An unusual retro blast from gaming’s past is getting another shot at infamy on the DS in Europe.
Directly ripping off Super Mario Bros. more than 20 years ago was a bold move for the small group of German developers who concocted The Great Giana Sisters, but it successfully brought side-scrolling “Jump’n’Run” gaming to the Amiga, Commodore 64, Armstrad CPC, and Atari ST for a short time before it was canned. Not content to let the game rest as a virtually unreleased cult classic, dtp entertainment is giving the sisters a makeover for their DS debut next year.
“The Great Giana Sisters was a Jump’n’Run that had everything home computer gamers back then only could experience on video game consoles: a fantastic game world on many different levels that challenged the players’ hand eye coordination skills to their maximum to jump over deep canyons, collect bonuses, and succeed when fighting enemies just by jumping on their back,” said dtp entertainment in a press release about the forthcoming game. Yes, that does indeed sound familiar, doesn’t it?
Original publisher Rainbow Arts had to pull the game shortly after it was launched in the late 80s, due to litigation threats from Nintendo’s legal department. Still, the game survived in limited form thanks to circulated homebrew copies. Spellbound Entertainment, a development studio led by the Giana Sisters‘ original creator, Armin Gessert, is freshening up the game with updated graphics and other features for its DS remake. The game will contain over 80 levels mixing elements of the original with some new designs. The Great Giana Sisters is slated to launch in Europe for the DS in June 2009.
