AKI Man
Legend
Where can you find all of the greatest Super Mario classics packed into one game? Despite all of the modern marvels of gaming today there is no better compilation of the Super Mario series than the Super Nintendo's own Super Mario All-Stars. Why such a game would need to be created is rather obvious, but interestingly enough this game still stands the test of time. Except for Super Mario Brothers 3, all of the other games in the series came out to an entirely different generation. By the time of the release of the Super Nintendo and Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario 3 was already three years old. Take into account that Super Mario 2 came out in 1988, and then the first Super Mario in 1985. This span of games covers five years and in five years a lot changes in the console world. Just think of all of the great series of games out today and can you name at least one series where they are combined into one game? I can't. The Super Nintendo also withstands the test of time as probably the best console to date in terms of what kind of games came out for it as well as for its durability. The upgrades in graphics and sound are what really put the old NES out of business as not only the controllers got more complex, but so did the games. So instead of having to hyperventilate over four old NES cartridges to get them going in the NES, the great geniuses of Nintendo decided to combine them all into one for an updated and outstanding collection!
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros for the NES would be eight years old by the time it got a makeover on the SNES. Everything about the best selling game of all time is still there with only some updates to the graphics and the alteration of the music. It also features a two-player game where each person trades off after somebody completes a level or loses a life.
Super Mario: The Lost Levels
I never played this one for the NES, but I am glad I never did. This is the hardest of all four of the games in All-Stars and you will get all of the game play from Super Mario Bros. in this, but with much more frustration and challenge to boot. Some of those insane emulators you see on Youtube do not even compare with the challenge of this game and you also have to mind the fact that not all bonus items are going to help you. Some neat features in The Lost Levels are being able to play as either Mario or Luigi and having a more challenging experience than you had in the original game. Consider this Super Mario Brothers 1.5. This is only a single player game.
Super Mario Brothers 2
Oh man how I loved this game! There is a lot of criticism of this game due to it being so different from all of the other Super Mario games. I would contend that this is still a classic because of how much genius is in this game. There are many different enemies and the game play is very fun. You can do just about anything in Super Mario 2 from flying on a magic carpet to playing the slots at the end of a level. The game play is simply amazing and much more complex than Super Mario 1 or 3. There are no score counters, no time limits, and you can move about quite freely back and forth which makes for a lot of fun to simply play around with the not-so-menacing enemies that you encounter. Some excellent features of Super Mario 2 are being able to play as either Mario, Luigi, Toad, or the Princess and each one has unique movement features. Of course the downers of this game is that it is a copy of another game under a Japanese title and it is also only a single player game.
Game Play
The controls for each game come with different options since the Super Nintendo controller is a little bit more complex than the old NES controller. All you have changed are the dash and jump buttons which can be used with either the X or Y buttons or the A or B buttons. The L and R buttons on the top are not used so you keep the simple controls of each game. The great thing about the game play is that if you lose all of your lives in a world you will not totally lose your game progress. You can either start the world over again or save your progress and be able to go back to that area later. This is a huge help that you could not do with the NES.
Super Mario Brothers 3
The ultimate Super Mario of the NES series. Everything you loved about the first Super Mario is back along with an overwhelming game play and plenty of new features. Super Mario 3 begins the map quest where the worlds in a level are put on a map so you can see your progress and even reach some bonus levels. Super Mario 3 also offers two player simultaneous battle games that are very fun and have an arcade feel to it. You still have to trade off between players to go through the levels though.
Graphics/Sound
Here is where the critics of Super Mario All-Stars come in. For one I can agree with them that a collection of games ought to contain the original games themselves, but All-Stars completely remade all of these games to update the graphics and sound. You can really tell the difference in music right off the bat. While the tunes are still the same there are added alterations and you can pick out some of the instruments used in the music. In the beginning levels of Super Mario 1 and 3 the music sounds near Carribean. The music is altered in variation and is well up to date from the old 16-bit sounds of the original versions.
The graphics are mostly updated in the backgrounds. All of that empty space in the originals is replaced with scenery like hills and mountains and all of the sprites got some sort of an update. Mario definitely has a big change in every game and he is given a makeover in each game from the original versions. Critics definitely do not like the graphical updates to each game as it takes away from the original experience in some ways. Color alterations replace in-game graphics as well as the finished level graphics such as end scenes so you do lose some of the original feel of the first versions although everything is still unchanged as far as content goes.
Replay Value
You get plenty of replay value out of All-Stars. Four full Super Mario games, a few in-game side games like the Battle Mode in Super Mario 3, and plenty of fun game play to make you want to replay the games and certain levels. Super Mario All-Stars has excellent length spanning the four games and there are four save files for each game so that you have enough space to save your progress in each game. You will still have to replay an entire world if you lose all of your lives, but that is what skill is for. The Super Mario series does require a little timing and maneuvering skill. All-Stars also has plenty of nostalgia value as well. Instead of searching around to find all of these games for the NES-considering that you might still have an NES (and that it works) then All-Stars is definitely a game where you can keep all these games together.
