If you discount his appearance under the guise of ‘Jumpman’ in the original Donkey Kong, Nintendo’s moustachioed mascot reaches the grand old age of 35 this year. It’s to celebrate that auspicious occasion that Super Mario 3D All-Stars{:rel=nofollow} arrives, rounding up three of the stalwart plumber’s most famous (and in one case infamous) adventures into one nostalgic package.
From a historical perspective, the trifecta of Marios on offer makes perfect sense: as the first 3D titles in the franchise’s storied history, these are the games that broke the character away from his side-on platforming origins, fully immersing players in the Mushroom Kingdom’s technicolour world for the first time. From a quality perspective, though, the motivation is less clear, with Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy standing as two stone-cold classics but sandwiching an awkward misfire in Super Mario Sunshine.
The compilation is also glaringly devoid of either bells or whistles. Other than the ability to listen to each game’s music in isolation, there is nothing here in the way of extras or bonus content. There’s certainly nothing to rival some other publishers’ retro compilations, which have set out to be a celebration of the titles on offer. What’s more, each game here is presented almost unaltered from its original form. Yes, they’ve been scaled up to HD (and in the case of Sunshine to 16:9 as well) so visuals are generally pin sharp, but no attempt has been made to smooth the jagged edges or increase texture resolutions. Even the many Mario 64 improvements introduced in the 2004 Nintendo DS port, such as the ability to play as different characters, are glaringly absent here. This is a slavishly faithful recreation of the original titles - for good or ill.
But while the no-frills execution leaves something to be desired, the quality of the content remains. 64 and Galaxy are milestones in both Mario’s history and that of video gaming as a whole — and with good reason. The thrill of first gazing up at Peach’s castle in Mario 64 before navigating the labyrinth of portraits and hidden worlds in pursuit of those last elusive power stars is almost as potent now as it was when the title debuted back in 1996. Yes, it’s limited to 4:3 and the textures look janky as hell but the joyous gameplay and sheer giddy freedom the game affords survives intact.
The same is true for Galaxy, as groundbreaking in its gravitational gameplay as 64 was in breaking that third dimension. Indeed, by stripping out many of the original’s motion controls, this is arguably the definitive version of that seminal title. Mario’s pirouette, formerly accessed with a brisk shake of the Wiimote, is now mercifully bound to the Y button. Similarly, the controller’s gyroscope (or touchscreen in handheld mode) allows you to aim and fire your star fragments. It’s a more elegant and precise means of navigating the game than the Wii’s and if the persistence of using a pointer to navigate menus feels like an odd thing to retain, the gameplay still benefits significantly from the hardware shift.
The only bum note in the collection, then, is Sunshine. Mario’s GameCube outing has its defenders, but it’s hard to argue that it measures up in such august company. The visuals benefit from the resolution bump and the switch to the widescreen helps with immersion, but the FLUDD system that forms the game’s primary gimmick is as flawed here as ever it was on Nintendo’s purple box. The water cannon/jetpack device never feels intuitive and leads to moments of maddening frustration that will have you longing for the good old days when all Mario had to do was leap from platform to platform. The cringeworthy full-voice acting remains as well: a cautionary tale that mercifully prevented Nintendo from ever making that particular mistake again.
But while Sunshine is definitely the runt of this litter, it’s hard to argue with the package as a whole. Presented in what is almost their original form, this is a wonderful museum piece that charts gaming’s most iconic character through a trio of his formative adventures. More than that, it’s a chance to revisit two classic games without dragging old consoles down from the loft or fiddling about with emulators. And if you fancy playing about with Sunshine and hosing down the streets of Isle Delfino for the sheer hell of it, then by all means fill your boots. With its bare bones presentation of two classics and one curio, this is a somewhat uneven package, to be sure, but that doesn’t make Super Mario 3D All-Stars{:rel=nofollow} any less essential.
Buy _Super Mario 3D All-Stars{:rel=nofollow}_from Amazon.