Despite its name, Mushroom Kingdom Fusion is not a cooking game. The mushroom bit in fact refers to the colorful mushrooms Mario picks up during his journey in rescue of Princess Peach.

Mushroom Kingdom Fusion is then a lovely Mario clone that includes all the key elements of a typical platform game. However, it's not limited to copying Mario in graphics, gameplay or sound effects: as you progress through the game's levels you'll find features of other famous titles such as Kirby or Sonic, which make the game even more interesting.

Now don't expect Mushroom Kingdom Fusion to be the quintessence of Mario's clones. This is just a decent pastime you'll probably finish in a short while, especially if you're good at platformers. In any case it's an entertaining title, perfect for a short break and particularly indicated suitable for all Nintendo and Mario fans.

Though a bit too short and simple, Mushroom Kingdom Fusion proves to be a decent Mario clone with some original elements from other popular videogames.

Download Mushroom Kingdom Fusion 0.2 Beta RC1 in Softonic

What does Colombia have to do with Mario? Apparently nothing, though now you can play this funny Mario Bros. clone named Colombian Lands.

Colombian Lands is not technically a clone, because it's set in a different world. That aside, Colombian Lands features the same gameplay and techniques as the original Mario adventures: run in a side-scrolling world, eating mushrooms, picking up coins, breaking tiles and jumping over enemies to kill them.

The only real problem with Colombian Lands is that it feels too short, as there's only one level available in the game. Other than that, it's the perfect pastime for a short break.

Colombian Lands is definitely not as good as the original Mario – and much shorter – but still is a nice free game.

Download Colombian Lands 0.1 in Softonic

This is one of those indie games you find especially attractive, either because it's fun to play, or because it has cute graphics, or because it reminds you of other games you like, or just for all these reasons at the same time.

Frozzd will immediately remind you of Super Mario Galaxy, always keeping in mind that we're comparing Nintendo to an independent game developer. Your objective in Frozzd consists on flying from one planet to another, rescuing a bunch of sweet creatures called mubblies from freezing to death.

You'll have to explore planets on each level, collect all the mubblies you can find and fight any enemies you face. But your best ally will be gravity, which will help you to move around space and jump safely from one planet to another. The game's twelve levels are not very hard to play and can be easily completed, something that makes of Frozzd a great pastime for work breaks.

A simple, nice game based on Super Mario Galaxy that you can play during your coffee break.

Download Frozzd in Softonic

Sonic Games is a set of arcade games with the famous blue hedgehog as protagonist. From the main program's page you can select among 7 games listed in the game menu. The titles sound exciting: Sonic 3D Snowboarding, Sonic Character Designer, Sonic Lost in Mario World, Sonic Pacman, Sonic Tetris, Sonica and Ultimate Sonic.

The application lacks of basic functions, like pause, but at least the game's frame is resizable. The idea of a collection of Sonic games is really nice, but it's a pity that the playability is as good in the original MegaDrive version and that the graphics are so scarce. They would probably be still enjoyable on mobile devices, but on Windows, the experience ends up being pretty boring.

If you are a fan of Sonic, you might want to have this set of games for Windows, but mainly for collection purposes rather than to play with them as both graphics and playability are pretty poor.

Download Sonic Games 1.0 in Softonic

If you're a massive fan of the arcade classics than you will love or hate this game which combines the best of all them in one hell of a heady mix.

The game has been developed by the same team that brought the world Fishie Fishie and Polychromatic Funk Monkey - that gives you an idea of the eccentric minds we are dealing with here. The simple aim is to clear the screen of all enemies to complete each level, but the task is made difficult by the sudden switching of gameplay rules. When this happens, you suddenly find that ideas and concepts from old arcade classics such as Zelda and Super Mario Bros are suddenly thrown into the fray. The controls are fairly simple at least - just use the arrow keys to move and the space key acts as the "action" button. You can use the Left Alt and Enter keys combined to switch between full screen and windowed mode. Although there are about 20 levels, you'll probably get through the first 10 very quickly as the levels seem ridiculously short.

Nevertheless, this is a very original game although perhaps a bit too clever for its own good as it does get rather confusing at times.

Download Rom Check Fail 1.0 in Softonic

Those of you who have played Mario Kart on any platform will already be acquainted with Kart n' Crazy, an online kart racing game clearly inspired by the Nintendo popular title.

