It's hard to think of a more classic game than the original Super Mario Bros. With its simple yet captivating side-scrolling gameplay, blending whimsy and action to perfection, this game stands out as an iconic gem. Even as it evolved into the 3D realm, the fun and exhilaration of the gameplay remained consistent throughout each level.

It's quite challenging to fully capture the allure of these early side-scrolling games. While not directly imitating Super Mario Bros., their impact on the gaming industry is undeniable. For enthusiasts of this beloved title, here's an extensive list of recommended games worth exploring.

10. Hue

Taking inspiration from Mario's pioneering platforming format, many games have adopted a similar structure, featuring players jumping through different areas, solving puzzles, and evading foes. However, some games, like Hue, decided to add a unique twist by focusing on a particular element. In Hue's case, the spotlight is on colors. Players must switch between different colors to navigate around obstacles and advance through the levels. This indie game offers both enjoyable gameplay and challenging experiences, enriched by its intriguing backstory.

9. Juju

While Juju may primarily appeal to a younger audience, it's worth noting that even Super Mario Bros was initially seen as a kids' game. Nevertheless, Juju maintains its fun and engaging gameplay, where players must traverse from one end of the level to the other, avoiding enemies and collecting items, much like the classic Mario experience. The game also features hidden bonus areas, adding a nostalgic touch. While not excessively difficult, Juju provides an opportunity to unwind and simply enjoy the gaming experience.

8. Donkey Kong Country

The relationship between Donkey Kong and Mario is rather unique, as evident in the Super Mario Bros movie. Initially depicted as foes in the game Donkey Kong, Mario later gained his own spotlight as the star of side-scrolling platformers.

Years later, Donkey Kong's character underwent a transformation, becoming the protagonist in his own series of games. Donkey Kong Country clearly reflects the heavy influence of Super Mario Bros on the platforming genre. With its remarkable art style and tone, the game follows the side-scrolling format and brings a refreshing evolution to the genre.

7. Ori And The Blind Forest

Ori and its sequel stand out as exceptional games due to their vast and expansive worlds, making it hard to draw an immediate connection to Super Mario Bros. However, one can easily envision a Super Mario Bros game adopting a similar approach. With the multitude of diverse lands and levels found throughout the Super Mario franchise, the idea of seamlessly integrating them into a unified world, as Ori does, seems awe-inspiring. The game's distinctive art style adds to its appeal and resonates well with dedicated gamers.

6. Limbo

While Super Mario Bros undeniably pioneered the Golden Age of side-scrolling adventure platformers, some argue that Limbo ushered in a second Golden Age. This game demonstrated that in the modern era of extravagant 3D gaming, a simple side-scrolling platformer could still captivate players with its fun, engaging, and visually striking art design. Limbo returned to the roots of gaming by providing a challenging adventure style reminiscent of what made Super Mario Bros so extraordinary.

5. Braid

At its core, Braid shares similarities with straightforward platformers like Hue. However, Braid takes a different approach by utilizing time manipulation as its unique gameplay mechanic. Players have control over time in various ways to navigate levels and solve puzzles, resulting in a satisfying and fairly challenging experience.

Super Mario Bros laid the foundation for side-scrolling games like Braid to explore and expand upon the concept in innovative ways. Despite its inventive gameplay, Braid remains a fun and timely platformer that is sure to be appreciated by gamers.

4. Fez

Fez's simple graphics might mislead some gamers, as they evoke the nostalgic charm of early Super Mario Bros games, creating a classic atmosphere for this adventure platformer. However, the gameplay itself is far from traditional. It ingeniously takes the 2D side-scrolling format and twists it into a unique perspective-shifting experience, transporting players into a 3D world. While Super Mario Games took a groundbreaking step when transitioning to 3D, Fez accomplishes this in a distinct and innovative manner, making it an excellent platformer.

3. Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy's striking resemblance to Super Mario Bros suggests it might have been directly inspired by the iconic game. Nonetheless, Super Meat Boy distinguishes itself as an intensely challenging and adrenaline-pumping experience. With gameplay designed to test players' skills to the limit, the fast-paced rush of this game might prove frustrating for casual Mario fans. However, those who grew up conquering the early Mario games will find it an absolute blast.

