Released in 2009, Giana Sisters 2D (a.k.a, Giana Sisters DS) is the sequel to The Great Giana Sisters, released in 1987 for the Commodore 64. This game has an incredible history.

If you had a Commodore 64, you might be familiar with The Great Giana Sisters. It was a clone of Super Mario Bros, and looked quite similar too. Unlike many clones, The Great Giana Sisters had very good level design, and a soundtrack by Chris Huelsbeck that proved iconic.

Unfortunately, this caught the attention of Nintendo. Nintendo threatened the developers with a lawsuit, and they complied by removing The Great Giana Sisters from sale.

But the game proved incredibly popular amongst Commodore 64 fans, so much so that it was pirated immensely. I, myself, had an unauthorized copy. It gave me hours of fun.

Fast forward to 2009. Somehow the original designer Armin Gessert acquired the IP of the original game, and he made Giana Sisters DS as a sequel. It looks nothing like the original Great Giana Sisters – for obvious reasons – but you know what? What he produced was great – and on the DS too, a Nintendo platform no less! Critics praised the level design, great controls, and catchy music.

Tragically, Gessert passed away a few months after Giana Sisters DS was released, but at least he lived to see the Giana Sisters vindicated.

In 2015, Giana Sisters DS got an HD re-master for Windows called Giana Sisters 3D – although the loading screen just says Giana Sisters.

As for the plot? It concerns a young girl named Giana who falls asleep admiring her treasure chest. As she falls asleep, the treasure chest falls to the floor, causing the lid to open – resulting in Giana disappearing into a black hole. When she wakes up, she discovers she’s in a new world where she must uncover the mystery of the chest.

You might be wondering where the other sister comes into play. Well, when she uses a power-up, Giana becomes “punk” Giana, who now has the ability to throw fireballs. That’s the other Giana sister.

Giana Sisters 2D still controls a lot like Super Mario Brothers. It’s basic platforming 101.

The graphics have a certain style that was en vogue during the early 2010s for 2D platformers. I would have preferred retro-style pixel art, but perhaps that would have opened a certain can of worms with die hard fans.

I also would have preferred Chris Huelsbeck to come back as the composer, but I won’t bemoan Fabian Del Priore who did a very capable job here.

To run Giana Sisters 2D, you need a 2.8Ghz dual core CPU, 2MB(?) of RAM, 256MB of VRAM, and 2GB of space. There’s apparently an OS X version, but I don’t see that available on Steam. Linux runs this fine via Proton. And I confirm this is very playable on a Steam Deck.

In addition to DS, Windows, and Mac, Giana Sisters DS was also released on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Ouya.

Spellbound Entertainment, which Gessert founded, has also made Airline Tycoon, Chicago 1930, and the Arcania series. In 2012, they were re-founded as Black Forest Games. They’ve developed three more Giana Sisters games, which are Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Rise of the Owlverlord, and Giana Sisters: Dream Runners.

On Steam, Giana Sisters 2D has a 66% positive rating. It seems a number of people are upset this is not the original Great Giana Sisters. Others complain that this HD version is not as good as the original DS version – which makes sense since the DS version utilized the touch screen and microphone, which is not present on the PC version.

But by itself, Giana Sisters 2D is great. This isn’t just my opinion, my kid loves it. And when I put this on for my kid’s friends, they love it too. Giana Sisters 2D is a great game to get children into platforming.

It’s also nice that girls get to see someone like themselves in a fun adventure. If you want to introduce a young girl to video games, Giana Sisters 2D is a great place to start.

I like Giana Sisters 2D quite a lot. It has a permanent home on my Steam Deck.

It’s also wonderful that a “forbidden” classic got a sequel.