You'll find many things resembling the Super Mario Brothers series: green warp pipes, castles and that star flag.. question boxes, and the clouds in the sky. Even a bridge. Unfortunately.. everything's here for the party, excepting the gameplay.
Playability is ok, as long as you don't mind terribly straight-forwards and rather plain. It's almost like Katabatic, but without the vehicles: both bases are set amongst a cluster of mountains, with a flat "path" between the two, and a large flattened area in the middle for deuling/various clashes. Unfortunately, the incredible potential of the "warp pipes" is absolutely left to dry in the sun. There are a total of 6 pipes: 2 for each base and a pair in the middle. The two for the teams are situated in front of the flag base, and at the top of a nearby hill. The two in the middle merely warp you across a small lake.
Here's the problem: I want to get down the hill, I can just ski. Why not let the pipes link to the middle? Cut down on travel time? Bring the action to one place? As it is, it's faster for a light/energy to just jet, and the Heavies even hardly benefit.
In addition, there are no vehicles, and the mountains aren't enough to allow medium/heavy armors to ski, so walking is going to be a huge issue.
There's a center objective to capture, but that really only gives you a few turrets, which are easily avoided, wether they're on your side or not.
Attention to Detail remains somewhat high because of the way everything is structured, but some of the structures (specifically near the center) seem to be just haphazardly laid down, without much thought to the use they would/could play in the game or otherwise. Still, we aren't seeing any floating objects or anything, and the lighting is well done as well.
Balance is in the defense's favor. Or the offense. Either side really has some glaring shortcomings. For example, the flag is so high that anyone without an energy pack really can't hope to get to it. But the single turret in proximity to the flag for the Defenders doesn't even have the range to hit a flag capper! I was able to grab the flag without the turret even seeing me. Either side has a hard time with it, really.
Item Placement is alright, seeing as how the inventories are within reach. Again, the center seems to have just dropped together, but overall, it's passable.
The Mechanics of this map could well be improved. It's rather inhibitive to gameplay of any shape, and yet there's so much potential given the material.
The bases could also have been worked out to more detail: exteriors are fine, and are complete throw-backs to the castles in the game, but the interiors are just boxes. Surely some imagination here could greatly increase the experience.
Bottom line: Take a look. Seriously. It's MARIO.. how can you pass it up? I honestly wouldn't look for much in the way of playing time, however, which is a shame.
~Editor's Note: The skins that come with the map are the same as the map themselves: full of potential, but not even worth placing on your warior. No detail whatsoever, just solid colors.. nothing to recommend them, really.