Two Mario games I am looking forward to playing later this year

I am really looking forward to getting my hands on the next two Mario games due out on the Nintendo Wii U console: "Super Mario 3D World" (the follow-on to the 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land) which will be released in November, and "Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games" (the follow-on to the Wii and 3DS game Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games", which will be released at the end of the year.

I suspect I'm not the only person eagerly awaiting the games either, especially the first one - it looks like "Super Mario 3D World" is going to be the biggest and best Mario game ever, even better than the awesome Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Friday the 13th fun and games

Today is Friday the 13th of September, 2013. Although I don't actually believe in superstitious things such as Friday the 13th "bad luck", I do like the horror movie series based on the day.

Just for the fun of it, I have posted links to some great free horror-themed online games for you to play today (or any other day for that matter) over on my WordPress Personal Blog. Enjoy!

MarioWebGames.com and SonicWebGames.com - Part 3

Here is part 3 of my short series of game recommendations highlighting the best of MarioWebGames.com and SonicWebGames.com (see also part 1 and part 2):

MarioWebGames.com

  Mario's Adventure 2

  Bullet Bill 2


SonicWebGames.com

  Sonic Match-It

  Sonic Chaos Crush (Sonic Breakout)

New Super Luigi U is released in Europe today

"New Super Luigi U" is out on the Nintendo Wii U in Europe today. It will be released in Australasia tomorrow and North America later next month.

It is a downloadable content package for "New Super Mario Bros. U" that changes Luigi into the main character, replaces Mario with Nabbit (who is a bad guy in the original game), and alters all the game levels to have their time limit reduced by 100 seconds. Sounds like great fun!

If you like "freebies", you will be delighted to know that there are loads of great free Flash online games featuring Luigi in the MarioSonicGames.com and MarioWebGames.com websites, five of which you can play here:

  Luigi's Revenge

  Luigi's Day

  Luigi - Castle on Fire

  Luigi Vlax

  Luigi's Mansion

Flash(y) Online Games

Built by a very good friend of mine, here is a totally awesome free Flash online games site that I am absolutely certain you will love to visit over and over again:

FlashyOnlineGames.com - Play the best free Flash games on the internet, and download free Wallpaper

The main reason you will like this site so much is because it contains the very best collection of Cartoon and Movie games on the web, in addition to all the traditional arcade and puzzle games you would expect from a free Flash online games site. For example, you will find many brilliant games in the following sections:

Disney Games
(including Bolt: Run Bolt, Run)

Pixar Games
(including Toy Story: Operation Alien Rescue)

DreamWorks Games
(including Shrek: Shrek Shreds)

Cartoon Network Games
(including Tom and Jerry: Tom's Trap'o'Matic)

Nickelodeon Games
(including Power Rangers: Red Hot Rescue)

Oh, and just in case you want to play even more great free games, FlasyOnlineGames.com has a "sister" site too - LightningCarsGames.com.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is out on the Nintendo 3DS in the UK today

The latest Mario game for the Nintendo 3DS, "Mario & Luigi: Dream Team", is released in the UK and the rest of Europe today. It will be released in Australasia tomorrow and North America early next month.

It is the fourth entry in the "Mario & Luigi" series of Mario RPG games, which feature turn-based gameplay rather than the traditional platforming/free-roaming style of regular Mario games. One of the biggest changes in this game compared to previous versions is that players are now able to save their game progress anywhere on the overworld, as well as via Save Blocks.

Presumably you're a Mario and Luigi fan since you are reading this blog, so you might like to know that there are loads of great free Mario and Luigi Flash games for you to play in the MarioWebGames.com website.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX will be released next month

Nintendo's latest Mario arcade game, "Mario Kart Arcade GP DX", will be launched in Japan next month. It is the third "Mario Kart Arcade GP" title. It will have 10 newly designed courses and incorporate features of Mario Kart 7 such as the ability to use hang-gliding attachments for the karts, and the ability to drive underwater.

Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move is out tomorrow

The first Nintendo 3DS Mario game released exclusively via download from the Nintendo eShop, "Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move", is released in the UK, the rest of Europe and North America tomorrow. It is the fifth installment in the "Mario vs. Donkey Kong" series.