2. Rayman

Although similar to Juju in concept, Rayman targets a more mature audience. With its fun and eccentric nature, the game remains enjoyable while still offering challenging segments. Rayman serves as an excellent example of a platformer that takes the foundational elements of Super Mario Bros and elevates them to new heights through its kooky art style. The game avoids overcomplicating the format with convoluted mechanics, presenting a delightful experience featuring great characters and well-designed levels. A reboot would be a welcome addition to the series.

1. Sonic The Hedgehog

While it may seem odd to recommend Sonic the Hedgehog to Mario fans, considering the historic rivalry between Nintendo and Sega, both games undeniably excel in their own right. These enduring characters have stood the test of time for good reason. Despite their differing styles, both titles were developed around the same period, leading to some similarities between them. Sonic and Mario both hold their own as excellent games in their respective ways.

>>> Read more: 5 Best Games Based On Greek Mythology (2023)

Mario's face is one of the most well-known in gaming, and he has been the main character in a variety of different types of games throughout the years. These top-notch Mario games serve as a reminder of why the iconic plumber remains a beloved figure in the world of platforming.

In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase the top 5 best Mario games of all time.

1. Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is the ultimate Mario game and a must-play for any fan of the series. Despite being 30 years since the plumber's first adventure, Odyssey manages to surprise gamers at every turn with its imaginative and nostalgic gameplay. One of the highlights of the game is Cappy, a living hat that adds a new level of craziness to Mario's platforming tricks. In addition to classic moves like ground-pounding and dodging enemies, players can now possess Goombas, Bullet Bills, and other creatures to achieve their objectives.

What sets Odyssey apart from other Mario games is its technical excellence and the sheer number of amazing ideas it presents. It's a game that reinvents what players consider to be a Super Mario adventure while still appealing to fans of the classic games. Newcomers to the series will be eased into its colorful world, while longtime fans will be thrilled by the abundance of nostalgic references. All in all, Super Mario Odyssey is a triumph and a game that every Mario fan should experience.

2. Super Mario 64

Mario 64 is not only one of the greatest games of all time, but it also holds the title of the most influential game ever created. While it wasn't the first 3D game, Mario 64 perfected the concept with exceptional confidence from the very beginning. It's astounding that a game from 1996 still plays better than most modern games on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Although the camera may have its flaws, Mario's smooth and effortless movements make up for it. It's no wonder that Mario 64 is still considered one of the best N64 games to this day. Playing it on the Switch via Super Mario 3D All-Stars will give you a taste of the imaginative and creative gameplay that would later inspire Mario Odyssey, released 21 years later. With 120 exhilarating Power Star quests, each filled with new and exciting challenges, Mario 64 never fails to deliver fresh and innovative ideas. Until the day when video games can incorporate the fourth dimension, Mario 64 will remain the most groundbreaking 3D game of all time.

3. Super Mario World

Nintendo didn't rest on its laurels after creating Super Mario Bros 3, which seemed to perfect the Mario formula. Instead, the company immediately began working on a successor to the genre-defining game that would be ready for the launch of its second home console. Amazingly, they were able to create a game that surpassed its predecessor in almost every way, making it one of the best games available on the SNES.

Super Mario World built on the solid foundation established by Mario 3, with bright and energetic graphics that were far more vibrant than anything seen on the NES or Genesis. While it retained the classic Mario gameplay, it also introduced new tricks and abilities, such as the addition of the new dinosaur character Yoshi. It's hard to imagine that one of the all-time classics of the SNES wasn't just a launch game, but was also included with the console - a testament to how impressive the 16-bit era was.

4. Super Mario Galaxy 2

Super Mario Galaxy 2 distilled all the best elements from the series since Super Mario 64 and infused them with a plethora of new ideas, making it one of the standout games on the Wii console. The game's variety of challenges is impressive, with each star presenting a fresh and unique obstacle. From hanging off a bird to creating clouds in the sky or teaming up with Yoshi, Super Mario Galaxy 2 keeps the gameplay fresh and exciting.

Nintendo's use of the Wii Remote is particularly noteworthy, as they incorporated it in ways that other companies might have built an entire game around. However, Nintendo was judicious in its use of the controller and quickly moved on to the next creative stage. Despite any technical limitations, Super Mario Galaxy 2 demonstrated that a wealth of innovation can overcome any hardware shortcomings. For serious gamers, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was reason enough to own a Wii console, surpassing even the many other great games available on the system.

