Fans of the quarter-cruncher be warned...These games won't share the same fond memories.
For starters, the games seem much harder then I remember them. It's something that's hard to judge, but the spiders in the game kill me a lot more than I remember. On top of the enemies erratic behavior, your weapons fire-rate seems to be random. Sometimes it will fire away and others it will be slower than molasses. Add all that beauty into a twitchy controller and you get a mess.
While Evolved modes are pretty and all, the characters still have their square they fit in, so you will die a lot when things kind of, sort of touch you. Same goes for your enemies, but you won't really notice that as much. Evolved mode adds some pretty explosions and sounds to the package, and the presentation is pretty nice.
One odd addition is "Throttle Monkey" mode. It's the same game, only cranked up to a drug addled frenzy. Not only does this amplify the games problems (and difficulty) it's almost totally useless. Granted, I spent more time playing this mode because it was so infuriating, not because it was more fun.
I was hoping that the achievements would save this game, and I could get most of them out of the way fairly easily...Oh no. They are both hard and uninspired, a rare form these days. They aren't unattainable, but you'll have to work, unlike most of the retro Xbox Live Arcade games. Other than that, there isn't much to say. You shoot bugs as they meander around the mushrooms. Done deal. Do yourself a favor, though, and steer clear unless you are a big fan of the series or just a big fan of these older releases on the Arcade. Otherwise, just find an old bar or something with one of these games and put in a quarter or two at your whim and get your fix.