Giana Sisters DS

Giana Sisters is a reworking of an old Commodore 64 game that itself was a note-for-note ripoff of Super Mario Bros. This new version has updated graphics and sound and around eighty new levels to explore. As far as platformers go, this is as about as derivative as you can get, and yet, the solid controls and cutesy graphics make this one worth playing. There is a very gentle difficulty curve, and it isn’t until about two-thirds the way through the game that things finally start to ramp up and get tricky. If you manage to beat the game you are rewarded with a final challenge level that is actually the original version’s entire set of levels all linked together as a single challenge level. I had a lot of fun with this one and am looking forward to taking on the new incarnation of the series, Twisted Dreams.