Plumbers' Crack by A. Mordente

With the advent of the Nintendo Entertainment System—Famicom as it was also known—we all met and fell in love with the mushroom guzzling, Goomba stomping Mario Brothers. Two less likely game heroes never existed. The mystery of how someone could successfully pitch a game concept in which two mustachioed plumbers jump and stomp their way through the Mushroom Kingdom to save a princess kidnapped by an evil turtle-dragon boggles the mind. Prior to the explosive success of “Super Mario Brothers,” some had seen Mr. Mario featured in a very simple game simply entitled “Mario Brothers” and of course in the classic “Donkey Kong;” but once they became Super, little Mario, née Jumpman, and the ever-loyal Luigi truly came into their own.

A series of equally delectable sequels would follow over the next few years, and when Nintendo’s Game Boy exploded onto the scene the Brothers made the jump to the small screen. Similar to its NES counterparts, “Super Mario Land” was a spunky little side-scroller in which, big surprise, the player must jump through a series of pipe-peppered levels on a quest to save the now legendary princess.

Through the years, the Mario Brothers have jumped from the pixilated simplicity of the NES, the Game Boy, the Super Nintendo, and successfully conquered the 3-D universe on the N-64. On the GameCube, Mario continued to turn heads, and now on Nintendo’s fabulous dual screen, or DS handheld system, the Brothers do not disappoint. With the rare exception of entries like the abominable “Mario Pinball Land” for the Gameboy Advance system, consistently solid titles continue to pop up.

The cycle of simple, yet addictive, crack-like titles continues now with the release of “Mario and Luigi Partners in Time” for the DS system. True to the quirky and distinct flavor of previous Mario RPG’s, such as its obvious predecessor “Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga,” “Partners in Time” delivers an easy to pick up, yet difficult to master combat system and a silly, not too heavy storyline filled with familiar faces: Princess Peach, Koopa, and the Bob-ombs. The game boasts a respectable length, engaging boss battles (which do unfortunately drag on a bit at times) and well-written dialogue. This game should have no trouble snagging even the most casual of Mario enthusiasts with its wonderful all around package of addictive, yet not too committal fun. I give it a very excited Two Bottoms Up.

What does the future hold for everyone’s favorite red and green buddies? We should all be quivering in anticipation for whatever Team Nintendo has in store for us. There is no question that the Mario Brothers are going to be around for a long time and will continue to evolve with the technological advancements that the game industry will throw at them. And now, if you’ll excuse me, my DS is calling to me, I need a fix.