5. Super Mario Bros. 3

The development team behind Mario created a sequel that was too similar to the original (Lost Levels) and a peculiar game that later became a Mario title (Super Mario Bros 2). However, they eventually returned to the core concepts of Mario and redefined the series in a revolutionary way, introducing features such as a world map and mid-bosses. With power-ups like the Frog, Hammer, and most notably, the Raccoon, Mario's abilities were significantly expanded. The Raccoon power-up allowed Mario to fly, which greatly impacted the level design and added a new level of verticality to the game.

Super Mario Bros. 3 was groundbreaking for its time, but it also strikes the perfect balance between new and classic Mario elements, making it one of the best games in the series. Its simple approach to fun has been the foundation for every Mario game that followed, even if some of them have built upon it in more meaningful ways than others. SMB3 is a prime example of pure gameplay that allows players to control Mario and his adventures in a seamless manner. Overall, Super Mario Bros 3 is an excellent game that showcases what makes Mario so super.

>>> Read more: 5 Best Games Based On Greek Mythology (2023)

Although people mainly know her as the actress who plays Captain Marvel, Brie Larson is a big fan of Nintendo games as well. Larson spoke about her experiences playing games such as Super Mario 3D World which she votes as one of the greatest games of Nintendo.

Previously, the Marvel actress has talked about her love for the Animal Crossing franchise’s games. And she also enjoys other games from Nintendo. While she hasn’t voiced her opinions on games recently, a YouTube video shows that she once joined brought up some of her remarks.

Larson took part in the show “Hot Ones” hosted by YouTube channel First We Feast. In the show, celebrities talk about different topics while eating spicy wings. The show host mentioned a comment Larson once made back in 2014 about how Super Mario 3D World is one of Nintendo’s greatest achievements.

Since quite a few years have passed since she made that remark and the gaming company has released many games, Larson still believes that although Mario game has been surpassed by other games, it is still one of the best.

Larson picks Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as one of Nintendo’s best releases and it may even beat Super Mario 3D World as her favorite game. The Marvel actress said that with its format, Mario brought to her a nostalgic feeling. And when Paper Mario comes out, she would have said the same thing about it.

According to Larson, she enjoys games that give players different views of the world, for example, like how Pokemon Go does.

When the actress started her own YouTube channel, she topped Twitter’s trending chart. In one clip, the actress excitedly showed another content creator her Nintendo Switch. Larson added that in the future, she would bring to her channel gaming content and fans should be looking forward to it.

>>> "Captain Marvel" Brie Larson Plays "Beat Saber" On Jimmy Fallon's Show

Earlier this month, the special game development community Mapcore has challenged their designers to a special project: that is taking the opening level from one of those three games: Unreal Tournament, Half-Life, and Super Mario Bros. - and remake it in gaming software of their choice. Thanks to this contest, the possibility of seeing the iconic 1-1 level from Super Mario Bros. as an FPS game has become a reality.

The remake of level 1-1 was made in Unreal Engine, by level designer Sean Noonan. Noonan was most known for his involvement in many games, including Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Star Citizen. He currently working on the new Gears: Tactics game. His progress with the challenge can be followed on his official Twitter.

As for this challenge, he has first translated the game's layout from 2D into 3D. All the elements in the background of the game have been remade as a bunch of platforms floating in the sky. All those makeovers give the level a look similar to Lovely Island. The new-look from the game is of an FPS, and because Mario does not bring a BFG 9000 or a shotgun with him, Mario was given a gun that shoots out plungers as bullets. Along with that, all the familiar elements from Mario games also make an appearance in the project, including goombas, mushrooms, coins, and pipes.

You can see the end result of the project on the video below:

This project has shown us that given enough care, even a silly-sounding project like this can be a worthy celebration of Nintendo's classic video game title, and can be a real Mario FPS project - that is if Nintendo is chilled with the fan games and ROM hacks. And even if the project cannot be a real game, it still gives us a fun imagining of how a classic title might play - in the world of FPS.

What is a Kaizo Mario?

