The one Super Mario Bros. Ripoff that became a favorite amongst software pirates on the BBS-The great Giana Sisters

The year was 1987.

Ronald Reagan journeyed over to WEST BERLIN to denounce the BERLIN WALL's 1961 erection since the end of WWII in 1945 and REAGAN challenged then Soviet Leader MIKHAIL GORBECHEV to "TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!!"

Also that year, JESSICA MCLURE fell down a well in TEXAS but a very successful rescue mission freed her from the confines of said well.

Oh.... and NEC released the PC ENGINE(TurboGraphx 16 in USA) in Japanese retail....

And IBM introduced their PS/2 architecture.

...........

Oh and in the U.K, this game was released.

THE BROTHERS ARE HISTORY!.....

That's a pretty ballsey move for RAINBOW ARTS to make such a claim... especially for a game meant for the COMMODORE 64 Computer

And it gets even weirder.

Take a look at these Screenshots I've pulled from MOBYGAMES:

Notice anything about this game?

Does this remind of something?

Ok.

We all get it!

GREAT GIANA SISTERS is an attempt by a developer to release a MARIO inspired platformer to the C64 platform since NINTENDO by this point wanted to keep all their games proprietary to their own devices.

Although the C64 & it's competitors did have platformers, they weren't on the same level of fun as MARIO was and still is to this day so RAINBOW ARTS really gambled on the bandwagon with this game.

But then, following the British release of the game, RAINBOW ARTS got what they think was a NASTY LETTER from NINTENDO:

It wasn't a lawsuit but rather it was a threat by the Company to have the game removed from store shelves or RAINBOW ARTS would have their asses sued just because the company had the gall to blatantly copy various assets artistically regardless if the C64's chunkier MULTI-COLORED graphics mode was used.

So, RAINBOW ARTS proceeded to remove the game off of store shelves.

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

And you'd think this would have killed GIANA from the face of the computer world....RIGHT?

WRONG!!!!

Because when word got out that a game that looks like SUPER MARIO BROS. got pulled out of store shelves, it suddenly became well known amongst computer users who'd want to play a platformer that's more akin to what NINTENDO was doing.

The game would be copied and distributed across the BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS

which led to the game have more recognition amongst the BBS loving folks who have their C64s connected to the internet using a 300 baud Modem installed on the computer's User Port.

Even better if you had a much more capable 1200 Baud Modem.

Even though the game was originally made in Europe and RAINBOW ARTS had no interest in localizing it outside of the UK and Germany, the BBS made it much more easier for people living in the USA 

 to copy the game into their FLOPPY DISKS but this came at a cost:

Since the game was originally meant to run on Machines running at PAL Speeds of 50hz and a clock speed of 0.985mhz instead of the US' NTSC 60hz Video and 1.023mhz, 

The game had issues. 

It played as normal on an NTSC but the music played faster and the assets flicked at parts such as on the shrubberies since the game was optimized for the slower PAL Speed of the UK C64s.

But many American C64 users had to contend with those issues for 36 years until a group of enthusiasts managed to readjust the game to fix these issues which brought back the slower tempo of the music and fixed the flickering.

On an interesting Off-Tangent: I've read that MANFRED TRENZ disliked the UK Cover for the GIANA SISTERS game with him saying that the MISS PIGGY Aesthetic of the artwork made the titular sisters look off-putting

I don't see anything wrong with this artwork.

It gives me MAD MAX vibes...... the MEL GIBSON version that is.

The design of the sisters in the UK Artwork also give a similarity to these two guys shown below from the 1983 HITCHHIKER series from HBO

This is the two of them walking through a passageway

at STADIUM Station in my home city of VANCOUVER.

but at the same time, the UK artwork is a far cry different compared to the German cover of the game which has a more sexier girl with enemy characters that look much closer to the pixelated sprites found on the game.

Also, I find it IRONIC that despite NINTENDO trying to smite this game out of existence, they eventually relaxed their stance and let the game have another game of sorts...

Oh...

And I've read that there are NO SISTERS in GREAT GIANA SISTERS!

It's all a mismarketing lie!

The reality is that GIANA's got a Split Personality that allows her to turn into a punk girl but RAINBOW ARTS decided not to mention this any further for the sake of Sales and Marketing. 

Ok. Maybe I got a little Misconstrued.

The reality is that the girls you see on both the UK Cover of the C64 game and the Nintendo DS Game and to a lesser extent TWISTED DREAMS,

The Punky GIANA is really a SPLIT PERSONALITY because GIANA's sister MARIA is suppose to be identical to GIANA in terms of design and outfit, just with a different Hair Color.

So in essence MARIA is a palette Swap.....

Similar to how LUIGI was a palette swap of his older brother MARIO but then again, the profession kind of required him to have his own signature color

While the MARIO series is still around which makes sense since that's NINTENDO's flagship, the GIANA SISTERS have remained Dormant for the longest time since 2012.

And is it just me, or....

DOES GIANA herself give me PRINCESS PEACH Vibes?

Unlike with the MARIO BROS where I used a screenshot from ILLUMINATION's SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE from 2023,

I used a screenshot of PEACH as she appeared in the 1986 GREAT MISSION Anime film.

Man, I really should have waited until 2027 before I made this post due to the game's 1987 release but I got impatient.

And I am aware that GIANA Sisters was also available on the COMMODORE AMIGA, ATARI ST, AMSTRAD CPC, and the MSX.

But for the sake of my mostly American(and Canadian) readers, 

I limited my mentioning of the game to the C64 game since I figured people preferred the C64 version of GIANA SISTERS than they did the other ports.

And I'm sure the British also agree with my sentiment about the superiority of the C64 Port.