Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Super Mario All-Stars'' is a 1993 compilation of
platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
s for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
(SNES). It contains
remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
of
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
's four ''
Super Mario (also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...
'' games released for the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
(NES) and the
Famicom Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) home video game console, released in Japan on February 21, 1986. The system uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" for more ...
: ''
Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...
'' (1985), '' Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels'' (1986), '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' (1988), and '' Super Mario Bros. 3'' (1988). As in the original games, players control the Italian plumber
Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
and his brother
Luigi Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...
through themed worlds, collecting
power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a Game mechanics, game mechanic. This is in contrast to an Item (game), item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that ca ...
s, avoiding obstacles, and finding secrets. The remakes feature updated graphics—including the addition of
parallax scrolling Parallax scrolling is a technique in computer graphics where background images move past the camera more slowly than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D scene of distance. The technique grew out of the multiplane camera te ...
—and music, modified
game physics Computer animation physics or game physics are laws of physics as they are defined within a simulation or video game, and the programming logic used to implement these laws. Game physics vary greatly in their degree of similarity to real-world phy ...
, a save feature, and bug fixes.
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was pr ...
developed the compilation after completing '' Super Mario Kart'' (1992), at the suggestion of the Mario creator,
Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, video game producer, producer and Creative director#Video games, game director at Nintendo, where he has served as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one o ...
. No longer restricted by the limitations of the
8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...
NES, Nintendo remade them for the
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
SNES. The developers based the updated designs on those from ''
Super Mario World ''Super Mario World'', known in Japan as '' is a 1990 platform game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach and Dino ...
'' (1990) and strove to retain the feel of the original games. Nintendo released ''Super Mario All-Stars'' worldwide in late 1993 and rereleased it in 1994 with ''Super Mario World'' included. It was ''The Lost Levels'' first release outside Japan; it was not released on the NES in Western territories because Nintendo deemed it too difficult at the time. ''Super Mario All-Stars'' is one of the bestselling ''Super Mario'' games, with 10.55 million copies sold by 2015. Critics considered it one of the best SNES games and praised the updated graphics and music, but criticized its lack of innovation. ''All-Stars'' served as a basis for later ''Super Mario'' rereleases and was described by ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' as a model for video game remakes. It was rereleased twice for the anniversary of ''Super Mario Bros.'': in 2010 (the 25th anniversary) in a special package for the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
, and in 2020 (the 35th anniversary) for the
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
as part of the
Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...
service. The Wii rerelease sold 2.24 million copies by 2011 but received mixed reviews, with criticism for its lack of new games and features.


Content

''Super Mario All-Stars'' is a compilation of the first four games in the ''
Super Mario (also known as and is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. At least one ''Super Mario'' game has been released for every ma ...
'' series—''
Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...
'' (1985), '' Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels'' (1986), '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' (1988), and '' Super Mario Bros. 3'' (1988)—originally released for the
8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit integers or other data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers or data bu ...
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
(NES) and the
Family Computer Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System, Family Computer (Famicom) home video game console, released in Japan on February 21, 1986. The system uses proprietary floppy disk ...
. Additionally, a
two-player A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
bonus game based on '' Mario Bros.'' (1983) can be accessed from ''Super Mario Bros.3''. The games are faithful
remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
featuring the original premises and
level design In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, mission, stage, course, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively incre ...
s intact. They are 2D
side-scrolling A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...
platformer A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
s where the player controls the Italian plumber
Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
and his brother
Luigi Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...
through themed worlds. They jump between platforms, avoid enemies and inanimate obstacles, find hidden secrets (such as warp zones and vertical vines), and collect
power-ups In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chose ...
like the
mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...
and the Invincibility Star. ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''The Lost Levels'', and ''Super Mario Bros.3'' follow Mario and Luigi as they attempt to rescue Princess Toadstool from the villainous
Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a Character (arts), fictional character and the Antagonist, main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. ...
, with the player stomping on enemies and breaking bricks as they progress. ''Super Mario Bros.2'' features a different storyline and gameplay style: Mario, Luigi, the Princess, and
Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...
must defeat the evil King Wart, who has cursed the land of dreaming. In this game, the player picks up and throws objects such as vegetables at enemies. The player selects one of the four from an in-game menu and can exit at any time by pausing. The games feature updates that take advantage of the
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
hardware of the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
(SNES), ranging from remastered soundtracks to revamped graphics and the addition of
parallax scrolling Parallax scrolling is a technique in computer graphics where background images move past the camera more slowly than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D scene of distance. The technique grew out of the multiplane camera te ...
.
Game physics Computer animation physics or game physics are laws of physics as they are defined within a simulation or video game, and the programming logic used to implement these laws. Game physics vary greatly in their degree of similarity to real-world phy ...
were slightly modified and some glitches, such as the Minus World in ''Super Mario Bros.'', were fixed. The
difficulty level Game balance is a branch of game design with the intention of improving gameplay and user experience by balancing difficulty and fairness. Game balance consists of adjusting rewards, challenges, and/or elements of a game to create the intended pla ...
of ''The Lost Levels'' was slightly reduced: poison mushroom hazards, which can kill the player, are easier to distinguish, and there are more
1-up In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. Sometimes the euphemisms chance, try, rest and ...
s and
checkpoints Checkpoint may refer to: Places * Border checkpoint, a place on the land border between two states where travellers and/or goods are inspected * Security checkpoint, erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary cont ...
. ''All-Stars'' includes the option to save player progress, which the original games lack. Players can resume the games from the start of any previously accessed world, or in ''The Lost Levels'', any previously accessed level. Up to four individual save files can be stored for each game.


