Super Mario 3D All-Stars

''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' is a 2020 compilation of platform games developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It commemorates the 35th anniversary of Nintendo's ''Super Mario'' series, with high-definition ports of ''Super Mario 64'' (1996), ''Super Mario Sunshine'' (2002), and ''Super Mario Galaxy'' (2007).

The compilation was released on September 18, 2020, and was available until March 31, 2021, when it was discontinued and removed from the Nintendo eShop. It received positive reviews for its games, technical improvements, and controls, but it was criticized for its presentation, lack of additional content, time-limited release, and the absence of ''Super Mario Galaxy 2'' (2010). As of March 2021, ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' had sold more than 9 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video games of 2020.

Content

''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' compiles high-definition ports of the first three 3D platform games in the ''Super Mario'' series: ''Super Mario 64'' (1996), ''Super Mario Sunshine'' (2002), and ''Super Mario Galaxy'' (2007). The version of ''Super Mario 64'' in the compilation is the Japan-only Rumble Pak rerelease from July 1997, which added rumble support as well as bug fixes and gameplay alterations.

All games in the collection utilize emulation, however ''Galaxy'' was partially recompiled to run natively on the Nintendo Switch. They support Joy-Con controls with rumble function, and are displayed at higher resolutions, such as ''Sunshine'' running in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Both ''Sunshine'' and ''Galaxy'' are displayed in 1080p in TV Mode and 720p in Handheld Mode, while ''64'' is displayed in 720p in both modes in a 4:3 aspect ratio. A patch released in November 2020 added camera options for all three games and control options for F.L.U.D.D. in ''Sunshine''.

''Sunshine'' did not initially natively support the GameCube controller on the Nintendo Switch. When originally released on the GameCube, ''Sunshine'' used the GameCube controller's analog triggers (which Switch controllers do not have) to regulate F.L.U.D.D.'s water pressure. For the collection, F.L.U.D.D. is controlled with the right bumper for precision aiming while standing still, while using the right trigger "is akin to pulling the GameCube's analog trigger to about the three-quarters mark". GameCube controller support for ''Sunshine'' was added in November 2020 for use in TV Mode. A further patch released in November 2021 enabled ''Super Mario 64'' to be played with the Nintendo 64 wireless controller available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.

''Galaxy'' features optional Joy-Con controls that imitate the motion-controlled setup of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, with Mario's spin ability remapped to the X and Y buttons. When using the Pro Controller, the gyroscope is utilized for the pointer, and it can be recentered with the right bumper. When playing in Handheld Mode or on the Nintendo Switch Lite system, players must use the touchscreen in lieu of the pointer. To play ''Galaxy'' cooperative mode in Handheld Mode or on the Nintendo Switch Lite, a secondary Joy-Con is needed.

The compilation also features a music player mode, which compiles the entire original soundtracks of all three games, totaling 175 tracks. The music can be played when the screen is turned off. Additionally, a random song from any of the three soundtracks will play whenever the player opens the collection's main menu.

Development

''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' was developed by Nintendo EPD and published by Nintendo, and was internally known as "''Super Mario All-Stars 2''", according to ''Eurogamer''. During development, the team intended to maintain elements of the original games, such as design and spirit, while offering improvements such as an increased resolution and changes to the controller layout. They interviewed team members of the original games to better understand the games' significance. The constituent games of ''3D All-Stars'' utilize software emulation, and the emulation used for ''Super Mario Sunshine'' was developed by Nintendo European Research & Development, who also worked with the rest of the ''3D All-Stars'' team to develop several other features for ''Sunshine'', including 16:9 rendering, controller bindings, and upgrading the fidelity of cutscenes using deep learning.

On March 30, 2020, a report from ''Video Games Chronicle'' (''VGC'') detailed that Nintendo would re-release several ''Super Mario'' games for the Nintendo Switch in commemoration of the series' 35th anniversary, and ''VentureBeat'' claimed that the compilation would include ''Super Mario 64'', ''Super Mario Sunshine'', ''Super Mario Galaxy'', and ''Super Mario Galaxy 2'' (2010). The next day, reports from ''Gematsu'' and ''Eurogamer'' excluded ''Galaxy 2'', and ''VentureBeat'' later said that they could not verify the inclusion of the game. A follow-up report by ''VGC'' corroborated the inclusion of ''64'', ''Sunshine'', and ''Galaxy'', and claimed that Nintendo's plans to announce the compilation at E3 2020 were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Release

''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' was announced on September 3, 2020, during a Nintendo Direct presentation dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the ''Super Mario'' series. The announcement trailer also revealed the game's release date to be September 18. On the same day, it was announced that a limited collectible pin set would be made available to those who pre-ordered the game. An overview trailer released on September 14 showcased more gameplay footage from ''3D All-Stars'' ahead of its release.

