Super Mario 3D All-Stars – Review

020 marks Super Mario’s 35th birthday, and Nintendo, in an all-themed Direct, has announced several titles, including Super Mario 3D All-Stars .
As the name suggests, this collection includes three titles for the price of one: Super Mario 64 , Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy . All three games have been updated in terms of graphics and resolution, resulting generally pleasant to play, both with the console in the dock and on the laptop. Furthermore, the gameplay formula that sees Mario traveling in rather large levels continues to work surprisingly well even for very short games from a Star (or Sun) and away, just like it did in Odyssey.

In any case, let’s dispel all doubts: this collection does the indispensable to bring the three titles to Switch without too many compliments. The only added value of Super Mario 3D All-Stars is the digital soundtrack of all three games, from which a track is randomly drawn that acts as a background to the menu for choosing the title to play. The three soundtracks can be listened to even when the screen is off if you are in portable mode, to ensure listening as if the console were a strange iPod.
Furthermore, all three games run on an emulator based on the Vulkan API architecture, unusual for Nintendo Switch, to which updated textures are added to replace the old ones, to offer a decidedly more modern visual appearance.

Having overcome the general functions of the collection, let’s talk about the titles by nalising them one by one and starting from Super Mario 64 . The “remastered” version of the collection is called “Shindou Mario 64” : it was released a year after the original title’s Western debut, and includes a series of minor improvements and general fixes that, in practice, made it the definitive version. Apart from the speedrunners who turned up their noses with the version chosen by Nintendo for this collection, Super Mario 64 has remained essentially the same game:those who had the pleasure of playing it in 1996 will find the same levels, challenges and general amount of Super Stars (120!), to free Peach from Bowser’s clutches and restore peace to the Mushroom Kingdom with jumps, feather hats and Koopa throws at unsuspecting well-placed bombs.

It can be said that Mario 64 is the title with the most compromises of this collection, despite the qualitative leap on a console of four successive generations. The resolution is 1280×720 regardless of the Switch mode. In short, no 16: 9 and no backgrounds to fill the black bands around the screen. Not bad, however, because the resolution of the individual textures has been updated anyway, offering a more modern look and keeping on a curious mix between emulation and remaster . Another thing that could make someone turn up their noses, in addition to the slight desynchronization of Mario’s audio, is the Frame Rate: it is 30 FPS a little dancersdepending on the specific situation, a bit of a wasted opportunity to further modernize the game. It would have been optimal, in our opinion, to spend a little more time optimizing this historic title, to adapt it to 16: 9 and 60 FPS. Switch would have made it without problems, but Nintendo made the cheaper choice and without major technical changes. If the game, therefore, has remained virtually unchanged, the differences can be seen in the control system, especially in the repositioning of the four front buttons, against the two (A and B) of the Nintendo 64 controller. On Nintendo Switch A and B are used for jump, while the punches and kicks to the X and Y keys. The splitting of the commands also happens on ZR and ZL, used for squatting.

Another small revision takes place in the camera control, which remains identical to how it was in the past, but is tied to the right analog stick against the four C keys of the N64 controller, thus paradoxically inverted compared to the original game, without the possibility of choosing whether to change. the polarity of the camera or not. Despite these changes closer to Mario Odyssey’s control system, however, Mario controls himself just as the most nostalgic remember him, for better or for worse. There is always that series of slightly unpleasant little subtleties that make the experience annoying in tighter spaces, such as Mario’s rotation when in motion versus when stopped, but in the end, these are design issues that remain intact. , most likely, to preserve the overall experience.Super Mario 64 has not been localized in Italian, just like the original did.

Older 3D Super Mario games are coming to Nintendo Switch with all new controls and polished graphics … more or less.

Super Mario Sunshine follows the false line of Mario 64, resulting in any case the first, true porting / remaster of the title on the modern console. After 18 years, finally, the beautiful and controversial game for Gamecube arrives on Nintendo Switch , and is undoubtedly a return appreciated by many players. In terms of resolution we are faced with a splendid 1080pin docked mode, with 720p in portable mode, but finally in Widescreen. Here too we find updated textures and modernized cutscenes, despite the fact that some graphic fidelity is lost if the two versions of the game are compared closely: the movies, now in native 16: 9, lose the upper and lower space of the screen of the original version on Gamecube. Superfluous space, of course, but this can be a bit annoying for veterans of the game. In terms of gameplay and level design, Mario Sunshineremains exactly identical to what it has been on Gamecube, with its 120 Guardian Suns, its difficult levels, its slippery yet precise control system and its general gameplay that especially rewards the hardcore gamer. An interesting feature of the title is the SPLAC 3000 , invention of Doctor Strambic (the same as Luigi’s Mansion!) Who will help Mario free the city from a strange substance very similar to painting by spraying water a little everywhere, and will expand his range of moves. making it float, fly or run very fast.

