Super Mario All-Stars Review
A special thanks goes to NismoZ for the Review. You may not copy any part of this review whatsoever without permission from NismoZ. Full Credit for this Review goes to NismoZ.
Super NES, 1993 The year was 1993. While NES games were still being produced, The original Super Mario Bros. had been released eight years beforehand. Since the SNES was out, they didn't do a rerelease on the NES; instead, Super Mario All-Stars came to be. This game takes the four major Mario platformers on the NES - Super Mario Bros., SMB2, SMB3, and the exclusive Japanese SMB2 (released as The Lost Levels in All-Stars) - improves the sound and graphics, and compiles them into a single game.
Graphics
Most of the graphics in All-Stars are recolors of the original NES sprites; hardly noticable, but true. However the recolors themselves are simply excellent; for example, compare the SMB1/LL Goomba in both versions. They look nothing alike, do they? Look closer, and you'll see that only the colors are different. Compared to the graphics of Super Mario World, the latest mainstream Mario game and also on the Super NES, and they look extremely realistic for a '90s game. The detailed backgrounds are caused by being less gimmicky than SMW, therefore not using the SNES's Mode 7, therefore increasing the capabilities of the background layers.
Sound
When I listen to the samples in Super Mario World, I personally find them a little too lighthearted. Well, if you feel the same, you'll be happy with All-Stars. The trumpet and steel drum especially; they sound much heartier, and are much better for the NES games' music. Apart from the redone samples, the themes themselves have also been slightly remixed, to what Nintendo originally imagined them to be, but were never possible with an 8-bit console.
Physics
The physics in SMAS are completely redone, and actually vary depending on which game you're playing. In SMB/LL, you don't bounce straight off a smashable block when you break it; instead your vertical speed is simply reduced. This is actually fairly annoying, because while you're running, you could hit the side of another block, killing your speed. Is SMB2, you seem to jump higher. Flying is more controlled in SMB3. Most of these are improvements from the originals, due to the fact that the NES can't support such complicated physics.
Replayabiltiy
It contains the two best received Mario games at the time; Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3. Add those to two games that were arcade-ish--hard enough to make you come back for more, but not hard enough to be downright frustrating--and you practically have one of the best games for this. The only problem comes with the fact that the games were originally on the NES. Only a select few games for the NES could save (SMB:LL included, but that just saves your top score and title screen stars), meaning that after a bit of practice, you should be able to play them in one playthrough. After beating all of the games enough times, you eventually get bored of them. With the Super NES's rather big game library, and the price of the games at the time, and you can easily get entertainment. But we're focusing on this game. That doesn't mean you won't get bored quickly, though, as it took a few weeks from when I first played SMB1 to beat it once, and there are four games on this cartridge.
Other
Nintendo released a limited-edition Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World cartridge, for the players who would rather have both games in one (and the improvements on SMW, such as seperate Luigi graphics), but apparently that's rare nowadays, and the price just wouldn't be worth it. I got both seperate cartridges for them, and they only cost me $10. With the rareness of SMAS + SMW, that adds the fact that you would most likely have to look online. And with that, the price is gonna skyrocket.
Overall
- Gameplay: 9/10
- Sound:8/10
- Physics:6/10
- Replayability: 9/10
- Overall: 8/10