On November 17, a post-launch software update added support for the GameCube controller in ''Super Mario Sunshine'', as well as the ability to invert the camera controls in all three games. On March 31, 2021, physical copies of ''3D All-Stars'' were discontinued, and the game was delisted from the Nintendo eShop. Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America, said that the limited release of ''3D All-Stars'' was intended to celebrate the anniversary in a "unique" way, and that Nintendo did not intend on widespread implementation of the release model. Despite its discontinuation, the game continued to be sold at retail stores. In November 2021, an update was released for ''3D All-Stars'' that allowed ''Super Mario 64'' to be played using the Nintendo 64 controller available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.

Reception

Critical response

According to the review aggregating website Metacritic, ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' received "generally favorable reviews". Critics generally agreed that the games themselves remained enjoyable, but were divided over the presentation, which received criticism for its simplistic nature and lack of additional features, its limited time release, and the absence of ''Super Mario Galaxy 2'' (2010).

Ian Walker from ''Kotaku'' said the port of ''64'' "hasn't introduced any obviously unfortunate consequences" and even fixed some "occasional performance dips" from the original, and that the controls for the game worked well on the Switch. For ''Sunshine'', he felt the adjusted controls would affect anyone playing who had muscle memory from the original and that the visuals stuttered somewhat late in the game. For ''Galaxy'', Walker was thankful that some of the motion-based controls were remapped to controller buttons but added some of the areas that still required the motion controls were still problematic as they were on the Wii.

''IGN''s Zachary Ryan was "a little bit disappointed in the lack of effort Nintendo has put into" the collection, when compared to the "major overhauls" done for the games in ''Super Mario All-Stars'', and noted the use of emulation to present the three games helped explain "a lot about the lack of upgrades" in each. For ''64'', Ryan felt the upscaling made the game look the nicest it ever had, and called the controls "still super tight" and "right at home on a Pro Controller or Joy-Con", despite the x-axis camera controls being inverted (a later patch would make this optional). He did wish Nintendo had added "some quality-of-life upgrades", feeling players experiencing the game for the first time "might find it somewhat inaccessible". For ''Sunshine'', Ryan said that it was still a fantastic looking game and commended the controls still remaining fluid, though Ryan experienced some slowdown in certain moments. Finally, Ryan felt upscaling ''Galaxy'' made it "a fully realized version" of the game and praised the updated control options, adding the handheld mode configuration, while "not the most ideal way to play", still worked.

Sales

By September 7, pre-orders for ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' had made it the second-best-selling game of 2020 on Amazon in the United States, behind '' Animal Crossing: New Horizons''. Scalpers resold pre-orders on websites such as eBay, going as high as . Base.com, an online retailer in the United Kingdom, was forced to cancel all of their customers' pre-orders because their allocation of physical games was not enough to fulfil pre-orders. They added that Nintendo and their UK distributors were "unable to give... any reassurance" that more copies would be made available to them through the on-sale period.

In its first week of release, ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' was the best-selling game in the UK, and was the third-largest game launch of 2020 and the fifth-fastest-selling Switch game in the country. In Japan, the game sold over 210,000 physical copies within the first three days of its release. In the United States, ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' was the second-best-selling game of September behind '' Marvel's Avengers'', and had become the tenth-best-selling game of 2020. The collection was also the best-selling game in September for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. As of March 2021, ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' has sold over 9.01 million units worldwide. In March 2021, ahead of its delisting, the game's physical sales in the United Kingdom spiked around 267%. Up until December 31, 2021, its shipment increased to 9.07 million copies.

Notes

References

External links

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{{Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary

2020 video games
Products and services discontinued in 2021
3D platformers
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo Switch games
Nintendo Switch-only games
Nintendo video game compilations
3D All-Stars
Video game remasters
Video games developed in Japan
Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary