"This isn't the game I thought it would be."

The game: Guide Mario through 100 different mazes that consist of goombas, koopa troopas, and other baddies.

Graphics: 7: Graphics are fairly simple for this game. Since this is Virtual Boy the only colors you get are several shades of red, but everything looks pretty good any ways. Mario is easy to distinguish from his enemies. Most of the levels look about the same, but as you progress they add more obstacles such as falling icicles and different enemies, but everything looks really simple and nothing really spectacular shown off, except for the game's opening cinematics of the castle.

Sound: 5: All the classic Mario sounds are here. There really isn't much background music during game play, just sound effects, all are well done like the jumping, clashing, kicking, etc. But most of the sound effects are fairly simple and not that impressive. Some added voice samples would've been greatly appreciated.

Gameplay: 7: Well here's the story: The koopas and all of Bowser's subjects have invaded the castle of the Mushroom Kingdom, and you have to go through 100 different stages to get to the end of the game. Thankfully, you can start off on any level you choose to do so, but I'd recommend practicing in the first few easy levels so you can get the hang of things. For game play, Mario runs through different pipes, and his object is to clear the screen of all the baddies, by jumping on them and kicking them off into the pipes, most of the baddies here are from the NES Mario games like the goombas, koopas, and so on, but there are some new baddies too. As you progress through the levels, more baddies are added to each level, and certain obstacles are added like falling icicles and flying fireballs to make the challenge even higher. So this is just basically a puzzle type game, and those looking for your usual Mario type side scrolling adventure will be disappointed.

Replay Value: 5: Well, the game is really challenging to play, and it involves great strategy and thinking on your part to succeed in the game. But to the average gamer, this game will seem too long, too boring, and too hard. Plus there's nothing special added to the game like a 2 player mode or something, you always got to have plenty of extras like mini games or something to get people hooked to the game, but oddly Nintendo didn't include any to please us.

Overall: 6: A fun Mario game, but will get boring right away within a few days because of how long it is and the lack of extras. I only recommend this game to people who're looking for some real strategy and for hardcore Mario fans.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/00, Updated 04/13/00