Retro Review: Super Mario All Stars

4 Mario games in one?! It was a kid’s dream!!

Change of plans here. This week’s review was going to be Starfox 64 but I’ve decided to hold back on it in favor of something different. Oddly enough today I completed Super Mario Bros today for the first time but instead of reviewing that game, I’m going with Super Mario All Stars, the compilation in which I played Super Mario Bros. For this review I will give each game a mini review and an overview of the whole game itself.

Backstory
Released in 1993, Super Mario All Stars was released on the Super Nintendo. This game contained 4 games on it, not something common during that time. The games included the first 3 Mario titles we all knew and loved. The fourth game was a mystery to people at the time: Super Mario The Lost Levels? Gamers were eager to check it out. The game took all the previous Mario games and gave them a complete 16 bit graphics update and fixed some minor problems. Also new is savestates, all the games give you the option to save your game and come back to it, welcoming newer players to the series by giving them some insurance.

The game selection screen from the North America and European version

1st: Super Mario Bros
The game I beat today is the first one I will be talking about.

The title screen has a new look to it. See the colorful background?

Gameplay:
Super Mario Bros as most any gamer should know brought the formula of platforming games and has influenced hundreds of later games even to this very day. The gameplay is very simple and since being re released on All Stars, the gameplay formula has not been tampered with. Mario controls pretty much the same but the animations on his running and jumping have been improved. The goal of the game is simple. You complete the stage by sliding down a flag pole at the end of the stage. Enemies are all around you wanting you dead.

World 1-1. Left is original 8 bit. Right is Super Mario All Stars version of World 1-1.

You can use powerups that every Mario fan knows now. The Mushroom, Fire Flower, and the Starman are your life insurance. Pick them up and if you complete a stage with a Mushroom and a Fireflower, you keep them with you in the next stage until you get hit. A simple formula but it has worked so well.

Difficulty:
To put it lightly, for being the first Mario platformer, this game is not a cakewalk. We’re not talking Castlevania hard but this game will require you to have a good sense of the controls and know how to avoid enemies and get through some of the obstacles. Once you hit World 4, things get dicey real quick. From castles that require you to go through it certain ways, to Hammer Bros and the tricky jumps required to conquer World 8. I would say a lot of the famous difficult NES games took notes from this game. In terms of All Stars, the game is not any easier. It took me all these years to finish it, so that says something.

Soundtrack
One word: Overworld theme.

2nd: Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels
The mystery game in the bunch. It’s no longer a secret though

Gameplay:
I’m sure everyone and their grandma has heard the story that this game is the true sequel to the original so I won’t bore you with that story. The Lost Levels took everything from the original and added a huge difficulty spike. This game is hard as crap, it takes no prisoner. When making Lost Levels for All Stars, the developers knew how hard the game is so when you use a continue, you restart at the level you died at instead of the beginning of the world from the previous game.
In terms of gameplay, the game plays exactly like the first game. The only new addition are Poison Mushrooms. Thanks to the graphical update, these mushrooms are much easier to distinguish. You can also play as Luigi in a single player game now, because this game lacks a multiplayer mode. Luigi can jump higher but his traction is not as good. He is considered the hard mode.

The poison mushroom is now much easier to see. But that doesn’t mean it’s any safer!

Difficulty:
What can I say, this game is harder than the first by miles. You know the castles from the first game that have the repeating hallways unless you go through them a certain way? This game has more of them beginning in World 2. The difficulty comes from the level design and enemy placement. A lot of people call this game one of those infamous hacks where it seems the people who develop them are gods at Mario games. This is a lot like that. The farthest I got is World 6. That was after using 80 plus lives and continues. All Stars does not make this game anymore bearable.

Soundtrack:
All the tracks I know of are all ripped from the first game. So nothing to say here. Sorry.

3rd: Super Mario Bros 2 (Doki Doki Panic)
The game that fooled us all until we all found out about it.

Gameplay:
The gameplay here was really different from the previous games as it was a completely different game to begin with. However, the game did give us many of the enemies we see now in the series so I guess it isn’t all that bad. Instead of jumping on enemies to defeat them, you can now pick them up and toss them to defeat other enemies. This also applies to items as well. The health system is totally different as well. 3 hits now and you’re dead but you can increase it by using these potions you find to open doors to an alternate dimension where you find mushrooms.

Notice Mario picking up the item. This is how you defeat enemies.

Powerups are scarce and hard to come by. To get a starman you have to collect 5 cherries scattered throughout the stages and then wait on the dang thing to show up. All Stars has not changed the gameplay very much and kept it the same.

