As the early reviews have pointed out, Mario's wardrobe gets a few additions, including the 'Ice Suit,' the incredibly fun 'Propeller Suit,' and the awesomely destructive slide-and-smash 'Penguin Suit.' Mario and his cohorts Luigi and the Toads have also apparently been perfecting their Parkour skills with the inclusion of the 'Super Mario 64' wall jump. Players can either play with the Nunchuk and remote, or can simply rotate the remote sideways to play old-school style. The easy motion controls only come into play periodically, as a simple shake picks up nearby objects, and a tilt to the left or right helps the player move see-saw style platforms.

Team Play: The most appealing addition, though, is the lauded multi-player function. Up to four people can now play at once, eliminating the inevitable fury of yore that arose after watching a skilled player finish the entire game without dying. ("C'mon!! It's MY turn!!") Players now engage in cooperative play, 'Free-For-All,' or the competitive race for money, 'Coin Battle.'

When competing against one another, 'Smash Bros.'-style violence takes place, with hucking shells and picking up and throwing one another off ledges. Despite some reviewers' initial doubts about functionality, the multi-player mode is actually easy to use, as the view smoothly zooms in and out, depending on different players' locations on the screen. Gameplay can be somewhat cumbersome, though, if one gamer wants to hang back in order to search areas for hidden secrets.

Bottom Line: This nostalgic, whimsical, and disturbingly addictive game should definitely make some noise over the holidays, and it's undoubtedly worth the hype, particularly for long-time Mario fans. If you've never been a devotee, though, you might want to stick to 'Modern Warfare.' By the by, if you do purchase 'Mario Bros.', be prepared for side-scrolling visions of flying manta rays and Kameks to dance through your head as you try to fall asleep after an intense session. Somewhere, a gray-haired Pitfall Harry is interrupting his golf clap to wipe a tear from his eye.