Mario moves to 3D with simplicity and elegance.

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1) When Shigeru Miyamoto was originally working on the first Mario, it was originally code named "Jumpman". The game was meant to be a game where you run around, jump across platforms and meneuver through an obstacle course to get through each level. That concept is what made the original Mario tons of fun to do, and that is what makes it fun still.

2) The music just screams out fun. It's got a catchy beat, a catchy melody, and just puts a happy fun smile on your face.

3) Mario's personality is very fun and likeable. When you run around and jump he says things like "Wee! Yahoo! Yee Heee!", and when he dies he says, "Ah, Mumma Mia," and when he is in his idle animation he says "imma tired. night night. ahh, spaghetti... ahh, ravioli... ahh.. mumma mia..." It's very cute and lovable, especially for kids.

4) Uniquely different bosses, each with their own unique personalities, and uniquely fun ways to beat them.

5) The semi-set camera angles system is a good idea.

6) Running through an obstacle course, and figuring out how to go through that course as you venture through it, employs a seamless combination of action and strategy.

7) Each world has it's own unique theme: ice, field, water, fire, castle, etc. Each theme presents a new type of environment for the player to explore and experience.

8) Nice use of environmental effects (falling snow, changing music, swimming fishes, etc.)

9) This game has a nice help system. Everytime you start on a new course it gives you an objective to complete; a new star to collect.

10) The layout of the game is pretty nice. Going through each individual course within each painting world and collecting a star, rather than progressing through the game level by level. It's not quite as linear as previous Jumpman Mario's.

11) In many 3D platform games, the player spends a lot of time monotanously walking from place to place. Not so with this game. You can always use Mario's super flying jump to bolt across the turrain at amazing speeds.

12) This game looks and sounds so cool when you see or hear it from across the room.

13) Seeing coins and grabbin' 'em adds more player gratfication, and adds to the fun factor.

14) Having some of the course entrances hidden in the walls makes the player feel better about herself when she finds them. It's like, "I'm cool! I found a secret entrance!" There are a few other hidden things in the game that revolve around the same concept.

15) Unlike some other platformers, this game focuses more on jumping, stomping, and manuevering through parts of an obstacle course, whereas others tend to focus more on walking. I think that jumping, stomping, etc, is much more fun than walking or running around. The layout of the levels is very good, and protects against the player walking too much.

16) Each course was very simple and never too complex. They also efficiently used the space to get the most fun out of a small area.

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1) The font for the text is way too small and difficult to read.

2) Text instead of voice acting

3) It's a little too fun and happy for adults to handle. The appeal to an adult audience isn't there so much because it's happy cutesy wootsy.

4) The camera angles make the game confusing a lot of the time. Sometimes I just beg for a world map. Or maybe the levels could just be redesigned so it doesn't get so confusing.

5) The story's pretty bad. Mario has to save the princess from the evil bowser. Pretty unexciting there. Although I suppose it doesn't really matter that much. After all, this isn't Mario RPG, it's Jumpman Mario.

6) The jumping into paintings thing is a bit strange. I would much rather have the game be more like an adventure where you venture from one place to the next, kind of like in zelda.

7) This is a very reactive, very action-oriented game, and when you have a game of this type, the transition from death to life should be very fast and seamless. It's not very seamless in this game.

8) This game often requires too much precision. You really have to be in a ready-to-play mood to play this game. You can't play it to unwind or relax, you have to play it when you're pumped to have fun and enjoy a though challenge. The difficulty level is also too high in the later levels, which is very wrong because this game is intended for a children's audience. The game also throws you back too far when you make one wrong move. A lot of times I will be making my way through the obstacle course to get the star, and then I make one wrong move and have to go all the way back to the beginning. It gets very frustrating when you have to go back that far for making one tiny little error, especially in the later levels where it gets very challenging and you get thrown back multiple times. The game does a really good job of telling you that you suck, which is a very unentertaining thing to hear.

9) The camera angles get so bad sometimes that it is very difficult to see where I'm supposed to maneuver, or which direction I should push the control stick. A lot of times I think to myself, "I hope Mario's pointed in the right direction."