The Great Giana Sisters

Time Warp

Company type	Video game developer
Industry	Video games
Founded	1987
Founder	Armin Gessert, Manfred Trenz
Headquarters	West Germany
Key people	Armin Gessert, Manfred Trenz
Products	The Great Giana Sisters

The Great Giana Sisters is a platform game created by the West German developer Time Warp and released by Rainbow Arts in 1987 for various home computer platforms, including the Commodore 64, Amiga, and Atari ST. Players take control of Giana—or her sister Maria in two-player mode—guiding them through a dreamlike realm in search of a giant gemstone to awaken from sleep. The gameplay involves side-scrolling levels filled with dangers such as monsters, which can be overcome by acquiring power-ups that enable abilities like shooting projectiles or temporarily incapacitating foes.

Developed by Armin Gessert and Manfred Trenz, the title was commissioned by Rainbow Arts to emulate the successful Nintendo game Super Mario Bros. (1985) while maintaining legal separation. After its initial release in West Germany, the game reached the UK market, where it received acclaim from magazines such as Zzap!64 and Computer and Video Games for its engaging gameplay and hidden stages despite its evident inspiration from Mario.

Shortly after the UK launch, The Great Giana Sisters was pulled from shelves following a cease-and-desist letter from Nintendo. Despite this, it achieved significant popularity through unauthorized distribution and emulation. The Commodore 64 follow-up, Hard'n'Heavy, reduced overt Nintendo references. In the early 2000s, new installments in the Giana Sisters series appeared. The original soundtrack by composer Chris Huelsbeck has been reused in subsequent games and performed by orchestras.

Plot and gameplay

Players enter Giana’s dream world, filled with monster-infested castles, where their objective is to locate a massive diamond to awaken her. This platformer supports solo play controlling Giana or alternating two-player mode between Giana and her sister Maria. Using a joystick, players progress through 33 horizontally scrolling levels, avoiding traps like pits, spikes, and flames. Each player starts with five lives and must complete levels within a 100-second time limit; failure results in losing a life.

Enemies are primarily defeated by jumping on them. Available power-ups include projectile weapons such as lightning bolts and strawberries, clocks that put all visible enemies to sleep, magic bombs that eliminate foes on screen, and lollipops that grant extra lives.

Background and development

Published by Rainbow Arts, established in 1984 and acquired by Soft-Gold in 1985, The Great Giana Sisters was developed under Rainbow Arts’ internal label Time Warp.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, cloning popular arcade games for home computer systems was common, with titles like Munch Man and Snapper drawing heavily from Pac-Man. Following this trend, Manfred Trenz and Armin Gessert were assigned to produce a game inspired by Nintendo's Super Mario Bros., after CEO Marc Ulrich saw its potential on home computers. The Commodore 64 had rapidly become dominant in West Germany since its 1983 release. Trenz began developing games on the VIC-20 in 1984; impressed by his graphical skills, Rainbow Arts hired him full-time in 1987, with The Great Giana Sisters marking his first internal project.

Trenz was responsible for the visual elements and high score programming, while Gessert handled coding duties. Composer Chris Huelsbeck provided the musical score. Although initially indifferent to Super Mario Bros., Trenz and Gessert meticulously studied it to replicate its feel while ensuring legal differences for Rainbow Arts. To achieve this, Trenz redesigned enemies as owls, floating eyes, wasps, and oversized ants—creating unique but simpler designs to facilitate multiple levels within tight development schedules.

Designing characters presented difficulties; unlike Mario’s size increase with power-ups, Giana’s transformation involved spiky hair growth—a technical solution to avoid close resemblance through larger sprites. Trenz also encountered pressure from management for frequent updates and underwent numerous revisions of the title screen before final approval. The entire development spanned roughly six to seven months.

Huelsbeck began his collaboration by submitting his Commodore 64 compositions directly to Rainbow Arts, securing an internal role composing music for several titles. His soundtrack for The Great Giana Sisters includes distinct tracks for the title screen as well as separate themes for overworld exploration and boss encounters—differentiating it from the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack.

