Nintendo: Platformer
In stores: Dec. 12 for Wii, Jan. 1 for SNES

"… Happy birthday dear Mario, happy birthday to you." Nintendo is celebrating 25 years of Mario Brothers by re-releasing Super Mario All-Stars for the Nintendo Wii. Whoever thought a plumber, who began his career chasing a monkey, was destined to lay such a coin-jumping "smackdown" on the gaming universe.

High Spots

• "Train, say your prayers and eat your vitamins …" and maybe practice hopping over a few mushrooms? You will need every advantage you can get as you help Mario and Luigi battle through the ever-classic Super Mario, Super Mario Brothers 2 and 3, as well as Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels. That's a lot of bang for your buck!
• From the arcade to the game system and now to your CD player! The special edition game includes the Super Mario Soundtrack, showcasing the game's best songs and sound effects that guarantees you'll be the Grand Master Mario of any holiday party.
• For the gamer that can't get enough, read about how this instant classic became a true "Hall of Famer," with the Super Mario History Booklet, free with the purchase of the game. (Note: We tried to do the same thing with SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, but the WWE Encyclopedia simply wouldn't exactly fit in the box.)

Hard Bumps

• Though Super Mario All-Stars is a definite must-have for the gaming collector, you could also opt to save your money and just brush the dust off your cartridges. The games on All-Stars are essentially the same exact games released for Super Nintendo in 1993.
• If you have Playstation or Xbox, you're out of luck. Everybody knows that this overall-wearing tag team competes exclusively in the Nintendo arena.
• Acquiring this game is truly a beat the clock challenge, as this "coin-saving" collector's item is only available for a limited time.