The first thing I'd like to point out is that this game is completely free: simply register a free account on the developer's webpage, download the client and you're ready to go. As an online game, you may have to download extra patches but it doesn't take long.

Kart n' Crazy definitely met our expectations – and believe me, as a faithful Mario Kart fan, they were high. The game is very funny, features different playing modes to appeal different kinds of gamers and includes also an addictive social component which lets you meet other players and chat with them while speeding along the circuit's bends.

There are two game modes: Speed and Arcade. The first one challenges players to be the fastest on track, while in the second one the aim is to make other players fail on their way to the finishing line by using different weapons you can pick up and use along the race. These weapons are also similar to the ones you find in Mario Kart: the lightning bolt, the turtle, the star that makes you go faster (no bananas though).

Personally, I found the Arcade mode to be much more exciting. I had loads of fun racing and trying to throw other players off the track at the same time. After each race, depending on your position on the final ranking, you're awarded experience points which you can later on use to customize your kart and buy new apparel for your driver.

Now, is there any drawback to this game? Not really. Except the odd connectivity issue (which is reasonable bearing in mind this is the first public release) Kart n' Crazy is an excellent racing game for all ages.

If you like Mario Kart or just kart racing games, you'll love Kart n' Crazy: an online karting game where you can compete against players worldwide to be the fastest pilot in the world – even if you have to kick your competitors off the road!

Download Kart n' Crazy in Softonic

I was never a SNES fan but I've got plenty of friends that rave about the time when the console really rocked and they stayed glued at it for hours.

Obviously, that all ended - not because they grew up but because Playstations and XBoxes came along. Now however, you can re-live those halcyon days with Mario and his friends via this emulator which reproduces the console in all it's glory. From Mario to Zelda, you can play it all with Snes9x. The emulator supports the decompression of ZIP files so if your ROM files are zipped up, it's no problem. Like playing on an original Snes, you can save games to restart them later, customize game controls and best of all, even link up with other users over the internet for some truly original Snes action. Probably the piece de resistance however is the fact that this emulator can actually improve the graphics via the "Super Eagle" screen filter. This basically takes all those classic blocky images, re-composes them, and smooths them out to give your games a more modern feel and look. This looks particularly good with Super Mario World and if you have a 3D card, you can even give the characters increased depth and definition without losing the original charm.

For Snes addicts, this emulator is an essential for reliving those glory days of Mario and Zelda without being told off by your mum for playing too long.

Download Snes9x 1.51 in Softonic

ZSNES is a Super Nintendo emulator game which currently runs on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and DOS. Relive all your favourite Super Nintendo games such as Earthbound, Final Fantasy 4 and Super Mario Kart by downloading them from the developer website.

Note that this is a public beta version so you may experience instability issues.

Download ZSNES 1.51 in Softonic

One of the few Super Nintendo games that has really stood the test of time is Mario Kart, and the concept of guiding an armed cartoon character around a series of tracks never seems to lose its appeal. SuperTuxKart provides you with a blast from the past with a game that borrows more than a little of its ideas from the Nintendo classic.

Despite being a bit of a rip-off of Mario Kart (or because of it, depending on which way you look at it), this game is great fun to play. The courses are diverse, challenging and easy on the eye, and the characters are interesting too. There are lots of amusing power-ups to pick up and chuck at your opponents along the way, and the computer-controlled drivers are certainly not afraid to use them, so you need to be on your toes if you want to get anywhere in SuperTuxKart.

There are three different game modes to test you, namely: Time Trial, Quick Race and Grand Prix. Unfortunately, there's no equivilent of Mario Kart's Battle Mode, which is still my favourite part of the game. Also, as the game is still in development, there are a few glitches such as the fact that some of the levels take a long time to load.

However, anyone who enjoyed playing Mario Kart will find this an amusing diversion.

Download SuperTuxKart 0.3 in Softonic

Mega Mario is intended to be a remake of the original Super Mario Bros game, featuring improved graphics and smoother movements, but I must say it falls quote short of the expectations.

The game does actually recreate the original adventures of good ol' Mario, including the original scenarios, enemies, bonuses and even background music and sound effects. However, graphics are far from having been improved at all. Also, movement feels awkward, in the sense that when you press the spacebar to jump, Mario takes a while to react and moves like being recorded in slow motion.