Development

''Super Mario All-Stars'' was developed by
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EAD and formerly known as Nintendo Research & Development No.4 Department (abbreviated as Nintendo R&D4), was the largest software development division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. It was pr ...
, a former
game development game development (sometimes shortened to gamedev) is the process of creating a video game. It is a multidisciplinary practice, involving programming, design, art, audio, user interface, and writing. Each of those may be made up of more specialize ...
division of Japanese publisher
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
. It had the working title ''Mario Extravaganza'' as, according to Nintendo president
Satoru Iwata Satoru Iwata (; December6, 1959July11, 2015) was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer and producer. Beginning in 2002, he was the fourth president of Nintendo, as well as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo of America from ...
, "It was a single game cartridge packed full of the first ten years of Nintendo's rich history." The concept emerged after the completion of '' Super Mario Kart'' (1992). The next major ''Mario'' game, ''
Yoshi's Island ''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'' is a 1995 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls various Yoshis on their quest to reunite baby Mario with his brother ...
'' (1995), was still in production, creating a gap in Nintendo's release schedule. Mario creator
Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, video game producer, producer and Creative director#Video games, game director at Nintendo, where he has served as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one o ...
suggested developing a "value pack" containing all the ''Super Mario'' games. According to assistant director and designer Tadashi Sugiyama, Miyamoto's idea was to give players a chance to experience ''The Lost Levels''. Nintendo had deemed ''The Lost Levels'', released in Japan as ''Super Mario Bros.2'' in 1986, too difficult for the North American market and instead released a retrofitted version of the game '' Doki Doki Panic'' (1987). As such, it had not attracted a large audience. Rather than simply transfer the NES games to a SNES cartridge, Nintendo remade them for SNES. One of the first tasks the developers accomplished was updating and reworking the graphics for the SNES. The more powerful hardware gave the developers more colors to use in Mario's world. Designer Naoki Mori recalled feeling intimidated, as it was only his third year at Nintendo and he had been tasked with updating its flagship series. The artists based their designs on those from the SNES game ''
Super Mario World ''Super Mario World'', known in Japan as '' is a 1990 platform game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach and Dino ...
'' (1990) and added a black outline around Mario to make him stand out against the backgrounds. For black backgrounds like those in castles and bonus areas in ''Super Mario Bros.'', Mori and Sugiyama added details such as portraits of Bowser and Mario. The team strove to retain the feel of the original games by leaving level designs and Mario's movement unaltered. To preserve the gameplay, they added no new animations or actions. Alterations were made by hand, and Sugiyama ran the original ''Super Mario Bros.'' while he worked on the remake so he could compare them side by side. Staff who worked on the original games were involved and consulted during development. The team preserved glitches they deemed helpful, such as a way to generate infinite lives in ''Super Mario Bros.;'' however, for that glitch, they limited how many lives the player could earn. Sugiyama recalled the team fixed glitches they thought would hinder players' progress, although this created some differences in the controls. To make the games easier, the team increased the number of lives they start with. They also added a save-game option, a feature made possible by the recent development of battery backup cartridges. Save points were added after each level in ''The Lost Levels'' to reduce its difficulty. While Mori helped with the other remakes, he avoided
debugging In engineering, debugging is the process of finding the Root cause analysis, root cause, workarounds, and possible fixes for bug (engineering), bugs. For software, debugging tactics can involve interactive debugging, control flow analysis, Logf ...
''The Lost Levels'' because it was so difficult.