Final Recommendation 9
In some ways you do lose the original experience of the NES versions of the Super Mario games with the updates to the graphics and sound of Super Mario All-Stars. To me, some things do look and sound better in their original versions such as the ending to Super Mario 2. The remakes of each game do not take anything away from the original game play, and there are some excellent new features to each game that really make All-Stars worthwhile. All-Stars is definitely a great game to have around just because it has that large collection of games from the old NES. If you do not have any other access to these original games then Super Mario All-Stars is definitely a great buy. I know that most of these games have been updated not only in graphics and sound on the GBA but also in the game play so you get some pretty good stuff for that. However, this is the only console game to feature all of the original Super Mario games along with the original game play of each game so Super Mario All-Stars still has some weight in value. Yes these are not the original games themselves in All-Stars, but they are the closest to them and even though some of the experience of playing the originals is taken away in All-Stars this is still the closest thing you will get to in playing the originals. Despite the updated graphics and sound, you will not be disappointed at all with Super Mario All-Stars.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros for the NES would be eight years old by the time it got a makeover on the SNES. Everything about the best selling game of all time is still there with only some updates to the graphics and the alteration of the music. It also features a two-player game where each person trades off after somebody completes a level or loses a life.
Super Mario: The Lost Levels
I never played this one for the NES, but I am glad I never did. This is the hardest of all four of the games in All-Stars and you will get all of the game play from Super Mario Bros. in this, but with much more frustration and challenge to boot. Some of those insane emulators you see on Youtube do not even compare with the challenge of this game and you also have to mind the fact that not all bonus items are going to help you. Some neat features in The Lost Levels are being able to play as either Mario or Luigi and having a more challenging experience than you had in the original game. Consider this Super Mario Brothers 1.5. This is only a single player game.
Super Mario Brothers 2
Oh man how I loved this game! There is a lot of criticism of this game due to it being so different from all of the other Super Mario games. I would contend that this is still a classic because of how much genius is in this game. There are many different enemies and the game play is very fun. You can do just about anything in Super Mario 2 from flying on a magic carpet to playing the slots at the end of a level. The game play is simply amazing and much more complex than Super Mario 1 or 3. There are no score counters, no time limits, and you can move about quite freely back and forth which makes for a lot of fun to simply play around with the not-so-menacing enemies that you encounter. Some excellent features of Super Mario 2 are being able to play as either Mario, Luigi, Toad, or the Princess and each one has unique movement features. Of course the downers of this game is that it is a copy of another game under a Japanese title and it is also only a single player game.
Game Play
The controls for each game come with different options since the Super Nintendo controller is a little bit more complex than the old NES controller. All you have changed are the dash and jump buttons which can be used with either the X or Y buttons or the A or B buttons. The L and R buttons on the top are not used so you keep the simple controls of each game. The great thing about the game play is that if you lose all of your lives in a world you will not totally lose your game progress. You can either start the world over again or save your progress and be able to go back to that area later. This is a huge help that you could not do with the NES.
Super Mario Brothers 3
The ultimate Super Mario of the NES series. Everything you loved about the first Super Mario is back along with an overwhelming game play and plenty of new features. Super Mario 3 begins the map quest where the worlds in a level are put on a map so you can see your progress and even reach some bonus levels. Super Mario 3 also offers two player simultaneous battle games that are very fun and have an arcade feel to it. You still have to trade off between players to go through the levels though.
Graphics/Sound
Here is where the critics of Super Mario All-Stars come in. For one I can agree with them that a collection of games ought to contain the original games themselves, but All-Stars completely remade all of these games to update the graphics and sound. You can really tell the difference in music right off the bat. While the tunes are still the same there are added alterations and you can pick out some of the instruments used in the music. In the beginning levels of Super Mario 1 and 3 the music sounds near Carribean. The music is altered in variation and is well up to date from the old 16-bit sounds of the original versions.
The graphics are mostly updated in the backgrounds. All of that empty space in the originals is replaced with scenery like hills and mountains and all of the sprites got some sort of an update. Mario definitely has a big change in every game and he is given a makeover in each game from the original versions. Critics definitely do not like the graphical updates to each game as it takes away from the original experience in some ways. Color alterations replace in-game graphics as well as the finished level graphics such as end scenes so you do lose some of the original feel of the first versions although everything is still unchanged as far as content goes.
Replay Value
You get plenty of replay value out of All-Stars. Four full Super Mario games, a few in-game side games like the Battle Mode in Super Mario 3, and plenty of fun game play to make you want to replay the games and certain levels. Super Mario All-Stars has excellent length spanning the four games and there are four save files for each game so that you have enough space to save your progress in each game. You will still have to replay an entire world if you lose all of your lives, but that is what skill is for. The Super Mario series does require a little timing and maneuvering skill. All-Stars also has plenty of nostalgia value as well. Instead of searching around to find all of these games for the NES-considering that you might still have an NES (and that it works) then All-Stars is definitely a game where you can keep all these games together.
Final Recommendation 9
In some ways you do lose the original experience of the NES versions of the Super Mario games with the updates to the graphics and sound of Super Mario All-Stars. To me, some things do look and sound better in their original versions such as the ending to Super Mario 2. The remakes of each game do not take anything away from the original game play, and there are some excellent new features to each game that really make All-Stars worthwhile. All-Stars is definitely a great game to have around just because it has that large collection of games from the old NES. If you do not have any other access to these original games then Super Mario All-Stars is definitely a great buy. I know that most of these games have been updated not only in graphics and sound on the GBA but also in the game play so you get some pretty good stuff for that. However, this is the only console game to feature all of the original Super Mario games along with the original game play of each game so Super Mario All-Stars still has some weight in value. Yes these are not the original games themselves in All-Stars, but they are the closest to them and even though some of the experience of playing the originals is taken away in All-Stars this is still the closest thing you will get to in playing the originals. Despite the updated graphics and sound, you will not be disappointed at all with Super Mario All-Stars.