Complete the game Mario is just one thing - many people have done the very same thing of cleared the entrance to the top franchise of Nintendo. But have you ever go through a fan-made Mario hack? Just try to survive the first moment of the game, and then try to complete the introduction level. Just bear in mind that dying many times is part of the experience haha.

Those fan-made or Mario “Kaizo” games is Maro game with difficulty level tune to a crazy high level. In these games, even the most diehard experts in Mario will find it difficult with those pixel precise jump with the difference of death and life. Get to the very first Kaizo Mario, or more well-known as Asshole Mario. A ROM hacker names T. Takemoto from Japan has made it in 2007. The whole creation is such a hellish gift - with the direct transition mean " make your friend play my hack game". But I guess that Takemoto wouldn't know that his creation will lead to the spawning of a whole genre of trap-filled games and millions view of those gameplays on YouTube. And since the rise of Kaizo on the internet nobody has any new of him too.

Maybe the mystery behind the whereabouts of Takemoto will remain forever hidden. His legacy continues to live on till today. It has become a tradition that Kaizo players will make the experiences for their friend to "enjoy", like digital ribbing of video game. Just in the same way that good friends dare each other, player of Kaizo will challenge others to beat a certain Mario hack game in the community.

Grand Poo World 2

In 2019, the whole Mario community is focused on the new Grand Poo World 2,  a new concoction of DKBarbarian. He is well regarded in the community as one of the best Mario designers right now.  He got noticed from his levels in Super Mario Maker back in 2015.

According to DKBarbarian, with Super Mario Maker create a level has become very streamlined and straight forward, anyone can create a Mario level with it. However, there are also limits and restrictions on all the items like stage size, number of objects on one screen ... Those are the kind of limits that player doesn't have to worry about on a more specialized program.

The story of DKBarbarian is that after fell in love with custom levels of Mario, he goes on to make more by himself. Those of his most known creations come under the name of GrandPooBear, a game speedrunner friend of DKBarbarian.

Even better

After a year with the help of a small technical team, Grand Poo World 2  is now ready to play. The first entry - Grand Poo World-  was a perfect combination of spectacle, challenge, and trolls to players.

Grand Poo World 2 follow the same path - there are also many secrets in this new entry. According to many, it is amazing and clever platforming obstacles which will challenge the best players. In one level that I remember, player's mission is to hit a clock to freeze the enemies but to hit the clock you have to get through a - let's say - not a very easy passage.  Even the trolls in this new entry are upgraded too. For example, in the first level, there is that random pipe which hides in that goddamn place just to mess around. A level inside a level with no checkpoint. Anyone know that might temp to skip the pipe but doing that missing out a big secret too. The best part is the reward when you got to the final line is you get thrown back to the starting screen, what's a troll.

But what makes Grand Poo World 2 really different than the rest of Kaizo Mario is that it's a total nightmare which will break your patience. The challenge is much more than just reflexion- it's more about cognitive abilities. To reach the true ending of this game, you have to solve a puzzle of breaking the fourth wall. You may be good in Mario, but to beat Grand Poo World 2 you also need pen and paper to decipher the code. Look at the background, the environment and even outside of the game to look for clues.

An even more hellish future

DKBarbarian said that the development process of the game takes up to a few thousand hours, and that was nothing straightforward.

The hard work of him has paid off: Grand Poo World 2 was highly praised by the whole community. But it is just a starting point, the Kaizo community has just warmed up.

Each and every year, classic game titles celebrate their milestone anniversaries. There have always been a handful of major games which stood out among others, but last year was probably the best for the time being for Nintendo hardcore fans. In 2018, Super Mario Bros. 3 celebrated their 30th anniversary, Star Fox did their 25th, while it was the 20th time for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and so on.

However, it is more important to keep in mind more than just the famous, best-selling titles. Sometimes, a weird, unprecedented game, which the general gamer can easily forget, deserves recognition as well. Today we show you the short history of one such game, a shooter so unique that only some fans know about its last fall’s 25th anniversary - Yoshi’s Safari.

