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Firstly, this review is based solely on the single player game. It does seem like a long time since the last Mario sidescroller. The series seemed to have migrated into the world of 3D like almost every other franchise. What keeps the series fresh is what seem to be a constant evolution of gameplay such as the water pack in Super Mario Sunshine and the wacky gravity in Super Mario Galaxy. So, what's the groundbreaking feature in this one? Giant Mario and tiny Mario. Both of which don't play a huge part in the game after all. Being giant Mario means you can run through the level without getting hurt while destroying any obstacles in the way. This powerup thankfully does not last that long which would completely ruin the already questionable game difficulty.

Tiny Mario can get in tiny places and small pipes, I ignored these powerups since it turned Mario into a weakling. I played through this game somewhere between 3 and 4 hours, and what was most disappointing was the final boss. Yes you know who, but it a battle which is very similar to the classic game. It was nothing like Super Mario World, with Bowser zooming around in pseudo 3D. For a single player game, you won't be getting much, but for $35 it is not a very big hit to the wallet. I've heard good things about the multiplayer so I will give that the benefit of the doubt. The gameplay is tried and true, just don't expect a new experience and there could have been more levels or a larger variety of them. With that, anyone that enjoys sidescrollers should give it a go.