Well, the Game Boy Color and Neo Geo Pocket Color have righted that wrong, and glad am I to see justice being done on the portable market. And who could ask for a better showcase on the former portable console than Nintendo's venerable Super Mario Brothers, in an eponymous deluxe form?

Ask, and ye shall receive. Although Super Mario Brothers Deluxe originally started out as a test to see how well NES titles would translate to the small screen, the results were so satisfying that Nintendo decided to make an official port of it, and then some. That's right, kids; for the low, low price of 30 smackeroos, you get an arcade-perfect Super Mario Brothers, the Lost Levels, an all-new Challenge mode, a Versus racing mode, a 1P racing mode (against Boo), and a host of omake that range from a fortune-telling "minigame" to a calendar. And, if that isn't enough, those with Gameboy Printers can unlock scores of banners and art to gronk out on their little dot matrix geegaw. Obviously, Nintendo went to the line and delivered, HARD CORE.

Now, a little discussion is definitely in order. The Super Mario Brothers mode is titled "Original 1985" and sports all 32 levels from the classic NES pack-in. The only noticable difference to these aging eyes is the fact that the screen scolls in 4 directions, instead of just left and right, to accomodate the lower resolution of the GBC screen. This can add a bit more complexity to play, since, in the later areas, you will find yourself tapping down every now and then to see if your jump has solid footing at the end of its arc. Other than that change, all the tricks seem to work, and all the secrets have been flawlessly recreated, right down to the 100 1-Up glitch in World 3-4.

The Challenge Mode is a new addition, which takes all 32 levels, alters their layout a bit, and puts you in them with the goal of finding all of the hidden coins as opposed to rushing through to the flagpole. Featuring a play style of the scavenger hunt variety seen in Mario 64 (only in 2D), you'll have to really work to not only beat the sickeningly high level scores (to get the "S" coin), but to obtain the 5 red coins and the even more elusive Yoshi coin. Expect to waste quite a few hours trying to figure out how to bop baddies and snatch coins in a short enough time to beat the level score - you'd better know how to snag the 5K bonus and flash the six fireworks at the end of the level if you even hope to come close. If you didn't even understand that last line, you're gonna have your work cut out for you.

The Versus Mode pits you against a link-up competitor (who must also have a copy of SMB Deluxe handy), in a mad dash to reach the end of the chosen level first. The levels have been radically altered, with switches added that allow you to turn on and off rows of blocks. Timing and trickery are your friends moreso than speed is; cutting off your enemy or dropping him to his death with a well-timed whack of a face block will be the technique of choice.

If you manage to score over 300K in the Original Mode, Luigi's disembodied noggin will appear on the select screen and you'll be able to access "Super Mario Brothers for Super Players," i.e. the Lost Levels. Prepare to feel the hurt as those skills you used to smack Bowser down in the original version get put through the wringer, but also get ready for a whole new array of secret levels, including Worlds 9 and A. You will NOT be clearing these 32+ new levels any time soon, I guarantee.

Finally, if you don't have a pal to play against, you can select the visage of "Boo" (a slightly demented looking ghost) for a little CPU racing madness over eight levels. Since the game "ghosts" your best performance and saves it, Boo will always be a significant challenge.

Aaaaaaand if all that just isn't enough, your performance in the Original and Challenge modes will unlock new secrets in the Album and Toy Box areas, including the aforementioned Fortune Telling game as well as a variety of hints for the Challenge mode and scores of cool images ripe for printing. Also included is a Calendar and Date Manager, which has features unlock as you progress. Secrets abound within and without the game; Nintendo has expressly catered to gamers in making SMB Deluxe a truly "deluxe" package.

Now, for a little bit of technical observation:

Although the graphics are dated in terms of current console technology, the tile-based, sprite-driven environments look right at home on the Game Boy Color. Clear and eminently distinguishable, with an eye-pleasing consistency of style, only the most fevered of technophiles will take issue with the backgrounds and character sprites. No touch-up or extra effects have been added, as they were in Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES, but that's fine; the smooth scrolling and clarity have been retained, with almost no loss whatsoever incurred during the translation to a portable format. In fact, there's less sprite flicker (if any) in this version than in the NES version; the GBC's extra horsepower is definitely being utilized.

The sound is flawlessly recreated, and 100 percent classic. If you don't know what Mario sounds like, then God help you: the aliens that abducted you during the early Reagan era have dropped you in the 1990's. I sure hope that rectal probe was worth it.

If you don't know how to play a Mario game, then, well, it's time to unseal that bunker you've been living in for the past fifteen years and catch a little sunlight. For our temporally dislocated friends, Super Mario Brothers works like this: you are Mario, a fat plumber with the ability to jump to heights even Michael Jordan might envy. You get sucked into an LSD nightmare of a universe where mushrooms either kill you or double your size; where flowers make you hurl napalm death and giant pipes host either monstrous floral carnivores or gateways to dimensions filled with sparking gold coins; where smacking stone blocks will elicit money or skybound vines; and where a race of giant terrapins has kidnapped the local princess, under the edict of a fire-spitting monster named "Bowser." It's the sorta thing takes takes whole QUARTS of vodka to envision, and it's all on your Game Boy Color. Having come to terms with this reality, you run through a side-scrolling level, using the "B" button to hop on monster's heads and moving platforms, and the "A" button to run (or hurl fireballs). In every 4th level, you will eventually encounter this "Bowser," whereby you will either pelt him to death with fireballs or jump over/run under him and strike an axe-like marker, sending him to a firey doom as bridge-like place of residence collapses beneath his feet. Surreal? Hey, that's half the fun. At least you don't have to put with a hangover after experiencing it.

Other than the four-way scrolling, I find very little to criticise about Super Mario Brothers Deluxe. Some of the truly new-school may take offense at the fact that the game doesn't sport any blood or gunplay, and the truly old-school may not like the fact that your progress is now saved after every level (no more iron man sessions where every 1-Up counts, unless you regularly delete the saves), but, overall, it's an excellent package that will only turn off folks who absolutely hate platformers or Mario. The graphics are certainly on par (if not aesthetically superior) to most games on the GBC, and the gameplay crushes that of every GBC platformer out there save perhaps Wario Land II.

Super Mario Brothers Deluxe is a game that should be purchased by any and all Game Boy Color owners out there. More than simply proof positive that Miyamoto's genius endures (and probably shines all the more) in this day and age of over-filtered polygon environments and three-dee graphic effects, this little 8 megabit cart really delivers in terms of pure fun. While most of us weaned on the NES will crush the 32 levels of the first game effortlessly, the Challenge modes and Lost Levels will more than test our skills, engaging us in many, many hours of simple but always enjoyable play. Along with Zelda DX, this title demonstrates that portable technology has reached the point where hardware no longer actively works against the overall experience, and that we, as gamers, no longer need to accept the compromises that come with blurry scrolling and short battery life. Now, it's all about the game. Bring on Crystalis DX and Zelda Deluxe!