It's a-me, a-Mario!
For the younger and artistically minded Super Mario fans out there, this electronic colouring book is an unalloyed delight. It's a far cry from Mario's usual platforming adventures and is instead another in the long line of colouring games starring various famous and not-so-famous characters. Other entries in the series include the likes of Inspector Gadget and All Dogs Go to Heaven so if you are familiar with any of these, you'll know exactly what to expect from this one. As is par for the course in the franchise, the game is basically a series of blank scenes starring the legendary plumber and his friends, including Bowswer, Princess Toadstool and even Link from the Legend of Zelda. The pictures all need to be coloured in by the enthusiastic wannabe artist, and there is a palette of some 16 basic colours available but which can be mixed for a total of 256 shades. Actually colouring in the pictures is pretty simple stuff, requiring little more than a bit of colour selection and then clicking on the chosen section, which is then filled in for you. There's a little bit of educational value to the game too, as the pictures come with brief descriptions of various jobs which helps young learners to get acquainted with real world professions. A few of the scenes are also lightly animated while you can also add things like calenders, messages and descriptions to your pictures. If you are after what is basically an electronic colouring book and you have an avid Mario fan in the house, you really can't go wrong with this. It's simple enough stuff but should keep the little ones absorbed for hours so check it out by all means.
