Great Giana Sisters coming to DS

By Oli Welsh Published 15 December, 2008

Notorious Mario clone gets a second chance.

Unlikely as it may seem, late-80s collector's item and notorious Super Mario Bros clone The Great Giana Sisters is to get a DS release in Europe next June.

Wired reports that dtp Entertainment is working with developer Spellbound Studios - founded by Giana creator Armin Gessert - to bring the controversial and rare platform game to a Nintendo machine, of all things. It will feature a remixed version of the original soundtrack and updated graphics.

The Great Giana Sisters was released - briefly - for the Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC in 1987, before publisher Rainbow Arts had to withdraw it under legal pressure from Nintendo.

It stars siblings Giana and Maria, who bop blocks to collect power-ups that give them the ability to smash more blocks wit their heads. Not only that, but enemies and even map layouts bear strong similarities to the NES classic, Super Mario Bros.

Derivative it may have been, but Great Giana Sisters was one of the better platform games on home computers at the time. Thanks to widespread piracy, it became a cult hit after it was withdrawn.

20 years on and it seems as though Nintendo's prepared to forgive and forget. Perhaps that's not surprising - Great Giana Sisters wouldn't be the first tribute to Super Mario Bros on the DS, after all.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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