A rip off, but great anyway (The Great Giana Sisters)

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	The Great Giana Sisters
Date:	16/08/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great gameplay, appealing graphics, superb musical score

Disadvantages: Derivative of the Mario Bros games

The makers of Great Ghiana Sisters were sued by Nintendo for breach of Mario Brothers copyright shortly after their game's release, and its not difficult to see why, as the game borrows shamelessly from Nintendo's classic series, replacing coins with diamonds and plumbers outfits with pigtails.

Great Ghiana Sisters is a simple side scrolling platformer in which you play as a small girl, jumping on top of enemies heads to squash them, and jumping up to hit blocks with your head to receive bonus points and power-ups in the form of rolling orange wheels. The first power up just makes your hair stand on end, whilst the second gives you a projectile weapon in the form of a little blob that homes in on enemies and kills them whenever you press the fire button. As in Mario Brothers you can ascend down pipes to enter underground levels, and the overall format really does feel near-identical.

The enemies are an interesting bunch, consitting of weird little goblin creatures, walking eyeballs and amorphous pink blobs to name a few, and there are well-designed end-of level bossus such as huge flapping dragons to overcome as well. The game does have a very strong charm of its own, creating a unique fantasy world with its distinctive visuals and with some especially brilliant midi music, which is hugely enjoyable and adds to the game immensely, the songs ranging from an urgent and slightly melancholy intro tune, a laid-back, groovy and cheerily melodic number and a martial and bombastic track that warns of impending doom on later levels, all of which I can recall exactly note for note and synth for synth after all these years.

The game is all very derivative I suppose, but is clearly a labour of love all the same, and combined with its charming graphics and sound, the game's responsive controls, engaging tactile feel and challenging level design have made Great Ghiana Sisters a much-loved platform game, court-case be damned.

Summary: Give me Great Ghiana Sisters over Mario Bros any day