Rent it.
There's no getting past the fact this game is straight fun, no story to worry about, no complex controls, if you've played one Mario game, you should be able to tackle this one, it's easier then a bicycle.
Now, I may say alot of negative things, but take into light that there's only so much I can focus on with the good, this is a simple game, with a simple purpose, and that's a good thing, but now, after having it for over a week, I'd suggest a few things to those thinking about purchasing it.
One. It's really short. I mean, really, really short. Being as how this game is straight forward, there aren't really any side quest. It's probably the shortest Mario game I can think of, 1, 2, 3, and World were all seemingly longer, and harder for that matter.
An extension of being shorter, is that the game is extremely easy, you're going to find extra lives every where, and it's not like you'll be using all that many of them up.
It's a solid game, again, I need to reiterate that, but you can probably beat it all, unlocking the extra two worlds included, within a week, or the time of a rental easily. It just doesn't do much to out do the previous titles of the series, World, 3, easily out do this one.
Another thing I think that holds this game back is that it really tries to go back to its' roots. Where as every Mario game before it was an improvement on the last, 1, 2, 3, World, 64, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, all borrowed elements from the games before themselves and tried to improve upon them to make a better game. This game doesn't necessarily do that. There's no flying power up, and the new power ups, which include the shell suit, and mini-Mario, are pretty 'effin lame. Mega Mario is cool, no doubt, but that's about it.
What else... Hmmm, I haven't tried the multi-player, but it offers enough mini-games to be considered a Mario Party in its' own right, and Nintendo could have easily sold them to us as so, so there's a reason to give it a better score.
All things considered, this game is fun for the first week, then fairly weak sauce, little replay value.
I'd sooner get one of the Mario Advance titles, such as 3 or World, both superior titles.
Sorry, the reviewers let the first few hours of this game go to their head, they should have to play it again and see if it has the same appeal.
Plus
+ Good ole fashion Mario.
+ Simplistic game play
+ Wireless Mini-games, almost a game on their own.
+ Mega-Mario power up.
Minus
- Goes a little to far back
- Doesn't do anything to out do the series.
- Easiest game in the series.
- Short
- Little to none replay value.
- Earlier titles in the series easily better (3 and World)
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