Characters:
Super Mario Bros 2 offers 4 different players for you to choose from:

Mario: The balanced character. He has good speed, jumping, and can pick up things fairly quickly.
Luigi: The jumpy character. His speed suffers but his jumping is insane. He can jump much higher than Mario but is a little slippery in his traction.
Toad: The speed character. He can move fast as heck and can pick up items very quickly. Use him in the desert stages
Peach: Making her first playable debut. She is the broken character, sorta. She can float for a short time, making bottomless pits a breeze as she can go over them. If you’re a new player, probably pick her.

Difficulty:
Because Nintendo of America did not want the Lost Levels, they toned the difficulty down for this game. It is not easy but I find it easier than the first Super Mario Bros. If I’m playing as Mario or Toad, I can beat the game fairly easily without too much hassle. If you’re new to All Stars, try beating this game first.

Soundtrack:
This soundtrack is not one of my personal favorites. Some of the music got into Super Smash Bros Melee though.

Final game: Super Mario Bros 3
The grand daddy of the bunch.

Gameplay:
What can I say about Mario 3 that hasn’t been said to death all ready. The gameplay has been massively expanded upon from the previous games. New powerups, a map system, more levels, bigger levels, some of the best level designs in the Mario series even to this day, anything I say is nothing new but I will give it my best shot.

I think Mario 3 got the best graphic improvement

Mario 3 brings a new element that has now become standard in recent 2D Mario games, maps. Mario 3 has a map that you move along as you progress through each stage. These maps offer hidden secrets and in some cases, warp zones. You can skip certain levels on the maps by breaking rocks on the map or by beating certain levels out of order. As you move through all the worlds, these maps become very complex.

World 1 map. Notice the way it is laid out.

Mario 3 has expanded on the powerups. Besides your mushroom and fireflower, you get the Raccoon suit. It allows you to fly for short periods of time. A P feather allows for infinite flight. The infamous Tanooki Suit in which PETA bitched about allows all the benefits of the P feather and Raccoon suit but allows you to turn into a statue for a short period. The Hammer Bros suit is rare but it is the powerhouse. You can throw hammers and dodge projectiles. It can instakill most ground enemies in one hit. There’s also a Frog Suit that allows you to swim faster and jump much higher on land.

Mario rocking the Raccoon suit

You also have an inventory to hold items for you in between levels. By visiting Toad Houses, you can receive powerups that you can keep in the inventory.

Difficulty:
Super Mario Bros 3 is a step up from the USA Super Mario Bros 2. With the added levels, the developers made the game a little more challenging but not to the point of being downright cheap. I have not completed the game entirely because I have been busy working on other games on a list that i keep. Im at World 8 if any of you are curious. I’d say if you want a challenging Mario game, try Mario 3. You won’t be disappointed.

Soundtrack:
This game’s soundtrack is considered by many to be one of the best soundtracks of any Mario game. Many of the tracks here have made their way into so many more recent Mario games. The Galaxy games, Super Mario 3D Land, just to name a few. I think it’s pretty nice but my favorite soundtrack is in another game.

Is this my favorite Mario game? Do I consider it one of the best games in the series? Is it the best game ever made?
1. Nope! Sorry everyone, Mario 3 is like my 6th or 7th favorite Mario game.

2. While I see the glory of it, I think one or two other games deserve that particular title

3. It is definitely in the running but to really answer that question……I don’t think that answer will ever be found to be honest.

Overall:
All 4 games stand on their own as good games in their own right. Super Mario All Stars as a whole is a wonderful collection. While today collections like this are nothing new, back then in 1993, it was kind of a new thing. The game sold very well and people loved it for all the graphical enhancements. The SNES really added a new atmosphere that the NES just could not produce. I prefer playing all the classic Mario titles on Super Mario All Stars. The added enhancements, the save state function and continues in my opinion make for a much more interesting experience but i can always get them on Virtual Console if i want a little extra difficulty without the save states.
There was another release containing Super Mario World a year later as Super Mario World came out as a launch title. I do not own that cartridge and Super Mario World deserves it own review anyway. That’s for another day. The Wii also saw a release of All Stars to celebrate Mario’s 25th anniversary but it was literally carbon copied. If you own a SNES, get this collection. It’s easy to find. If you do not, get the Wii version.

The title screen for Super Mario All Stars plus Super Mario World. It is not that easy to find and I do not have it.

 

The re-release of Super Mario All Stars on Wii.

Final Scores:
Super Mario Bros: 7.9/10

Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels 5/10

Super Mario Bros 2 7/10

Super Mario Bros 3 8.2/10

Next Week:
Killer Instinct (SNES) or Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose. Vote for which one you want me to do via here or Facebook. (This is something new I want to try)