For months, rumors about a remaster of the first three 3D Mario games have been buzzing. It has not been two weeks since the games actually come under the name Super Mario 3D All Stars were announced and the collection will be in stores in two days. Temporarily only, because both physically and digitally the game is only available until the end of March.
For the best feeling, we played the three games chronologically.
Super Mario 64
The very first 3D Mario game ever was, of course Super Mario 64 and the players of thirty and older will in many cases still know this as they did yesterday. The game was certainly revolutionary for Nintendo and despite its many shortcomings, especially in terms of controls, it was very entertaining. And of course it still is. With no real explanation, Mario arrives at Princess Peach’s castle to eat a cake, but it soon becomes apparent that she has been kidnapped by Bowser. The dragon has used the stars from the castle to deploy his troops and hides in the many paintings that hang around the castle.
What especially players of newer Mario games will notice is that the controls are still quite fragile. Nintendo of course had no experience with making 3D games in this form and you notice that at times. Especially when you want to turn, it happens more than once that Mario does not turn immediately but spins a circle on its own axis. That is very annoying when you are standing on a small plateau, because before you the weather you are suddenly off.
Although graphically it is really clear that this game comes from the nineties, you also see that Nintendo has considerably increased the resolution. It is a pity that the image is smaller than the screen of your Nintendo Switch. In the images below, fellow website GameXplain compares the game to the original:
Super Mario Sunshine
The most interesting game on this collection for many players is Super Mario Sunshine. The game originally appeared on the Gamecube, a console of which not many copies have been sold. As a result, the group that has ever played the game is also a lot smaller than in the other two games. The game is different from the traditional Mario story. Princess Peach is not initially kidnapped by Bowser (or any of his children), but Mario goes on vacation with the princess and her entourage. When they arrive on Delfino Island it soon becomes apparent that a quiet holiday is not an option, because an imitator of Mario has smeared the island with paint.
The game has a unique gameplay element in the game through the use of FLUDD, the water cannon that Mario has hanging on his back, which of course only benefits the game. There is little to criticize about the game, other than that the controls, especially in terms of jumping, do not always work well. Especially when you have to play a level without FLUDD, the jump function does not always respond if you want to use it at the last moment. This was already the case on the Gamecube and it is a shame that this has not been improved.
Graphically, the game has improved considerably. You notice the difference on details with, for example Super Mario Odessey, but otherwise the game is not inferior to most other Switch titles. As you can also see in the GameXplain trailer below:
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy is the last part that Super Mario 3D All Stars offers you. Quite remarkable by the way, because emotionally missing Super Mario Galaxy 2. Certainly also, because the game that came after, Super Mario 3D World, is also coming to the Nintendo Switch early next year.
The game was very revolutionary in terms of gameplay when it came out in 2007. No flat worlds you could walk, swim or fly over. But all small and less small planets that you cross. To go from planet to planet you fly around in a kind of rocket orbit. This is still a way that we rarely encounter in games, but it does not make it any less fun and works well.
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Where there is a real flaw in this game is the lack of good playing options in the handheld mode. Original made Super Mario Galaxy using some sort of designation system. By targeting images with your Wiimote you could do some actions in the game. If you play in TV mode, this is still possible thanks to the Joycon, but as an alternative, the handheld mode has been chosen for touch control. This feels like a bad alternative and although we don’t know a better solution either, Nintendo could have changed the whole gameplay better.
This game is graphically the game that perhaps seems to fit best on the Nintendo Switch. Of course is Super Mario Odyssey really even better, but the game looks really good. This is partly due to the polishing up of the quality and resolution, as you can see in the video from GameXplain below.
General:
In general, there is little else to haggle on the collection. Nintendo has mainly put an HD sauce on it, but for the sixty euros that the collection costs you get three full-fledged games. Together, according to How Long To Beat alone, it takes 44 hours to complete the stories, let alone nearly a hundred hours to get it all. There are tons of games that cannot provide that.
Another nice addition is that you get the music from the game in a collection. What’s really less is the temporality of the game. We understand that this is presumably a commercial choice to keep the value of the games high, but it is especially annoying that the game sold out in no time. Now not everyone can enjoy this game from next Friday.
Super Mario 3D All Stars is simply a must play for both classic gamers and gamers who have just come to watch! You learn how Mario from the simple yet revolutionary Super Mario 64 to Super Mario Sunshine and finally Super Mario Galaxy has grown. All these games will be released in 2021 Super Mario 3D World been the basis for Super Mario Odessey.
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