Super Mario 3D All-Stars

The Good
* Three classic 3D Mario titles, together in one package

• After 18 years, Sunshine is finally officially available outside of the GameCube

• The games look sharper than ever and can be played portably.
  
  The Bad
  * Limited Release

• Very minimal updates for each game outside of minor visual and control changes.

• No extras outside of soundtracks.

• No Galaxy 2 or 3D Land
  
  The Bottom Line
  In the fall of 1985, a Japanese arcade game company known as Nintendo launched their first home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, in the United States. The console’s marquee game, Super Mario Bros., became an instant success and is now widely regarded as perhaps the most important moment in the entire history of video games, with its plumber lead character, Mario, becoming the company’s mascot and appearing in numerous games ever since. 35 years later in time for the anniversary, Nintendo has marked the date with the release of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation for Nintendo Switch. The package collects Mario’s first three 3D adventures together on the Nintendo Switch.

  First up is Super Mario 64, first released in 1996 back on the Nintendo 64. As Mario’s 3D debut, the tile was considered revolutionary and one of that decade’s best games. From the innovative analog controls, intuitive camera system, and smooth gameplay, Mario 64 offered players the chance to hop and run through a variety of surreal playgrounds all set within the now-iconic hub world of Peach’s castle. Rather than the course-based approach of the 2D titles, the player would instead accomplish objectives in a smaller set of open levels to collect up to 120 stars. The game offered smooth 3D visuals which resembled an interactive cartoon, and a catchy MIDI soundtrack to match. Although I remember playing this at various friend’s houses as a kid, my main experience with this game was actually the 2004 Nintendo DS port, which made some serious changes such as touch screen minigames and the addition of more playable characters in addition to Mario, so playing the original offers a distinctly different, yet familiar experience. A freeing experience at the time, some of the finer control aspects may be a bit wonky compared to the later games but this is still an excellent time capsule of a generation-defining game.

  Also on this collection is Mario’s 2007 Wii adventure, Super Mario Galaxy, my personal favorite 3D game in the entire franchise. This game took Mario to the stars by having each level be a galaxy with different planetoids to jump on. Each area offered its own gravity, so Mario would end up walking upside down and all over the planetoids to collect the stars. The game had far more stages than the previous two games, offering a seemingly never-ending well of variety, creativity, and occasionally stiff challenge. Most of the objectives had a more linear feel compared to the more open-world nature of Mario 64, but there was still plenty of exploring to be had including optional paths which held secret stars. This was also the first 3D Mario game to run at 60 FPS, which would be a feature of pretty much every 3D Mario since. Its soundtrack was now given a boost with plenty of live orchestral elements, which added an epic and cinematic feel to the whole experience. There were plenty of elements which took advantage of the Nintendo Wii’s motion and pointer controls, such as collecting star bits to open optional paths, shaking the controller to spin attack, and several motion-based minigames. Controlling the pointer is now done using the gyroscope in the Joy-Cons or Pro Controller, or the touchscreen if you’re playing undocked. There’s really not a lot to say other than that this is as close to a perfect game as I’ve ever played.

  But for me, and likely many others, the true star in this collection has got to be Super Mario Sunshine. First released on the GameCube back in 2002, this game has never been re-released officially on any other console since, making copies of it extremely hard to come by. I was a PlayStation kid back then (and still am) and never got to experience this game, so although it’s 18 years old, this is effectively a new game for me. Sunshine takes Mario and Peach on vacation to Isle Delfino. Upon arrival, Mario finds anything but paradise as he discovers that the island has been covered in goop and he has been framed for the mess. Forced to clean up the mess he never made, Mario is assisted by a robotic water pack named FLUDD, which allows him to either spray water at enemies and objects or use it to hover in midair for more precise jumps. Largely following the formula laid down by it’s predecessor, Super Mario 64, Sunshine has some rather unusual features which would never be seen in the series again. These include cutscenes with full voice acting, side objectives to collect blue coins, spin jumps, and of course the aforementioned FLUDD. Perhaps its most lasting contribution has got to be its secret areas which take away FLUDD, as these short, surreal challenges offer an early preview of the kinds of levels we would see five years later in Super Mario Galaxy. While there are a few aspects of this game which feel a bit off-brand such as a temperamental camera, it still ultimately delivers that fun, colorful experience I’ve come to know and love from this classic series. It also showed that Nintendo was willing to take risks and experiment with such a well-loved franchise.

  With the popular recent trend of taking old games from this era and remaking them, Mario 3D All-Stars is inevitably going to be compared to recent efforts by companies such as Activision, Capcom, and Square Enix to restore their back catalog and bring their classics to a new audience. For starters, these are essentially emulated versions of the games with minor visual and control enhancements, not ground-up remakes unlike the collection’s original 2D SNES counterpart, Super Mario All-Stars. Sunshine and Galaxy are both presented in 1080p widescreen, while 64 also gets some texture updates and a resolution bump to 720p. Unfortunately, that game does not offer widescreen support, opting for the original 4:3 aspect ratio. While the classic experiences have been more or less preserved, some may be disappointed that Nintendo didn’t do more to truly modernize these games.

  The biggest criticism of Super Mario 3D All Stars isn’t going to be what’s in the collection, but rather what is not. The only real included extras are the soundtrack albums for each game to listen to. We get a simple front-end showing video clips from each of the games and an area to listen to the soundtracks, but that’s it. We don’t have anything such as developer interviews, concept art, or documentaries to make this collection feel like anything more than just a barebones re-package. At best, this feels like a DVD with hardly any extras, and for what’s being touted as an important celebration, it’s hard to not feel like more could have been done. Even more egregious is the complete absence of 2010’s Super Mario Galaxy 2. While I may have preferred the first game, having the sequel with its identical engine and gameplay on this compilation really should have been a no-brainer since the first is already available here. We also don’t get Super Mario 3D Land from the 3DS, and while Wii U’s Super Mario 3D World is also a no-show, at least that is getting an enhanced port with new features and content in February 2021.

  Perhaps the single most-baffling decision Nintendo has made with this collection is its limited release. The collection will only be available until the end of March 2021 both physically and digitally, forcing everyone to buy copies brand new and capitalizing on FOMO. I really, truly do not understand why Nintendo needs to do this. A Mario collection, especially with the costly Sunshine in the mix, would have sold brilliantly over the holidays even without the forced scarcity of a limited release. I get why Nintendo has made certain hardware items such as the NES and SNES Classic limited releases, but there’s no need to make a surefire hit software release like this artificially scarce. I myself decided to opt for the digital release.

  While barebones, and saddled by an unfortunate release schedule, there’s not much in this collection that can truly take away from the fact that Super Mario 3D All-Stars is ultimately three great games all in one place, and they can all be played portably as well. It’s a nostalgia trip for longtime video game fans as well as a history lesson for newcomers. Perhaps Nintendo wasn’t quite capable of delivering even more given recent events, but I’m still glad this collection has been released during such a rough moment. There’s hours of gameplay to be had here, particularly if you’ve never played some or even all of these games before. Plus, we could all use the joy that only Mario brings during these difficult times.