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.

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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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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

This screensaver features the first level in the first world in the traditional Nintendo game Super Mario Bros. If you're a big Mario fan, you'll immediately recognize the scenario: green plumbs, brick blocs, golden coins, threatening mushrooms and all the other elements found in this classic videogame.

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Mario Forever is a remake of classic Super Mario. There are all new worlds to explore but the same kind of gameplay that made Super Mario one of the most popular games of all time.

The difficulty of the game gradually improves as you advance through the levels, just like regular Super Mario. Graphics are top notch and will really impress. Included is also a secret level. Can you find it?

The game is operated with the keyboard and can be a little tricky to get used to at first. Be sure to read the manual that comes with the game for directions. Joystick option is available for those who have it.

Download Super Mario 3: Mario Forever 4 in Softonic

If, like the Softonic Team, you spent your wonder years in the company of moustachioed plumbers and blue hedgehogs then Console Classix is the perfect vehicle to transport you back to those times. The application puts a new spin on emulators such as MAME by allowing you to download and play games for the NES, SNES, Atari, Genesis and Master System legally, rather than having to creep around the Net's dirty side streets looking for dodgy ROMs.

Getting into the action takes just a few moments and involves nothing more than loading the program selecting a console then picking a game from the list. The app then fetches the game via the Net and you're ready to start jumping on mushrooms or punching aliens. The list of games is immense and you could have hours of fun just reading it and recalling those nights spent button-bashing in your bedroom.

Ultimately, the downside of Console Classix is that you need to pay a $5 per month charge to access Genesis, Super Nintendo and Master System games. However, if you've ever owned a NES or an Atari 2600 then you'll realize that this isn't such a problem due to the massive back catalogue of classics such as Paperboy, Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. Of course there are a few stinkers on the list (Back to the Future should never have been made into a game) but finding the long-forgotten gems makes using Console Classix a real dream.

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The Super Mario games have had a lot of influence down through the years and as a result there is no shortage of parodies built by fans that stay faithful to the originals by differing margins. Blue Twilight has been made as the unofficial continuation of the last Mario game under the pretence that just as the Italian plumber saved the princess once again, she was snatched away by a ghostly figure that Mario must now find and thwart.

As you make your way through the game you'll notice Mario making some strange sound effects whether he's celebrating finding a mushroom or jumping in any of a variety of ways. The system for his power level is taken from Mario 3D and works by giving him six "strikes", in the form of segments in a circle, before losing a life. We would have preferred to see the traditional system whereby the hero grows by eating mushrooms and shrinks when hit by an enemy, but then again, segments work too.

One of the things that make the Super Mario games what they are is the movement and abilities of the characters. In this respect Blue Twilight strays slightly away, with the result that it doesn't quite feel like you are playing Mario but some other, clunkier impostor. For example, the clone "Mario Forever" hits the spot when it comes to character physics and so feels like the real deal, making it that bit more playable. Nonetheless, Blue Twilight is fun to play and will appeal to most fans if not for the gameplay then for the unmistakable Nintendo-style music.

Download Super Mario: Blue Twilight DX 1.04.1 in Softonic

Super Mario War is a Super Mario Deathmatch game made as a tribute to Nintendo and "Mario War" by Samuele Poletto. The goal is to fight your way to the finish by stomping other players, using familiar Super Mario powerups and out maneuvering your opponents.

Download Super Mario War 1.7 in Softonic

This is a very faithful recreation of the Super Mario World game that swept the youth of yesteryear off their feet. The five levels in this freeware will give you a few hours of great fun and make you want to dust off your old SNES and get cracking all over again.

Download Super Mario World Deluxe 1.0 in Softonic