That said, you can still have fun with this clone, especially by creating your own levels with the built-in editor.

A basic Super Mario Bros clone with all the original game's elements, plus a level editor.

Download Mega Mario 1.5 in Softonic

Come on baby is a free online racing game from the creator of Fantasy Tennis and Audition Online. Having these predecessors, I was looking forward to installing and testing this game, but sadly Come on baby fell way too short of what we expected it to be.

First of all, the game has some graphical issues, especially when rendering fonts: small sized text can hardly be read at all. Although this doesn't interfere with gameplay, it does make it very difficult when you're doing the tutorial levels or when you need to follow certain instructions.

That said, Come on baby shows off a fun, colorful design both in characters and scenarios, only that I personally found them a bit childish. Cars –well, actually baby walkers- are easy to manage and respond very well to controls. Besides practicing and racing on your own, you can compete against other players worldwide in online races, but unfortunately chat rooms were empty and we couldn't find appropriate competitor.

In any case, bear in mind that Come on Baby is still at beta stage in development, so hopefully the author will put some effort in solving these issues and make the whole game experience a lot better.

Download Come on Baby 1.01 E in Softonic

Lemmings is the kind of casual videogame you never grow tired of. This is why it's always good to have remakes of this classic title, although this time we're going to save penguins instead of those small, pink, hairy creatures.

Pingus is a very well-done Lemmings clone, both in gameplay and graphics, which challenges you in the same way the original title did. Controls are very easy, especially if you already played Lemmings before. The downside to this is that you're forced to play the tutorial whether you like it or not, and it can be quite boring if you're familiar with the game's mechanics.

Download Pingus 0.7.0 in Softonic

Besides massive videogames like RPG or FPS, I also like the kind of small games that enable you to have a fun time during your coffee break or similar. Simple pastimes like Tetris, PacMan, Sudoku or Breakout are always welcome when all you need is some casual entertainment.

Wininizio Games includes all of these plus many other classic videogames, all carefully organized into categories and ready to be taken with you anywhere in your USB portable memory device. I must admit the quality of featured games varies a lot and there are some of them that can't almost be played, but in general they offer a quick, easy way to have fun before going back to work or while commuting with your laptop.

The Wininizio game suite includes several game genres (puzzles, strategy, board games, card games, etc.) but some of the categories include only one game. Also, the installation is in Italian but it's quite intuitive (you know, "Avanti" until you're "Fine").

Download WinInizio Pensuite Games 2.1 in Softonic

Real Race doesn't really live up to its title. The game does have realistic graphics, in the sense that it doesn't use cartoon-style cars like, let's say, Mario Kart. But they're not certainly what I would call "real" graphics: crashes don't have any effect on your vehicle and the cars' designs don't display a high level of detail.

Despite these minor flaws, Real Race is a fun game. There's a wide variety of cars and tracks to choose from, the majority of which are locked at the beginning of the game. It's also very easy to play, in fact, sometimes it feels it's just too easy.

Besides trying to win the race, the bonus items spread along the track spice it up a bit. However, we missed the possibility to play against other human opponents, either sharing the PC or over the Internet.

Download Real Race in Softonic

Imagine if Super Mario was a Ninja and liked to hang out in the tropics. That's roughly what you get with PikoNinja The Last Ninja. The story goes that the Great Master Ke-bran-tao has fallen sick and the potion to cure him is needed as soon as possible. Master Akitoi, the second in command, has selected his best ninja, Piko, to collect the 4 sacred fruits required for the antidote.

As Piko, you run around collecting golden coins chased by all kinds of weird and wonderful bugs and creatures. The fruits lay in the Kingdom of the evil MaskiNinjas who try to stop Piko at all costs. There really is nothing that distinguishes this game from something like Super Mario except the characters are ninjas instead of Pizzamen.

However, the soundtrack is actually pretty cool and changes with each level. It's completely out of character with the cartoon-style game combining big beats with a phat bassline. Still, the gameplay can be jerky although it's challenging enough to keep you playing for a few hours or so.

Download PikoNinja The Last Ninja in Softonic

Secret Maryo Chronicles is a 2D Jump&Run Game built upon SDL. It is open-source software so the source is included in the download package from Sourceforge.

