In case you have been hiding the world from you in the past 20 years, the Mario Franchise has dominated video gaming markets since Mario Bros became the best platformer ever on the SNES. Not to mention donkey kong etc beforehand! It was, however, since the original NES games where Mario really came into its own. It completely revolutionalised the genre in the third installment and then launched the SNES on its way to stardom on its release as well.

And then comes this. The first three NES Mario games all bundled onto one cartridge along with "The Lost Levels" - basically it was super mario bros 2 in Japan and an extremely difficult (but similarily styled) sequel to the first game. The second game in this was apparently a different game in Japan called doki doki panic with Mario characters as a quirk. At least thats my understanding - its all very complicated. Anyway - about the games and this release:

Super Mario Bros: Somewhat more static in handling than Super Mario World, this game set the pace for other Marios. The warps are a little easy to find though and at times the control just doesnt seem that fluent.

Super Mario Bros 2 aka Doki Doki Panic: Basically, a mental mental game. Pull out vegetables and chuck em at baddies. Very intruguing game and truthfully, very enjoyable but nothing like the other Marios!

Super Mario Bros 3: Ah - he can fly - he can fly! Major upgrade in graphics and gameplay here and lots of little quirks and subgames make this the best game in the pack - thoroughly enjoyable and very large although not particularily difficult. For the time, it was truely a breakthrough in every aspect of the game.

The Lost Levels: Not actually my favourite of the games - didnt find it quite as hard as the advertising would have me believe but then again, how difficult can a Mario game get? Look out for a major annoyance after you finish it - bloody game just never ends! It's more long than hard.

Super Mario World was also bundled with all the above in a cartridge to be released at a later date but I see little point in reviewing it again so you can see my other reviews for that particular game. All in all, the primary advange is cost - for what this is to be bundled in one cartridge is dirt cheap. However, I wouldnt bang about the battery backup too much because I find it very unreliable but i still think its a good, cheap feature to have in a game. Particularily if it WORKS! hehe. Its an excellent budget bundle and the sheer mass of gaming content should keep you occupied until you're sick to the teeth of mario (as if!) - highly recommended!!