Well, it’s time to close off femme-month.
I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to speak about more original video game
characters (Lara Croft being the most obvious one missing from the theme), but
to make up for that, here’s a video game character that comes specifically from
the fact that the company couldn’t get a license for what they wanted to do.
Here’s the Giana Sisters for the iPhone.
Playing this game for any amount of time
it’s clear to see that it’s a Mario clone. That is almost no exaggeration, and
with good reason: the creator wanted to port Super Mario Bros. to the commodore
64 but couldn’t get the rights (which is a good business move on Nintendo
considering how big of a system seller it was). How much they actually tried to
obtain it is up for debate, but the… “inspiration” is not hard to see. Just
look up a screen shot of the original game “The Great Giana Sisters” and you’ll
do a double take. Not surprising, but there
was a lawsuit and the series remained dead until this game. Which, shockingly,
was first released on the Nintendo DS!
This may partially be due to the graphics.
Yes, it’s easy to see how this game could be a sequel to the original Commodore
64 game, and many Mario inspired elements have stuck (brick blocks, the star
blocks that look like question mark block, pipes, etc…), but if you look at
this game and a Mario game that came out at the same time, there is a clear
distinction now, especially in scale (as Giana seems tiny) and the look of the
main character.
The original creator of the game Armin
Gessert passed away soon after this game’s released, but there has since been
another Giana game that came out about 3 or 4 years after this one from the
company that now owns the rights. It’s a much more different game that I’ll get
into some other day, and was even created due to a successful kickstarter
campaign. Perhaps what was pretty much a glorified Mario bootleg is going on to
be its own series now.
Despite the changes to the look, there are
still many game play similarities between the Giana Sisters and the Mario Bros.
It’s very much the same platforming game with a more child targeted coat of
paint on it. With that in mind, I’ll go into specifics and small details, as
that’s what separates this game from the other ones you might get
(appropriately enough, this game sits next to Lep’s World on my iPhone).
First off, you run and you jump like in
Mario, but the jump button in this game is an auto fire (handy when you’re
under blocks that give you gems). You have a “punk” form in this game too,
which allows you to take an extra hit and throw fire balls. They don’t bounce,
and while the arc is wider than Mario’s fire, I’d prefer it to go straight
forward. Also, despite having an extra form, Giana can only take one hit out of
punk mode: no tiny version and mushroom rip off. One cool thing for the
platforming is that after you hit some blocks, they fall to the ground and act
like a step for you to get higher.
There are also a few things added to the
game, though again, they are very small aspects. Like many modern platform
games, there are items to find for completion and unlocking extra levels (in
this game: red gems). There’s also a bubble gum item which allows Giana to
float up as long as you don’t hit an obstacle. This isn’t the first game to do
anything like this though (and it might be another Mario rip off, as it’s like
the P. Balloon from Super Mario World). The most original thing might be the
Soda Bottle. Giana will lock her position and release a stream of soda able to
break blocks and push back enemies. I’m surprised this gimmick isn’t used more
often or there wasn’t a level based using it excessively.
That’s really all to say about the Giana
Sisters: if it weren’t for the history behind it, there really wouldn’t be any
reason to talk about the game or series. Not knowing anything about its past,
it would still be easy to play this game and label it a Mario Clone… but it’s a
good quality clone. The graphics and music are actually really good (though the
music is more mystical than appropriate), and while some games trying be Mario
have weird physics, this one is smooth. As one of the more expensive games I’ve
bought on the Apple Store (though apparently the price has gone down), it’s
hard to recommend the game, even though there is a lot to play through. It’s of
great quality, but it doesn’t do anything impressive. I give the Giana Sisters
for the iPhone 8 levels out of 10, and that ends femme-month.
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