It's OK for a game to be derivative — when it's derived from awesomeness. This is the same loopy, addictive side-scrolling action Mario has been serving up for some time now, but it's never looked better. The graphics are bright and clean, with just a touch of 3D, and the music is funky-fresh. And there are still surprises — you never know when you're going to pop up through the clouds, or slip down an ice-slide, or crash down into a cave or an underwater seaweed forest, or pop open an entire new secret world. Although now every time he says "that's-a so nice!" he sounds just a tiny bit like Borat.