Super Mario All-Stars

Super Mario All-Stars

SNES - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Nintendo Publisher Nintendo Published 1993-07-14 Platforms SNES Genres Compilation Series Mario, Super Mario Bros. Distribution Commercial

Super Mario All-Stars is a remastered compilation video game developed and published by Nintendo and released on 1993-07-14. It includes remastered versions of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. In Japan, since the The Lost Levels was actually their Super Mario Bros. 2, the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was titled, Super Mario USA. The game engines and their controls are effectively the same, but each game features enhanced graphics and music.

Personal

Own?	Yes. Loose US cartridge.
Won?	See individual games.

I bought this game shortly after it was released, as I was a huge fan of the first three Mario games. I really enjoyed seeing the updated graphics and sound, and this gave me access to Super Mario Bros. 2, which I didn't own, and The Lost Levels, which were entirely unknown to me at the time. However, it wasn't long before I became a little annoyed with the 16-bit graphics and sound conversions and realized I preferred the originals. Also, since I had already played the majority of the games in the compilation, I quickly became bored. I think I gave away or sold my original cartridge around age 20 when I got rid of my SNES, but I have since got a replacement.

I can beat games 1, 2, and 3, but I've never made a serious attempt to beat The Lost Levels.

Review

5	7	5	5	4

Best Version: SNES

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• Even though I don't personally prefer them, the upgrades to the graphics and sound are pretty nice.
• The new character animations (like the toads in the castles) and added tunes by Koji Kondo really add quality to the games.
• The programmers did a great job of maintaining the controls and physics from the original games.
• The ability to save between levels for each game is a helpful addition.
• For most Westerners, this was their first look at the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2.

Bad

• I found some of the new background graphics to be a bit intrusive.
• I think Koji Kondo relies a bit too much on steel drums in his remixes.
• Mario's new ducking animation looks silly in SMB1.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Box Art

• 

  The Japanese box is modeled after the Japanese Super Mario World box with the same ill-fitting orange and yellow backdrop. The layout shows excerpts from the Japanese cover of the four games above a tuxedo-clad golden Mario statue. It does a decent job of getting the point across.

• 

  The US box has Mario as a magician causing all of the boxes of the games to appear in a big puff of smoke. Cartoons from the various manuals are present, and Bowser lingers ominously in the background. I prefer this art.

Documentation

• 

  US manual.

• 

  Nintendo Player's Guide.

Videos

Longplay - All games, no warps.

Links