Release

Nintendo released ''Super Mario All-Stars'' in Japan on July 14, 1993, in North America on August 11, 1993, and in Europe on December 16, 1993. In Japan, it was released as ''Super Mario Collection''. The compilation marked the first time ''The Lost Levels'' was released outside Japan. Between September and October 1993, ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...
'' held a contest in which players who reached a specific area in ''The Lost Levels'' would receive a Mario iron-on patch. The compilation became the SNES's
pack-in game Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...
and sold 10.55 million copies by 2015, including 2.12 million in Japan, making it one of the bestselling ''Super Mario'' games. In the United Kingdom, it was the top-selling video game in September 1993. Nintendo rereleased ''Super Mario All-Stars'' in December 1994 as ''Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World'', which adds ''Super Mario World''. ''Super Mario World'' is largely identical to the original, but Luigi's sprites were updated to make him a distinct character and not just a
palette swap Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the gamer, players, and video game culture, surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 ...
of Mario. A version of ''Super Mario Collection'' was also released on Nintendo's
Satellaview The is a satellite modem peripheral produced by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Famicom in 1995. Containing 1 megabyte of ROM space and an additional 512 kB of RAM, Satellaview allowed players to download games, maga ...
, a Japan-exclusive SNES add-on allowing users to receive games via
satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a '' broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than te ...
. In 2010, for the 25th anniversary of ''Super Mario Bros.,'' Nintendo released ''Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition'' (''Super Mario Collection Special Pack'' in Japan) for the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
in Japan on October 21, in Europe on December 3, and in North America on December 12. The ''25th Anniversary Edition'' comes in special packaging containing the original ''Super Mario All-Stars''
ROM image A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory Computer chip, chip, often from a ROM cartridge, video game cartridge, or used to contain a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's arc ...
on a Wii disc, a 32-page ''Super Mario History'' booklet containing concept art and interviews, and a soundtrack CD containing sound effects and 10 tracks from most ''Mario'' games up to ''
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a 2010 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was first announced at E3 2009 and is the sequel to 2007's ''Super Mario Galaxy''. Much like the first game, the story follows Mario as he pursues the Koopa King, Bowse ...
'' (2010). This version sold 2.24 million copies—920,000 in Japan and 1.32 million overseas—by March 2011. The compilation was again rereleased in 2020 on the
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
for the original game's 35th anniversary, coming as part of the subscription-based
Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...
service.


Reception

The compilation received critical acclaim. Reviewers thought it was a must-have that represented the SNES library at its finest, and would occupy players for hours, if not days. '' Nintendo Magazine System'' (''NMS'') estimated it could entertain players for up to a year. A critic from ''
Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...
'' (''CVG'') described ''Super Mario All-Stars'' as the ''Super Mario'' director's cut, bringing fans updated graphics and audio in addition to a game (''The Lost Levels'') few had experienced. A reviewer from ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...
'' (''EGM''), overwhelmed by the improvements, called it a "masterpiece from beginning to end". Critics praised the collection's games as excellent remakes, stating they aged well and appreciating the effort that went into retrofitting them for the SNES. For ''
AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...
'', retrospectively reviewing the version including ''Super Mario World'', the compilation represented "the absolute pinnacle of the 2D platform genre". Critics said the games played just as they did on the NES and retained what made them great. ''EGM'' reviewers were satisfied the various secrets were left intact. ''Nintendo Power'' wrote the games got better with time, while ''EGM'' and ''CVG'' suggested players abandon the antiquated NES games for the SNES upgrade. Although one of the ''NMS'' reviewers admitted to preferring ''Super Mario World'', citing the compilation's less instinctive controls and somewhat simplistic graphics, he said ''Super Mario All-Stars'' was still worth buying. Reviewers liked the updates the games received in the transition to the SNES. ''Nintendo Power'', for instance, praised the addition of a save feature, believing it would give players who never finished the games a chance to do so. The updated graphics were praised; ''NMS''s reviewers admired the attention to detail, which they said made the compilation worth buying, and ''AllGame'' called the visuals colorful and cartoonish. ''CVG'' thought the backgrounds could have benefited from more detail, but ''
GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...
'' thought they were detailed enough. Reviewers offered praise for the updated soundtracks as well. For ''EGM'', the audio enhanced the experience, and ''GamePro'' noted the addition of echo and bass effects. Criticism of ''Super Mario All-Stars'' generally focused on its lack of innovation. Aside from the 16-bit updates, save feature, and (for American audiences) ''The Lost Levels'', ''Nintendo Power'' wrote, the compilation did not present anything new, a sentiment ''CVG'' echoed. " the best cart around is a compilation of old eight-bit games," wrote ''
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
'', "it doesn't say much for the standard of new games, does it?" Reviewers also disagreed over which game in the compilation was best. One ''EGM'' reviewer argued ''Super Mario Bros.2'' was, but another critic and ''Nintendo Power'' said that honor went to ''The Lost Levels''. ''NMS'', ''CVG'', and ''Edge'', however, criticized ''The Lost Levels'' for its difficulty, with ''Nintendo Magazine System'' viewing it as just an interesting bonus. ''Edge'' said the compilation was worth buying for ''Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Super Mario Bros.3'', but not ''Super Mario Bros.2'' because the reviewer found its gameplay lacking fluidity and the level design poor.