The controls are also renewed in Super Mario Sunshine , here in a certainly more interesting way: given the absence of the analog backbones that were part of the Gamecube controller, the variable water pressure of the SPLAC 3000has been completely removed, and the functions of the button have been divided into the two buttons R and ZR, used for spraying when stationary and in motion. Given the quantity and layout of the keys, different from the original controller, Nintendo Switch can boast standard controls, in the same way as Mario 64 and Odyssey: A and B will be used to jump, swim and talk, X will change the type of sprinkler (like always) and Y will be used to collect objects and immerse yourself in water, a function originally used for the B button on Gamecube. The differences are very subtle, as you can see, and that is why, perhaps, Super Mario Sunshine is the title to benefit the most from the collection, despite the numerous compromises, the lack of help to make the view more precise with the controller gyroscope (a bit like what happens on Splatoon ) and the total incompatibility with the Gamecube controller, almost restoring the old control system, via adapter . Here, too, we are faced with small wasted opportunities that would undoubtedly have made the general experience more pleasant even for purists.

Let’s move on to the third title of the collection, the most interesting of the three: Super Mario Galaxy. The game is certainly the most beautiful in terms of graphics. Like Sunshine, Galaxy also boasts a stunning widescreen in both dock and laptop , with 1080p and 720p resolution respectively. From a graphic point of view we can only see numerous benefits, given the native support for the Wii Widescreen and, consequently, of the game. The gameplay remains practically unchanged and excellent here too, and the controls are those of the other two titles: A and B jump or Swim, while X and Y make Mario pirouette. The perfect way, according to Nintendo, to play Mario Galaxyhe is with the Joy-Con duo, almost mimicking the Wiimote + Nunchuck duo of days gone by. After a short experience we can say that yes, on a tactile level we will almost immediately find ourselves at home, but it will be easy to catch various imperfections, mainly on the pointer. Given the total absence of the Nintendo Wii sensor bar, the pointer is built on the controller’s gyroscope and can be recalibrated by pressing the R button. Not bad, so, except that Joy-Con tend to be too preciseand they capture every single micro-movement of the right hand, often leading to the loss of the calibrated center. This type of problem is contained quite well if you use the Controller Pro, even if it is a fairly marginal solution, since moving a classic controller as a pointer is not always simple and comfortable.

Keeping on this short appendix dedicated to the motion sensor, it is still possible to make Mario pirouette by shaking the controllers or, in the case of portability, the entire console. It’s not the same feeling as 12 years ago, which was much more natural in comparison given the ergonomics of the controller, but manages to maintain a decent fidelity. Finally, let’s open a tragic parenthesis on Galaxy’s portable mode . It works, but it’s not comfortable at all. The TouchScreen may make sense, but with such a fast-paced, fast- acting game it’s just an annoying rhythm-breaker that makes you want to have another control system in your hands. Despite everything, however, Super Mario Galaxy remains the same as always:242 stars overall, extremely creative and fresh levels and engaging gameplay, but never too difficult. Just like then, the levels are built ad hoc and with an ever increasing level of challenge, with the star splinters that will always remain vital to continue the experience.

So let’s sum up: Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a collection full of defects and wasted opportunities. Despite the interesting accessibility choices such as a menu of moves available for each game, also used as a choice to return to the title selection menu, the additions are too few and, in some ways, a little too superfluous . The three titles are already doing everything to explain to the player how to behave and what moves he has available. The omission of a slot for the quick save, moreover, goes out of tune with the choice to bring the three titles on Switch following the formula of emulation, mixed with new assets. In short, Super Mario 3D All-Starsdoes the homework: the essential to bring three incredible games to a console that deserves to have them in its already large stock. We forget, however, the Nintendo factor , that seal of quality to which all old school players (and not) are used to when they start playing something developed by the Japanese company. The result is a half-successful experience that will make new players happy, especially with Sunshine and Galaxy, but that will leave many long-time fans perplexed who expected much more from such an anniversary, even if only from the packaging of the physical version. , identical to any other title (Mario’s 25 years had been better celebrated from that point of view).
Keeping all this in mind and despite all the flaws listed, the three games remain very enjoyable, fun and playable. Three Nintendo milestones in one package is enough to buy, even with all these “ifs” and “buts”.

 

by Abdullah Sam
I’m a teacher, researcher and writer. I write about study subjects to improve the learning of college and university students. I write top Quality study notes Mostly, Tech, Games, Education, And Solutions/Tips and Tricks. I am a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

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