept it from release in North America and Europe. Different reasons have been given over time, from the game being too difficult to it simply not demonstrating enough creativity to keep gamers...
Review Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
A never-ending dream
If there was more justice in the world, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team — or Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. as it's known in Europe — would enjoy the same level of hype and anticipation as some of its prestigious predecessors on the 3DS in 2013. And yet, rather like its snoozy subject matter, it drifts into view on a...
Review Wrecking Crew (Wii U eShop / NES)
It's wrecking time!
Mario's claim to fame has often been jumping; a simple skill, but unfailingly entertaining. It can be tough to remember a time when he traded high-flying acrobatics for a hammer and an insatiable appetite for destruction, but that's exactly the case in Wrecking Crew. Smashing things to bits is the straightforward goal, but...
Review Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / NES)
Definitely not super
If you've ever been curious about Mario and Luigi's actual credibility as plumbers, you'll want to look all the way back to 1983's Mario Bros., the game which established pipe-cleaning as their true vocation and served as something of a bridge between arcade sensation Donkey Kong and early platforming masterpiece Super Mario...
Review Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (3DS eShop / NES)
Lost levels = lost sanity
It's a story so well known now that we'll just summarise it for you: what is now known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was actually released in Japan as the sequel to enduring classic Super Mario Bros. Western gamers instead received the subconscious vegetable buffet that we more traditionally think of as Super Mario...
A modern masterpiece, marred
When the GameBoy Advance launched back in 2002, it landed with a port of Super Mario Bros. 2, not exactly the most fondly-remembered of plumber outings but one that still hit the mark by fitting the platform to a tee. Come 2005, Nintendo hit on the idea of launching the DS with a revamped Super Mario 64, showing off all...
Review Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Mario + RPG = WIN!
What do you get when one of the best RPG creators in the world decides to build an RPG around one of the most recognizable video game characters in history? What you get is a video game that is considered one of the greatest ever made and an RPG that's not only unique, but extremely playable as well. Many were skeptical when the...
