The Super Mario games have had a lot of influence down through the years and as a result there is no shortage of parodies built by fans that stay faithful to the originals by differing margins. Blue Twilight has been made as the unofficial continuation of the last Mario game under the pretence that just as the Italian plumber saved the princess once again, she was snatched away by a ghostly figure that Mario must now find and thwart.

As you make your way through the game you'll notice Mario making some strange sound effects whether he's celebrating finding a mushroom or jumping in any of a variety of ways. The system for his power level is taken from Mario 3D and works by giving him six "strikes", in the form of segments in a circle, before losing a life. We would have preferred to see the traditional system whereby the hero grows by eating mushrooms and shrinks when hit by an enemy, but then again, segments work too.

One of the things that make the Super Mario games what they are is the movement and abilities of the characters. In this respect Blue Twilight strays slightly away, with the result that it doesn't quite feel like you are playing Mario but some other, clunkier impostor. For example, the clone "Mario Forever" hits the spot when it comes to character physics and so feels like the real deal, making it that bit more playable. Nonetheless, Blue Twilight is fun to play and will appeal to most fans if not for the gameplay then for the unmistakable Nintendo-style music.