Yoshi’s Safari game cover

Shooting Down the Competitors

By the end of the year 1991, Nintendo has realized for quite some time that a competing product - the Sega Genesis - would prove to be quite an annoyance for their new gaming console Super NES. While the gaming manufacturer was determined about keeping their family-friendly impression, they also predicted that they had to somehow match the “cool factor” that Sega had incorporated in their advertising and games. Their brand new product needed an ace that can compete with its new adversary and Sony’s blue speedy hedgehog mascot Sonic.

Nintendo had enjoyed much success with the NES line of product over time, but the most iconic was probably the add-on NES Zapper, modeled after a light-busting gun. This success, coupled with the ever-pressing competition from Sega, was likely the main reason the Super Scope came to be - shoulder-mounter, wireless, heavily resembled a bazooka, and worked exclusively with the Super NES.

The Nintendo Super Scope

The Super Scope was released back in February 1992 to moderate interest from customers. It came packed with a cartridge consisting of six compatible mini-games and a wired transmitter.  “You’re looking at the next breakthrough for the Super Nintendo,” declared a booming voice from the commercial introducing the device. However, with the price tag of $59.99 (which is about approximately $110 nowadays) and not many compatible games to support, the Super Scope was by no means the major successor “breakthrough” that Nintendo had originally intended it to be.

One year later, the war between the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo remained largely unchanged. The Super Scope’s disappointing sales number in the west ultimately led to a limited release in Japan, where this gun would be used mainly to promote the similarly disappointing movie, Super Mario Bros. Nintendo realized that their product’s popularity was threatened and hanging on a thread. Therefore, they ordered their R&D1 department to come up with a game compatible with the Super Scope featuring Mario, their star plumber. This was meant to be the Super Scope’s final chance to find its mainstream success.

The release of this new shooter featuring Mario in North American fell during a very controversial moment of gaming history. In September 1993, the arcade game Mortal Kombat was set to launch on both Sega and Nintendo's 16-bit gaming consoles. Fearing backlash from concerned parents, Nintendo demanded to have the trademark blood and gore striped from the game before release on their systems. This highly controversial move inadvertently stole the spotlight from their own upcoming game, Yoshi’s Safari. The age of the first person rail shooter genre would ultimately signal the end for Nintendo's Super Scope.

Ready, Take Aim, Fire ... Flower?

Yoshi’s Safari, known then in Japan as Yoshi’s Road Hunting, was certainly a flop. However, it was still an entry in the Mario saga that is worthy of revisiting. To begin with, although the title highly suggested that the main character was supposed to be the dinosaur Yoshi, you actually played as Mario riding on Yoshi in the first-person point of view. The fact that this game was, in fact, the first ever first-person Mario game is probably enough to make it worthy for a try, but it is actually Mario’s choice of weapon that truly cements the game weird legacy. Our favorite plumber, just like the players standing before their TV screen, held a gun. A toy-like looking gun with purple buttons, but still a gun after all.

Yoshi’s Safari title screen

Yoshi’s Safari also marks the first time for many other things in the Mario universe. As a start, it takes place in a place called Jewelry Land, a location which bears many similarities to the Mushroom Kingdom in terms of inhabitants and terrain which has never appeared for the second time. Secondly, the game’s main story centers around Princess Peach, who calls upon Yoshi and Mario to save Jewelry Land’s rulers - Prince Pine and King Fret - who has recently been taken from the mischief Bowser of all people. While the king and prince can leave the audience wondering whoever they are, it is actually the title “Princess Peach” that is important. Yoshi’s Safari is the first time that this moniker was used in a Western Mario game. Every one of the previous games referred to the princess as Princess Toadstool. Afterward, it would be the game Super Mario 64 in 1996 that brought this title to more audience recognition.

About the gameplay, Yoshi’s Safari plays more like an arcade game. The twelve available stages were not by any means difficult or time-consuming, but the game gave players a leaderboard to keep track of their personal best scores, compare with others, which in turns promote multiple playthroughs. The continuously changing visuals in every stage were brought to players through the courtesy of the Super NES’s mode 7 capabilities, one technique which has been used in games such as Super Metroid and F-Zero to stretch or rotate the pixelated background.

