Developer(s) – Time Warp Productions
Publisher(s) – Rainbow Arts
Designer(s) – Armin Gessert & Manfred Trenz
PEGI – Not Rated (mild non-graphic violence)
Released back in 1987, The Great Giana Sisters is a 2D side-scroller heavily based on Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. So much so that production was forcefully stopped not long after the release of the game. It has since gone on to develop a cult following among gamers of the home computer era. But after having played it myself, I don’t get the hype. I stumbled upon this story whilst playing one of the more recent games in the series; Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, which I plan to review in the future. But to me, it’s fair to say that the series had far more tenuous origins.
Graphics – 4/10
The first thing that makes this game an obvious rip-off (apart from the title, of course) is the graphics. Using almost identical color palettes and scenery to that of the original Super Mario Bros, the only elements that work to differentiate it from the former are the main character and the enemy designs. Only one of the enemy designs stood out positively for me, which was the pterodactyl enemies that sway from side to side, giving it a different dimension compared to other enemies so to speak. But apart from that, the rest of the enemy designs are only slightly modified versions of Super Mario Bros enemies. And it’s no wonder Nintendo threatened to sue.
Gameplay – 5/10
The gameplay, however, is only partially with value. This is the only reason I can think of that it has garnered as much of a cult following as it has. Again, identical to that of Super Mario Bros, players get 33 levels to traverse through, whilst collecting diamonds and defeating enemies. If I was around at the time, I probably would’ve recommended it to anyone who had played pretty much every platformer out there and they were still looking for something else. If they could get a copy of it before production stopped. But if you were to ask me today, there have been countless side scrollers released since this that I would rather recommend.
Controls – 8/10
An element that makes this stand out to a small extent (though for very much the wrong reasons) is the controls. Movement is much stiffer than that of the original Super Mario Bros. And it’s considerably harder to jump from place to place. Which in a game that relies as heavily on platforming as this does, is a problem. It doesn’t have the worst controls I’ve experienced across games of the home computer era. Or even across other games on the NES, including the original Mega Man. But the stiffness of the controls still comes across as counter-intuitive.
Lifespan – 6/10
Taking about the average amount of time it took to complete a side scroller back in the late 80s, it can be made to last around half an hour. Though most gamers will probably choose to give in after 2 minutes. And just play Super Mario Bros if they want a decent side scroller.
Storyline – 4/10
The game’s story was also similarly lazily handled. It follows Giana, who is trapped in a dream world in search of her lost sister Maria. So in essence, it rips off the gameplay from the original Super Mario Bros and rips off the story of Super Mario Bros 2. Whilst the story would only be explained in manuals at this point in gaming, and would only be minimally expanded upon during the actual game, it still stands out as one of the most generic video game stories of the third generation.
Originality – 0/10
Throughout this review, I have complained extensively about how hardly anything stands out, and the elements that do stand out are for the wrong reasons. There have been Super Mario Bros rip-offs that have been released since. Some do have some small merit to them; for example Super Bernie World. But this has no merit to it in terms of originality. The series would later be miraculously expanded upon for the better. And I do intend to cover some of those other games in the future. But as for where it started, I can’t say enough bad things about it.
Overall, the only positive thing I can say about The Great Giana Sisters is that more and better games would come. It’s a blatant rip-off that was rightfully pulled from the shelves and has languished in obscurity since. And for plenty of legitimate reasons.
Score
27/60
4.5/10 (Mediocre)