New Super Mario Bros 2: It's coming this August and it's in 3D

We're not holding out hope that Mario will ever make his way to the platforms we regularly cover on Games.com News -- mobile and social networks like Facebook -- but we know that he'll be a video game mainstay as long as Nintendo's in business. Today Nintendo announced that the Mustachioed One will be making a return in August in New Super Mario Bros. 2 for Nintendo 3DS.

The sequel to the best-selling New Super Mario Bros., which was released for Nintendo DS in 2006, looks like it will showcase more of the same side-scrolling action, which is really a modern recasting of the classic Mario games played on the NES way back when. NSMB2 will also reach back into the Mario archives to revive the Super Leaf power up, which, when collected, gives Mario and/or Luigi a raccoon tail, ears and the ability to fly.

Nintendo says New Super Mario Bros. 2 was created 'specifically as a pick-up-and-play experience' and will be accessible to players of various skill levels. Not sure if that's code that this game will have some special add-ons that will make it easy enough for the uninitiated to play, while somehow keeping it challenging enough for the more hardcore Mario fans. As a video game populist, I'm happy to throw my full support behind any such initiative.