Scoring Note: All categories will be marked out of 10.

Story: 6

Not much origianality here. Rescue the princess, beat up Bowser and the Koopa Kids, blah blah blah, it's just an incarnation of Super Mario Bros. 3., except this time it takes place in Dinosaur Land where Mario, Luigi, and Peach are going on holiday. She is separated from the Mario Bros. and they find an egg containing a dinosaur called "Yoshi" whose friends havee been kidnapped by "strange turtles". Of course Mario and Luigi must rescue them.

Graphics: 6

Another poor category. While the backgrounds look okay, Luigi just looks like Mario wearing different clothes.The Koopa Kids? Lemmy's yellow, Morton's green, Ludwig's also yellow, Roy's blue, and Iggy just looks strange. The Goombas have no body and aren't the weakest baddies (*gasp*). Nintendo would have been better off staying with Super Mario Bros. 3 graphics.

Sound: 6

Am I being harsh? Let's face it, the underworld theme is annoying (beat only by the Super Mario Bros. 2 theme for worst one ever), half the land tunes are the same, and the ones that aren't do my head in. The fortress theme stinks, as does the ghost house. The underwater one is okay, but it's no match for the mighty Super Mario Bros. 3 one. The overworld themes are okay, but not the best ever.

Characters: 9

While many baddies were scrapped from Super Mario Bros. 3, there are a lot of characters in the game, including the Koopa Kids (yay), not to mention this was Yoshi's first appearence (yay), and that moron Toad wasn't in it (yay).

Items: 8

There's a fair number of items in the game, but not nearly as many as in Super Mario Bros. 3. The Super Leaf was replaced by the Feather, which is more difficult to use but more useful. Yoshi is sort of an item, and my favorite of the game.

Gameplay: 10

The game plays really well and is enjoyable to play through over and over again. I'd say the gameplay is a match for Super Mario Bros. 3.

Lifespan: 9

Okay, you can take the easy way to Bowser, which will take you about an hour or less, or you can go through all the Koopa Kids' Kastles (couldn't resist that), and even after you've beat the King of the Koopas there's still Star Road, the Special World, and some secret exits to tackle.

Replayability: 9

Better than Super Mario Bros. 3 as this time, after you defeat Bowser, there's bound to be some secret exits you've left, and some levels you haven't played, not to mention the game has a 2-player so you and your friends can enjoy playing it over and over again.

Frustration Factor: 8

Let's face it, that Tubular level is VERY annoying, Soda Lake was packed full of Torpedo Teds, getting into Soda Lake was just as tough as beating it, oh, and did I mention Valley Fortress?

Fun Factor!: 9

Sure, the game can be frustrating at times, but the fun of the game darkens out the frustration of it. The game is fun to play over and over again.

Recommendation: If you can stick with deformed Koopa Kids, a Luigi who looks like Mario, and some of the most annoying music ever, then get it. Otherwise, stick with 3.

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