Super Mario is one of gaming’s most important icons, so it’s no surprise Nintendo wants to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the franchise. The company has a lot of Super Mario related products releasing over the coming months and the limited Nintendo Switch game Super Mario 3D All-Stars is one of them. As the name already gave away, you’ll get a couple of classic 3D Super Mario games for the price of one. Needless to say, this is a golden deal!

Super Mario 64

The first game in the collection is Super Mario 64, one of the most important games ever released on the Nintendo 64. It was the first-ever 3D Super Mario game and raised the bar for every 3D platformer that released after it. There are just a couple of games in the industry that are responsible for entirely new genres and Super Mario 64 is one of them. Since it’s the oldest game in the collection, you’ll have to do with simplistic graphics and some harder controls than you’re used to in modern Super Mario games.

I played it in handheld mode mostly and enjoyed my time reliving my childhood memories. I’m very fond of Super Mario 64 as it was one of those games that made me fall in love with the wonderful world of videogames. Nowadays it plays and feels like a retro game so everything is a bit slower and jumping around over the platforms isn’t as precise as modern-day standards. Out of all three games in the collection, this one is the hardest to master but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. If you want to discover the roots of modern 3D Super Mario games, this is the one you need to play and the core mechanics remained fun, even after all those years. Jumping from painting to painting, discovering new worlds, defeating bosses, and collecting stars is fun, even if the game isn’t the best-looking or easiest to play in this collection. That being said, the Nintendo Switch version does exactly what you would expect from it and thanks to the small graphical boost, it looks okay in both handheld and television mode. A legendary game that’s certainly worth checking out.

Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine originally released on Nintendo GameCube and although a lot of fans loved it, there were some negative voices too. In Sunshine, Nintendo took a different approach by adding F.L.U.D.D. to Mario’s arsenal. The story of Sunshine is all about cleaning up a tropical island with the help of your handy new toy. With F.L.U.D.D. Mario can spray away graffiti and deal some damage to his enemies. But, it’s also very helpful to clear the platforms. Since Mario can use this special water canon to hover in the air, fans weren’t really sure if this still counted a as traditional platformer. Timing your jumps isn’t as crucial as in Super Mario 64 since you can easily alter your air time by using some water streams. So no, Super Mario Sunshine is far from a traditional platformer but I adore it for it. Out of this collection, it’s the most unique and maybe even most thrilling episode in the franchise.

With F.L.U.D.D. the rules of a traditional platformer don’t apply, instead, it feels more like a third-person platformer/shooter and offers some of the most unique levels and enemies. On top of that comes the gorgeously created island of Delfino where you can run around freely to discover all its secrets. For me personally, this is a Super Mario game unlike any other and deserves every minute of your time, especially if you never played it.

During my sessions, I noticed a couple of things that aren’t really done in modern Super Mario games like dismembering enemies but that’s just the charm of its time. Storywise, it’s probably the most unique 3D Super Mario game and the gameplay easily makes it even better. Performance-wise, it runs incredibly well on Nintendo Switch, and especially in handheld mode, it’s extremely pretty to look at. The sunny island and the originally designed enemies and friends really set the bar when it comes to atmospheric games. The moment you play this for the first time, you’ll want to continue until you reach the very end simply because you’re fully immersed in that gorgeous sunny island.

 

 

Don’t be mistaken by its happy and sunny looks, there’s plenty of challenge in Super Mario Sunshine and if you want to clear everything, you’ll best prepare to spend a couple of hours with it. F.L.U.D.D. offers great help but you won’t be able to use it all the time and if you want to collect those hardest Shines (local Stars), you’ll truly need to master your platforming skills, even without F.L.U.D.D. It was one of my favorite games of the GameCube era and I’m beyond excited that I can finally play this gem in the palm of my hands. Even for modern standards, this is a great game, and thanks to the graphical improvements it looks and feels like a modern game too!

Super Mario Galaxy

The last game of the collection is Super Mario Galaxy, originally released on Nintendo’s incredibly popular Wii. Galaxy is by far one of my favorite 3D Super Mario games and when I first played it on my Wii, I was completely blown away. The graphics looked great but the gameplay made it even better. Taking Super Mario to space gave the creative team a tremendous amount of freedom to come up with some of the most thrilling worlds ever created in a Super Mario game. The goal of the game is to save the galaxy from the evil forces and you do so by hopping from planet to planet, solving puzzles, and defeating enemies. The best part about this is the fact that a lot of planets are completely different and all have their own gravity field. This is the first Super Mario game that truly messes around with its 3D perspective, you can even run upside down and jump from one small planet to another!

It’s always a surprise of what you’ll be faced with next and you can never truly anticipate the craziness those planets throw at you. Since this is still a Super Mario game, there are power-ups that enable you to transform. Bee Mario made its first appearance here and I’m pretty sure this game has some of the craziest power-ups ever released in the franchise. Everything about Super Mario Galaxy just screams fun and even after all those years, I still had a blast with it. Right from the moment I started playing in, a smile appeared on my face and it didn’t leave until I reached the very end of the story. Just like other modern Super Mario games, clearing the story doesn’t mean the fun has to stop as the game is hiding countless Stars for you to collect. There’s always something new to discover here and it’s great to see Nintendo handled the port with love and eye for detail.

Since this game was originally a Wii release, it was created with full motion control in mind. Needless to say, this port was altered to run smoothly on the Nintendo Switch and it’s great to see how Nintendo traded in the motion control for the Switch’s strengths. In handheld mode, you can simply touch the elements you would point at in the Wii version or just use the buttons instead of shaking your actual controller. The same goes for the television mode although you can still use the motion controls there since both the Switch’s Joy-Con as Pro Controller still support that option. All in all, it works extremely well on Switch and it’s great to see Nintendo really went the extra mile to deliver a fun experience for the fans to enjoy.

 

 

Out of all three, this is the best-looking and most complete Super Mario adventure. If you never played it before, this one truly feels like a game that could have been released this year. Sure, the textures aren’t as sharp as what we’re used to nowadays but aside from that, this really feels like a modern game. This means that if you never played it before, it will easily result in the same fun you had with Super Mario Odyssey and it might even surpass it! The only downside about Super Mario Galaxy is the fact that its sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, isn’t included in the collection as it even improves the already stellar gameplay of the Galaxy franchise.

Fun extras

On top of the three playable games, Nintendo also added some fun extras to the collection. The biggest extra is of course the official soundtrack of all three games. With just a touch of the button, you’ll be able to enjoy all songs separately or just let them play randomly. All three games have a stellar score and it’s interesting to hear how much the music of Super Mario evolved over the years. Besides that, Nintendo also made sure all three games are perfectly playable on their new home. This means all games have been altered slightly to look and play as good as possible on Nintendo Switch. Since controlling Super Mario might become a little confusing in three separate games, the team also made sure you can always access the move list during your adventure to find the right buttons. It’s in the small touches like those that you truly understand this is a work of love and passion while always respecting the source material. This is a collection done right.

 

Conclusion:

Super Mario 3D All-Stars is the prime example of how you make the perfect collection for the Super Mario fans. By combining three of the most important and fun 3D adventures, fans get hours of fun and unforgettable moments. Although Super Mario 64 might feel a bit too old and clunky for some, both Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy feel like modern games that could easily have been released this year. If you never played those before, you’re truly in for a treat since you’re getting some of the best Super Mario adventures ever created. Just like Super Mario’s anniversary, this special collection is one big celebration of everything that’s so fun about or favorite Italian plumber. If you own a Nintendo Switch, you should own Super Mario 3D All-Stars, it’s really as simple as that.

9.5/10

Tested on Nintendo Switch