Christmas 2003, dad got me this game and I opened it pretty early during the gift opening. It did blow my mind, but I was distraught toward the end, as I didn't have a console to play the game, and doubted that dad got such an expensive game AND a game console to boot. "Oh look, what have we here, looks like there's one last present..." he said, and handed me my brand new GBA SP at the very end. Top ten memories contender. I played this game every available minute I had. It got confiscated a number of times because I kept playing it too heavily, and I always had to leave it with my mom before going to bed. One time I just turned the console on and off to see the intro and keep myself entertained without a game.

I had a hard time with it, of course, as one's first Mario game should be, and several sessions were spent exclusively trying to beat Bowser without really nailing the "kick shell upward" mechanic. That is, I didn't know how I did it, I just sort of flicked my fingers a certain way and sometimes that did the trick. Didn't know English enough to understand tutorials, and brute-forcing game mechanics don't always reveal everything.

My favorite thing about this game was... swimming... and sliding... for some reason those were so inherently satisfying. Also flying, when I eventually got that down. My least favorite thing were those continuously scrolling levels.