The release of NEW Super Mario Bros is reason alone to label 2006 as one of the finest years in gaming; the first original Mario Bros title since Super Mario World helped to define the 16-bit era - who needs the next-generation???

With mere months until its release (in North America and Japan at least), details on the title are slowly beginning to emerge, some of which were recently divulged in a Nintendo Power interview with Takashi Tezuka.

Heralding the return of the Koopa Kids, Tezuka-san also confirms the appearance of Bowser and Toad, but makes the surprising claim that Yoshi's style doesn't suit the nature of the game and won't be making an appearance - perhaps a good thing for the purists.

Despite the inclusion of a two-player mode the game will not make use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi service, whilst the opportunity to justify Nintendo's inclusion of a microphone looks as though it's going to pass by once again.

Tezuka-san concluded the interview when asked about the possibility of seeing Mario Bros on a home console, by suggesting, "The probability is not zero, but no further comment at this point."