The game that launched the Mario & Luigi role-playing series in 2003 returns, and it's just as much fun to play now as it was then. No need to worry if you didn't play the original on the Game Boy Advance (or, indeed, hadn't been born) back in 2003, the 3DS version is all that's needed. It has exactly the same simple yet surprisingly subtle game mechanics, silly story and occasionally hilarious dialogue. All wrapped up in better sound, with lovely graphics rebuilt from scratch (which does make the lack of any 3D elements slightly surprising). Mario and Luigi scurry around, getting into (avoidable) fights, getting out of them in rather better shape if they time their jumps properly and level up along the way. And it's all done with three buttons: one for Mario, one for Luigi, and one for both of them at the same time.

For a million reasons, much of it out of anyone's control, the initial crop of games that launches with any brand new console is bound to have some duds. Normally, those unfortunate failures don't warrant a sequel, and second chances are exceedingly rare. System launch games are built on brand new hardware that developers are unfamiliar with. Deadlines are bound in steel because the game's launch is tied to the console's release. And, all while the, the pressure to make something innovative, a game that can show off the possibilities of a new generation of game consoles, is impossibly high.