Most popular games have a number after the title: Soul Calibur 4, Resident Evil 5, Final Fantasy 13. Game publishers rely on sequels for the same reason movie studios do—the built-in name recognition works as free advertising. For gamers, too, there's a practical advantage to buying the latest sequel: If you've played the earlier version, you don't need to spend hours mastering a new control scheme.

Still, reanimating an old classic can be fraught with peril. Graphics and play styles get old fast, and trendsetting blockbusters are invariably ripped off until their conventions seem stale. How, then, can a game developer make a game that's both fresh and familiar? More than any other company, Nintendo has mastered the art of renovation. Super Paper Mario, recently released for the Wii console, is instantly recognizable—the evil turtles and breakable blocks will look familiar to anyone who's played a Mario game or spent time with one of the series' many imitators. But Super Paper Mario cleverly turns the genre on its head. Push a button, and the game's 2-D landscape flips sideways, revealing a previously hidden 3-D world replete with secret passageways and treasures.