Release

The game debuted across Europe on May 6, 1987, available on platforms such as Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga, and MSX. Although a ZX Spectrum version was announced, it never saw release. The Atari ST and Amiga editions closely resembled the Commodore 64 original; however, the Atari ST lacked smooth scrolling.

Jürgen Goeldner of Soft-Gold reported strong initial sales in Germany. The UK launch occurred in July 1988 via U.S. Gold’s Go! Media division. Shortly after release, Rainbow Arts received a stern warning letter from Nintendo regarding similarities to Super Mario Bros., particularly concerning level design; no formal lawsuit ensued.

Following this, the UK distributor withdrew the game amid speculation of Nintendo’s legal pressure. Trenz was uncertain about who instigated the withdrawal but acknowledged that the UK box slogan "The Brothers are History!" may have worsened matters. Goeldner confirmed an out-of-court settlement with Nintendo requiring payment and removal from sale. Despite this setback, popularity grew through unauthorized copying.

Trenz approved of the German cover art but criticized the UK version for rendering characters awkwardly—comparing them unfavorably to Miss Piggy from the Muppets. Similarly, Jones described the artwork on the Amstrad CPC port as "gruesome," resembling that of the UK packaging.

Reception

According to Darran Jones of Retro Gamer, upon its Commodore 64 release The Great Giana Sisters garnered "fair critical acclaim," with many reviews drawing comparisons to contemporary platformers. "GBH" of Your Commodore praised its accessibility relative to earlier platform games, while "Dunc" of Your Sinclair found it addictive and superior to titles like Wonder Boy. A reviewer from Zzap!64 hailed it as "the best game of its kind since Bubble Bobble," indicating strong approval. Several publications including ACE, ', and Computer and Video Games noted its close similarity to Super Mario Bros., with Matt Bielby of Computer and Video Games calling it "as straight a rip-off as they come." Overall critiques deemed it less polished than Nintendo’s original.

The game's diversity earned praise from "GBH" and Zzap!64, who highlighted numerous secrets and power-ups enhancing replay value. Rod Lawton of ACE questioned players' motivation to finish it but described the music as "appropriately jaunty," whereas Zzap!64 found the soundtrack somewhat "twee" yet still excellent.

Jones labeled the Amstrad CPC port a "god-awful conversion" due to poor visuals and lack of sound. The unreleased ZX Spectrum version reviewed by Crash was noted for gameplay variety but criticized for inferior graphics and slower performance compared to the Commodore 64 original. Tony Dillion of Sinclair User appreciated its theme and visuals but considered it too slow on ZX Spectrum for enjoyable play.

Retrospectively, Kristan Reed of Eurogamer described it as a "footnote in gaming history," mainly relevant to late-1980s C64 users before developers transitioned to 16-bit systems. Stefano Castelli of IGN (2021) regarded it among the best scrolling platformers on Commodore 64 yet still an inferior imitation of Super Mario Bros., citing uninspired level design, less refined controls, and a less memorable soundtrack than Koji Kondo’s iconic compositions.

Legacy

In 1989, a sequel titled Hard'n'Heavy was released for Commodore 64, Atari ST, and Amiga platforms featuring characters in space suits set against an outer-space backdrop—marking a departure from direct Super Mario Bros. influences. By 2008, co-creator Armin Gessert's company Spellbound Entertainment owned rights to the franchise; they issued a mobile adaptation of the original C64 game in 2005. Subsequent entries included titles such as Giana Sisters DS (2009), Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (2012), and Giana Sisters: Dream Runners (2015).

Industry experts Andreas Lange and Michael Liebe highlighted that alongside Trenz’s other Rainbow Arts success Turrican, The Great Giana Sisters ranked among Germany’s most internationally recognized action games. Despite withdrawal from official markets, piracy and emulation fueled its ongoing popularity. Gessert acknowledged its charm but admitted it never reached the refinement level of Nintendo's flagship platformer.

Composer Chris Huelsbeck went on to contribute music for prominent franchises like Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and various entries in the R-Type series. His compositions have been arranged for symphony orchestras—most notably during the concert event Symphonic Shades, celebrating his work. Notably, new arrangements of Huelsbeck’s original pieces feature prominently in Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, reinforcing the series’ musical heritage.