

Really, not much else has been done to Super Mario 64, though.

It looks as though someone has run the game through a smoothing process in order to make it look more appealing to a younger audience, but that has the byproduct effect of tricking your brain into thinking that’s how it always looked if you were there at the time. Super Mario 64 has had a sheen of paint applied to it. They key takeaway then, is that these games still play brilliantly. I’m not going to harp on about how the menus are lacking any of the creativity and charm of its All-Stars moniker forebear, because you don’t spend hours playing a menu. But also as a collection, it’s a little bare-bones. I want to stress that these games run well, have been treated with respect in terms of the upscaling and widescreen support, and are still those same games you love from way back when.

Then Super Mario Galaxy, which is another brilliant game, though the motion controls to me still feel slightly superfluous, and in truth are one of the few disappointments in this collection.Īs a collection, though, this is three incredible games. Super Mario Sunshine is a game that’s way better than ever given credit for because, unlike most Nintendo titles, it was a little rushed and could have done with just a tiny bit longer in the oven. But in Super Mario 64 you have one of the greatest games ever made a title that changed the industry. When all is said and done, I’m probably more of a 2D man than a 3D one. It was a love letter to the series, a pure nostalgia injection that felt like a game collection that could never be bettered and, nearly thirty years later, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is… well, sort of that, but also not quite that. Do you remember the first time you played Super Mario All-Stars? As clear as day I can recall that opening screen, the chattering of the cast of characters behind the curtain, then the hush as they were revealed along with some of the best platform games ever made, even including The Lost Levels as a bonus for a Western audience, albeit a little toned down, difficulty wise.
