In 1987, Rainbow Arts attempted to publish a blatant knock-off of Super Mario Brothers called The Great Giana Sisters, released on a number of home computers. This was great news for gamers who wanted to play SMB, but did not want to shell out for a NES.  Nintendo was not quite so enthusiatic about it though, and managed to lawyer it off the shelf shortly after release, with some versions never even making it that far. But to those who did manage to obtain the game, it holds some nostalgic value. Despite being a blatant clone it was fairly well received and featured music composed by industry veteran Chris Hülsbeck.

A curious thing happened around 2009 when Nintendo allowed a pseudo-sequel of the game on the Nintendo DS. However, the core mechanic of the game was altered slightly. Giana no longer had a sister named Maria, but rather came in two states; a cutey version, and a punk version – each with different abilities.

Now they are back again.

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