I am a massive Donkey Kong fan - I still own the wonderful "Donkey Kong Game & Watch" LCD handheld game made by Nintendo in 1982 - so I am always happy when new official games featuring the character are released. Some great free Donkey Kong Flash games are listed below for your enjoyment, and there are loads of great free Mario games for you to play in the MarioWebGames.com website:

  Donkey Kong: Banana Barrage

  Donkey Kong Jr. Game & Watch

  Donkey Kong II Game & Watch

MarioWebGames.com and SonicWebGames.com - Part 2

Here, as promised last month in part 1, is part 2 of my game recommendations highlighting the best of MarioWebGames.com and SonicWebGames.com:

MarioWebGames.com

  Paper Mario World

  Super Smash Bros. Flash

  Tuper Tario Tros

  Super Mario Remix


SonicWebGames.com

  Sonic Xtreme 2

  Sonic Sky Chase Zone

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon is released on the 3DS in the UK today

"Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon" for the Nintendo 3DS is out in the UK, the rest of Europe and Australasia today, having already been released in North America at the end of last week.

The game is the direct sequel to 2001's "Luigi's Mansion" for the Nintendo GameCube. It includes a cooperative multiplayer mode that can either be played locally or online via the Nintendo Network.

Since you're currently online reading this, you might like to have a quick play of the excellent free Luigi (and Mario) online games in the MarioWebGames.com website.

MarioWebGames.com and SonicWebGames.com - Part 1

Further to my post in January about two great new Mario and Sonic online game sites - MarioWebGames.com and SonicWebGames.com - I thought I'd run a short series of game recommendations highlighting the best of both sites. So, without further ado, here is part 1 for you to have a play with:

MarioWebGames.com

  New Super Mario Bros. Flash

  Super Mario 63

  Super Mario Sunshine 64

  Super Mario Crossover


SonicWebGames.com

  Ultimate Flash Sonic

  Sonic Lost in Mario World

  Shadow the Hedgehog

  Super Sonic Pinball

Part 2 will follow soon.

Two great new Mario and Sonic sites

Hopefully, since you're reading this blog, you have already visited the MarioSonicGames.com site and played all the free Mario and Sonic online games there.

If you want to play even more of those games, check out these two great new sites - one is just for Mario games, the other is just for Sonic games, and both have lots of new releases:

Play Super Mario Bros. games at MarioWebGames.com

Play Sonic the Hedgehog games at SonicWebGames.com

Enjoy!

Paper Mario: Sticker Star is out on the Nintendo 3DS today and tomorrow

"Paper Mario: Sticker Star" is released on the Nintendo 3DS in the UK, Europe and Australasia today and tomorrow, having already been released in North America earlier last month.

This is the fourth game in the "Paper Mario" series, and is the first Paper Mario game for the 3DS (or any handheld console for that matter).

Here are two superb free Flash online Paper Mario games (from MarioSonicGames.com) for you to play right here:

  Paper Mario World

  Paper Mario World 2

Nintendo Wii U and New Super Mario Bros. U are out today!

Nintendo's new gaming console, the Wii U, is released throughout the PAL zone today (i.e. Australia, New Zealand and most of Asia, Africa, South America and Europe). Hooray!

It is the replacement for the original Wii, and is the first eighth generation console - Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One will be the other ones, but they won't be launched for another year. See the excellent Wikipedia article about it for more information.

One of the most eagerly awaited launch games for the Wii U is "New Super Mario Bros. U", the fourth game in the "New Super Mario Bros." series, and the direct sequel to "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" that was released back in 2009. It is the first High Definition Mario game, and up to 5 players can play simultaneously, so it certainly sounds like it will be a true family game.

You don't need to rush out and buy yourself the new console and game to be able to enjoy some New Super Mario fun though. There are lots of brilliant free Flash online versions of the classic Super Mario Bros. games available in the MarioSonicGames.com site, and you can play five of them right here:

  New Super Mario Bros. Flash

  Super Flash Mario Bros.

  Monolith's Mario World

  Super Mario World Flash

  Classic Mario Bros.
(the last game above is a Flash version of the first ever Mario Bros. game)

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is released this month

"Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed" will be released worldwide on all the major consoles (except the Nintendo 3DS) during the course of this month. (The 3DS version will be out in February next year.)

