Mariobama (has somebody made a Mariobama t-shirt yet?)

"My 7 year old son wants to know, "Do you like Super Mario on the Nintendo DS system?""
adadogensco, Cincinnati,OH

"President Obama, have you played the new Grand Theft Auto for the Nintendo DS yet?"
Joey, Chicago, IL

The President is very busy, boys, so let me field these: Mario 64 is an amazing port and one of the best launch titles ever. Still, it's an N64 game. New Super Mario Bros is good-but-not-great, Mario Kart DS is overrated and borderline-broken (snaking!), but it's probably the best multiplayer DS game. There are a bunch of DS Mario games I'm forgetting, but they're not worth mentioning anyway. And Chinatown Wars, honestly? A nice technical achievement that raises the franchise's tired flaws and selfsame missions, and the limitations of the DS hardware, in stark relief. I'd rather play Dopewars.