Re-live the glory days of the Mario Bros. games in this latest arcade side-scrolling adventure with a twist from the originals.

Practice your arcade game playing skills and try to see how far you can reach in the game gaining a plethora of bonuses, awards and achievements.

Get to play a young Mario look alike as you move from level to level collecting coins as you run and jump your way to save a Princess.



Way back in 1981, an arcade game was released which became so popular among the gaming crowd of the time. It was then ported over from a commercial boxed arcade console to home console systems and the emerging micro-computer market as well. The game was called Donkey Kong and it pitted a squat little character named Mario against a big nasty Gorilla in a game of wits, common sense and fast reflexes.

Donkey Kong will always be remembered throughout video game history but Mario continued to move on. In the succeeding years, this loveable plumber started to re-appear in various games of his own with his brother Luigi. Each iteration usually adheres to the same side-scrolling action packed game style as Mario and Luigi would undertake one side-scrolling adventure after another as the years went by.

Due to the Mario games continuing and ongoing popularity and dominance in the video game industry and despite Nintendo's strict policy with regards to it's intellectual property rights, a lot of Mario like games have appeared all over the world from the similar design concept, look alike art work to the downright almost carbon copy have appeared to either please, frustrate or enrage the gaming industry, community and Nintendo in particular. However though, which ever which way you put it, there are some gaming markets like on-line game stores and others where Nintendo's Mario games are not available. Also, the Mario games are not free2play and these so called copycat or carbon games end up filling that niche.

Some however do make money via the advertising platform thus sparking legal debate on whether the games are being lawfully developed, distributed and shared within the gaming crowd. The legalities however are not the focus of this review but rather the playability and merits of the game itself.

Bob's World - Super Adventure at first glance really looks like a carbon copy of Mario Bros. From the art work to the levels to the objective and down to the character himself, Bob's World screams Mario all over the place. Despite a little difference with game mechanics and controls, the usual actions are still the basic norm of the game. Run left or right, jump on or over, dodge, collect, fire, grab in the air, swim and almost everything one does in a Mario game.

The objective is also very Mario, save the princess. After one level comes another and one has to solve and go through a level to continue unlocking the rest. The coins are also floating around as well and collecting them means game bonuses and being able to use the points at the game's store. Power-ups and shields are scattered throughout the levels and mushrooms are around to replenish one's health. Some of the objects are breakable like bricks, blocks and even platforms.

The levels are delivered with varied environments with some difficult and others much more difficult. Regardless, the graphics and art styles are quite awesome for an arcade platformer of today. The sounds and music though not exactly, sounds very much like Mario and the puzzles will tests one's playing speed and quick thinking as well. Overall, if one plays through it, the game can be really addictive, like going it again and again till you finally reach your goal.

Bob looks so much like a young Mario, with similar get-up, movements and jives so there's no denying the game's blatant similarity to the original. In fact, if you look at it beyond commercial proprietorship, the game looks like an added sequel or extension to the Mario series of games. With the way Bob looks, it would be a safe bet to say that he's probably a nephew or relative of Mario himself.

There are some issues though with regards to the controls and sluggishness of the game. Despite being on screen where one simply taps, swipes or drags when playing on mobile, if you as a gamer are so used to the controls used with the Mario games, chances are you will find it a little bit difficult to get used with Bob's. Also, the game is still on WIP (work in progress) so you may have to wait for more levels to be added. Getting to and grabbing the Princess may still be a long ways off.

The game is a Mario Bros. clone, so we'll just leave it at that. Still, if you want to spend some time re-living the glory days of the brothers plumber, not to mention that it is free2play (with ads though), being a clone or not may not really matter. Not that we condone the obvious copying done but as a game, it does really have it's game play highs. A lot of people are playing it and having lots of fun as well. Should the big N take any action whatsoever in the future is really up to the parties involved. Incidentally, the IOS version of the game on the AppStore looks a way lot different from the original Mario clone.