8 Video Game Rip-Offs Better Than The Original

6. The Great Giana Sisters (Super Mario Bros.)

Streets of Rage Final Fight
Rainbow Arts/Nintendo

Time Warp Productions' obvious Super Mario Bros. pastiche, The Great Giana Sisters, promoted equality in more ways than just its gender-swapped protagonists; though 'better than' perhaps stretches it a bit, the German platformer was just about as good as its Nintendo influence.

At least, it was for European computer owners of the late '80s aching to adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom. With a port of the console-shifting Mario Bros. to the likes of the Commodore 64 and Atari ST entirely off the cards, The Great Giana Sisters aimed to give joystick wagglers the next best thing. As its impudent boxart made clear ("The brothers are history!"), this was more parody than plagiarism - even if the similarities are a little on the nose.

Too on the nose, in fact, for Nintendo, who impelled Time Warp to withdraw copies from the shops lest they pursue legal action. They certainly had a case to answer: though the title deviates from its influence as it goes on, its opening stage is a tongue-in-cheek reproduction of Mario Bros.' 1-1. The Great Giana Sisters' production was promptly halted before it turned into a more expensive sequel: The Great Giana Cease and Desisters.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.