It is the sequel to "Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing", the fourth installment in the "Sega Superstars" series, and the eighth racing game in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series overall.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is out on the Nintendo 3DS in the UK today

"New Super Mario Bros. 2" for the Nintendo 3DS is released in the UK and the rest of Europe today, and will be released in Australasia and North America during the next two days.

The game, a traditional 2D side-scrolling Mario platformer, is a direct sequel to "New Super Mario Bros." released in 2006 on the Nintendo DS. It has a heavier emphasis on coin-collecting than other Super Mario games - the game's ultimate goal is to collect one million coins. Sounds like quite a challenge!

There is a brilliant free online version of a classic Super Mario Bros. game which you can play for free here: New Super Mario Bros. Flash Online Game. You can play as either Mario or Luigi, and there is also a level editor you can use to create and save your own levels.

There are hundreds more great free Super Mario Bros. online games for you to play in the MarioSonicGames.com website.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode 2 is out today

"Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode II", the long-awaited sequel to 2010's Episode I, is out now and can be purchased and downloaded via PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. It should also be available for iOS and Android over the next few weeks.

As with Episode 1, the new game is a 2D platformer inspired by the original 1990s Sonic the Hedgehog games on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. An additional episode, "Episode Metal", is available for those who purchase both episodes on the same system. That's very nice of Sega!

You can play some free Flash online versions of the classic 2D Sonic games over at the MarioSonicGames.com website.

Mario Party 9 is out today on the Nintendo Wii in the US

"Mario Party 9" for the Nintendo Wii is released in North America today, having already been released in Europe and Australasia last week.

It is the second Mario Party game for the Wii, the ninth on all Nintendo home consoles, and (slightly confusingly given the name of the new game) the twelfth overall.

As with all the previous games in the series, the new one features a variety of classic Mario franchise characters which two to four people can play as, competing in a virtual board game interspersed with minigames. There are 80 minigames in Mario Party 9, which have a larger focus on gameplay than they did in the previous game, divided into four categories: Free-for-all, 1-vs.-Rivals, Bowser Jr., and Boss.

Sounds like a lot of fun to me!

The 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics is now out

Further to my post about the release of the Wii version of the game in November last year, the Nintendo 3DS version of "Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games" is now available in North America, Europe and Australasia.

Happy New Year for 2012!

That's 2011 over with then, the year that saw Mario's 30th Anniversary and Sonic's 20th. That was all a lot of fun. Here's to another happy and prosperous year this year!

Mario Kart 7 is out on the Nintendo 3DS today and tomorrow

"Mario Kart 7" is released on the Nintendo 3DS in the UK, Europe and Australasia today and North America tomorrow. Hooray - an almost simultaneous worldwide release for once (it was released in Japan yesterday)!

This is the first Mario Kart game for the 3DS, and is the follow-on to the hugely successful "Mario Kart Wii" which was released back in 2008.

New gameplay features include hang-gliding attachments for the karts, the ability to drive underwater, the ability to fully customize the vehicles, and support for both local and online multiplayer modes for up to eight players. Wow!

To keep you going until you can get hold of a copy of this great new game (if you haven't already got one), here are a couple of silly but fun Flash online Mario Kart games from the MarioSonicGames.com site which you can play here:

  Mario Kart Racing

  Super Mario Kart Xtreme

Super Mario 3D Land is released on the 3DS in the UK today

"Super Mario 3D Land" is out on the Nintendo 3DS in the UK and Europe today. It was released in North America last week, and will be out in Australasia next week.

This is the first Mario game for the excellent 3DS handheld console, and as such it is the first ever Mario game in 3D (of course). It is also a new type of Mario game, combining elements from the traditional 2D side-scrolling Mario games with the more modern free-roaming 3D Mario games.

Early reviews for it are very positive indeed, so it's bound to be a top seller. Sounds absolutely brilliant, and I can't wait to have a go!

If reading about this potentially revolutionary new game has made you fancy a quick play of a classic Super Mario Bros. game, here are four excellent free Flash online versions (two of them with interesting twists) courtesy of the MarioSonicGames.com site:

  Super Mario Sunshine 64

  Mario's Adventure 2

  Super Mario: A Koopa's Revenge

  Super Mario: Bullet Bill 2