Anyone who played games back in the day of the SNES will recognize just about everything in this game except maybe for the added extra of a level editor. Activated by F8 in the game, you can insert any graphic file as a background or massive sprite in the game. Many standard graphics like hedges and ground sprites are included. You can insert enemies, set the player's start position on the level, insert active sprites, and create semi-solid sprites which the player can jump through, but can not fall through.

Download Secret Maryo Chronicles 0.99.7 in Softonic

It may not feel too long ago but we've moved on ten years since Nintendo 64 hit the streets - you remember the Spice Girls and losing on penalties to Germany? Well what better way to forget than reliving the glory years of Super Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda and Goldeneye with this latest emulator.

Of course the graphics are a bit long in the tooth but that's all part of the appeal. And there are tons of enhancements including fixes and support for many new games, high speed emulation, integrated cheats plug-in (if you need it!), save facility, plus lots of netplay features. Unfortunately, you really need a controller to stick in the back of your PC to start playing even the simplest of games and there is little help when it comes to working out what keys to use!

1964 is much like Mario - a solid little package but a little frustrating.

Download 1964 0.9.9 in Softonic

A whole world of Maya treasures is waiting for you -but if you want to reach it, you'll have to pass through labyrinths full of traps and monsters. New hoards and dangers are hiding behind each door: moving floors, disappearing bridges, flaming traps... Will they stop the true adventurer?

Find all secret rooms, survive all hidden traps and collect diamonds and bonuses, using your sharp reflexes and your weapons in the struggle against against all kinds of enemies. Before you - seven Maya palaces, full of riddles and mysteries.

Can you unveil all the secrets? Can you pass all traps and stay alive? Will you ever reach the final treasure? Only Pablo the Mexican knows the answers to all these questions. Join him in Dungeon Rider and discover them for yourself!

Download Dungeon Riders in Softonic

Although it didn’t have anything like the fancy wireless wands or web browsing capabilities of the Wii, there was always something quite enchanting about Nintendo’s N64. Ultimately it was never going to beat the PlayStation in terms of its market share, but the 64 still brings back fond memories of endless nights blasting the hell out of each other on Goldeneye, or missing dozens of lectures to concentrate on Super Mario 64. The chances are that as soon as the GameCube came along, your N64 went out with the rubbish – a decision you’ve probably lived to regret if you’re anything like us. Thankfully, Project64 helps you to transport yourself back to those halcyon days by allowing you to emulate all your old favourite N64 games on your PC.

The application is designed to play ROM files, which are essentially 'images' of the data inside an N64 cartridge. Graphically, the games are pretty good, although not quite as sharp as we remember, with a few too many jagged lines and blocky sprites for our liking. This is understandable, given that the games were originally intended to be played on a TV, which has a completely different way of perfecting pixels. Nevertheless, the overall visual experience is quite authentic, and is complemented by crisp audio reproduction.

In terms of its performance, Project64 is able to handle most ROMs without any problems and we didn’t experience any compatibility issues. Be warned though, that you’ll need a decent amount of RAM and a fairly good graphics card if you want to avoid any jerkiness when playing some of the more sophisticated games, such as Super Smash Bros. There are lots of options within the emulator for tweaking the visuals, including changing the screen resolution, running in full-screen mode or applying anti-aliasing. However, the audio functions are limited to a bog-standard volume control.

Thankfully, the fun of playing N64 games with your pals isn’t lost in this emulator and Project64 supports up to four players. As you can imagine, it’s pretty tricky fitting four people around one keyboard, so you’re best off using USB controllers if there’s more than two of you. Another nice touch is the inclusion of a cheat mode, which provides you with the opportunity to power-up your games or access special options, much as the old Action Replay cartridges used to. Each game has its own set of cheats, which is great for prolonging the life of a game or getting through particularly tough levels.

Project64 is the closest thing you’ll get to the N64 without actually buying the console itself and it performs better than other Nintendo emulators, as well as generic solutions such as MAME. It may not be a pixel-perfect recreation of the device, but it’s certainly entertaining enough to keep you off work for a few days.

Download Project64 1.6 in Softonic

Lighthouse Lunancy is a never-before-seen mix of surprising and brain teasing puzzles with Mario-style platform jumping. The comic strip story of Fred, the reluctant video game mascot, and his boss the game designer is artfully interwoven with the actual game play and level design. Solve the cleverly devised puzzles to unravel the mysterious nature of the game designer all the way to the twist at the end.

Download Lighthouse Lunacy 1.02 in Softonic