One of the game’s bosses

When it comes to the game’s villains, Yoshi’s Safari did not stray far from the normal cast of koopas, cheep-cheeps, and gumbas, but it was the extremely huge bosses that made the game stand out among the usual Mario experience. The Koopalings who have just been defeated in Super Mario World could be encountered at the end of the first stages, each in possession of their own huge personalized mech. Players would need to blast away laser cannons and rocket fists into these armored bosses’ weak spots to defeat them. Older Mario games always brought about a fantasy kind of feeling, but it was Yoshi’s Safari which brought the saga to a new realm of science fiction, guns blazing all the way through.

A mixture of all of those odd aspects, plus its unusual controller and upbeat soundtrack, really demonstrated how distinctive Yoshi’s Safari was at that time, and that fact remains till this day. This game also paved the way for some more experimental Mario games in recent years: For example, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle would not exist without it. Yoshi’s Safari, although far from flawless, was still a pioneer ahead of the times in a lot of aspects.

While Nintendo has been through many years of Virtual Console support for home and handheld consoles, the game has never been re-released. Considering Yoshi’s Safari was such an entertaining and unique game even after twenty-five years, this is such a shame. The Super Scope console lives on through series of games such as WarioWare and SuperSmash Bros, but the very first of Yoshi and Mario’s gun blazing adventure might have sadly been their last.

Charles Martinet is an American actor and voice actor. He is famous because of his voice acting for Mario- a symbol character of Nintendo. Besides Mario, Charles Martinet also provides his voice for other characters in the game like Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth, Baby Mario and Luigi. Started working for Nintendo since 1990, Charles Martinet has voiced Mario for about 30 years, and now he keeps doing it. After his voiceover for Super Smash Bros.Ultimate released on 7^th December, he has put a milestone to his career.

Several days ago, Charles received a Guinness World Record for having most voice over accomplishment for one character in video games. It is accurately 100 times include his voice acting for Super Smash Bros.Ultimate. Here is the picture of him looking happy when receiving a record.

Mario is a character in the Super Mario series. The game is about Mario’s adventure in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and his brother Luigi have to overcome many challenges to rescue their princess from the primary antagonist, Bowser. First released in 1985, Super Mario series become the most excellent game ever of Nintendo.

It is also one of the best-selling game of all time. Until now, Super Mario series still receives a lot of love from people, and that is a motivation for Nintendo to create more games about these adorable plumbers. Therefore, Martinet can break his own record soon. Besides the Super Mario series, Martinet also does his work for Runner 2 and Runner 3 (developed by Choice Provisions) and other games as a voice actor.

Platformer has really become a classic genre in the video game industry. From the glorious days of the NES to the current mobile phones era, jumping over stuff has never seemed to get old.

The genre has also generated some of the most iconic pop culture figures. Characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, or Lara Croft (A.k.a. Tomb Raider) can easily be recognized even by non-gamer.

In recent times, the mobile platform has witnessed many great platformer titles, and here is a list of the top 5 ones released on Android this year.

Super Mario Run

One does not simply talk about platformers without mentioning Mario. Super Mario Run is Nintendo’s first attempt to get into mobile gaming, and it was a massive hit. It takes everything we know and love about the franchise and trim it down into our pockets, making great use of the touchscreen control in the process.

Rayman Jungle Run, Fiesta Run, and Adventures

Rayman is another prominent name in platforming games, and just like Mario, he also made quite an entrance to the mobile market. In fact, there are more than just one good title that feature this adorable guy. Jungle Run and Fiesta Run are practically traditional entries, while Adventures brings players a limitless number of levels to play through.

Super Cat Tales II

Super Cat Tales was considered the Super Mario Bros. of mobile, until the actual Mario arrived that is. Still, even though the red-hat plumber is now here, Super Cat Tales II remains a solid game with an intrepid platforming adventure featuring a large collection of levels.

LIMBO

This outstanding game features a young boy as his protagonist. He has to embark on a perilous journey to save his sister. Along the way, he must overcome numerous complicated puzzles and deadly traps. The art style is grim and dark, yet beautiful in its own way, and the story will leave you touched.

Mikey Shorts, Hooks, and Boots

The Mikey series practically established the standard for a successful platformer on mobile. And its secret? Keeping things simple! Each title in the series focuses on a unique mechanic, such as jetpack boots, a grappling hook, or simply jumping.

The best part about these games is the time challenges. You will feel a real sense of accomplishment when you complete a level flawlessly without a single misstep.