Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars is a compilation video game which includes remastered versions of Super Mario Bros., The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. The game was developed and published by Nintendo and released on 1993-07-14. 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.
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, since I had already played the majority of what the compilation had to offer, I quickly became bored. I'm not sure what happened to my cartridge, but I no longer own it.
Contents
Status
I used to own this game, but no longer do. I can beat games 1, 2, and 3, but I've never made a serious attempt to beat the Lost Levels.
Review
Good
- The upgrades to the graphics and sound are pretty great.
- 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.
Bad
- Some of the new background graphics are a bit too 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.
Documentation
Videos
- youtube.com/watch?v=VE9qGHgbPQ4 - Longplay of all games, no warps.