Mario Clash

Mario Clash is actually like the Mario Bros. arcade game, but with a 3-D environment. Like Wario Land, it plays on the background and foreground, but you use the pipes on the sides of the screen to switch between them. The goal is to jump on the turtles that come from the top of the screen and throw them at the other enemies coming from the sides of the screen. Some enemies you have to throw turtles just left and right, but most of the enemies have to be killed by throwing the turtle shells at the enemies in the background / foreground, depending on where you are standing. The game is very simple and has a variety of enemies and stage elements like fireballs and icy platforms. It's quite an addicting game and lets you choose from 40 levels on the title screen. But, like most Virtual Boy games, you can only play them for about 10 - 15 minutes before you get headaches or just do what I do and set a video camera in front of the screen and hook it up to your TV where you'll be able to play any Virtual Boy game from start to finish.

The sounds are unique. The music is pretty catchy. The graphics for a red display are pretty good. Most of the characters in the game come from other Mario games, like Goombas, Pokeys, Koopas, Boos, Fireballs, and Spinys.

The controls are the only thing that I had problems with. Like any Mario fan, you would expect A to jump and B to throw or run. Well, in this game, B is jump, A is throw, L is run, and R is the other jump button. You can press all the buttons to do a soft reset which I have done on accident a few times.

All in all, it's a great improvised version of an arcade classic. The only downside is that it's on the dreaded Virtual Boy which would be bad if the Virtual Boy had a video out.