''25th Anniversary Edition''

According to the review aggregate website
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, ''Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition'' received "mixed or average reviews". Critics were disappointed by the unaltered rerelease, which they found lazy. They expressed surprise the developers did not take advantage of the extra space Wii discs offer to add more games or use the ''Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World'' version. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' compared the ''25th Anniversary Edition'' unfavorably to the Wii remake of the
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
game '' GoldenEye 007'' (1997) released earlier that year. The writer argued that though ''GoldenEye'' offered new graphics, levels, and reasons to play, ''Super Mario All-Stars'' was just the same compilation released on the SNES in 1993. ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' went as far as to state the ''25th Anniversary Edition'' "fails on every conceivable level, and a few inconceivable ones, too". The ''Super Mario History'' booklet divided reviewers. ''
Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...
'' and ''The A.V. Club'' panned it for what they considered cheap production quality. Although ''Nintendo Life'' found it somewhat intriguing, both called the one-sentence developer comments vague and meaningless. ''The A.V. Club'' said the level design documents were "obscured by pictures, and schematics written in Japanese with no translation". Meanwhile, ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' opined the booklet failed to demonstrate Mario's importance, missing information about the Game Boy installments, ''Yoshi's Island'', and other Nintendo games. Others found the booklet interesting; ''
GamesRadar+ ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and '' Compute ...
'' stated that for ''Mario'' fans Miyamoto's original outline "alone is worth $30". The soundtrack CD received criticism and was viewed as a missed opportunity. Reviewers were disappointed it contained only ten tracks and that half of it was dedicated to sound effects. For instance, ''Nintendo Life'' said it "doesn't even fill half of that potential running time" of 74 minutes of CD audio. Similarly, ''IGN'' said ten tracks were not enough, including only one of the twenty tracks from ''
Super Mario Galaxy is a 2007 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the third 3D platformer game in the ''Super Mario'' series. As Mario, the player embarks on a quest to rescue Princess Peach and save the universe from Bowser, af ...
'' (2007). Conversely, ''The Guardian'' said the CD would make players happy and ''GamesRadar+'' thought it was rare for Nintendo to release game soundtracks outside Japan. ''GamesRadar+'' said the CD helped make the compilation seem important, noting that it contained the first official release of the ''Super Mario Bros.'' " Ground Theme". ''Nintendo Life'' wrote there was no reason for Nintendo not to add more to the compilation, suggesting it would not have taken much effort to add interviews, advertisements, and other behind-the-scenes content. Despite the general disappointment, critics said the games remained high quality. Some admitted to preferring the NES originals, but others thought the updated 16-bit graphics and addition of a save feature were great. However, some encouraged readers to purchase the games individually on the Wii's
Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...
service instead if they had not already purchased the compilation. ''GamesRadar+'', ''IGN'', and ''Official Nintendo Magazine'' noted this was a cheaper way to experience them. As ''Nintendo World Report'' wrote, "in the end, the value of 'Super Mario All-Stars''lies in whether you want to invest once more in these classic ''Mario'' titles."


Legacy

In 1997, when the ''EGM'' staff ranked ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''Super Mario Bros.2'', and ''Super Mario Bros.3'' in its list of the best console games of all time, they specified the ''All-Stars'' edition for all three games. In the listing for ''Super Mario Bros.3'' (ranked at number2), they noted, "Just a reminder: We're not including compilation games on our Top 100, or ''Super Mario All-Stars'' would be the clear-cut number-one game of all time." ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' called ''All-Stars'' a role model for video game remakes in a 2005 retrospective. In 2018, ''
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' named ''All-Stars'' the tenth-best SNES game. In 1996, ''
GamesMaster ''GamesMaster'' was a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games. Dominik Di ...
'' named All-Stars the third top SNES game. In 1995, ''Total!'' named All-Stars the top SNES game on their Top 100 SNES Games writing: "This is possibly the best cartridge on any system, anywhere." ''
Super Mario Advance ''Super Mario Advance'' is a series of video game ports for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance: * '' Super Mario Advance'', a 2001 port of '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' and '' Mario Bros.'' * '' Super Mario Advance 2'', a 2001 port of ''Super Mario World ...
'' (2001) and '' Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3'' (2003), remakes of ''Super Mario Bros.2'' and''3'' for Nintendo's
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
, incorporate elements from the ''Super Mario All-Stars'' versions, such as the updated graphics and audio. ''
Super Mario 3D All-Stars ''Super Mario 3D All-Stars'' is a 2020 Video game compilation, compilation of platform games developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It commemorates the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary, 35th anniversary of Nintendo's ''S ...
'', a Nintendo Switch compilation of the first three 3D ''Super Mario'' games, was released for the series' 35th anniversary in 2020. According to ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
'', Nintendo internally referred to the compilation as ''Super Mario All-Stars 2'' during development.


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *


External links

* * * {{Featured article 1993 video games Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year winners Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development games Nintendo Classics games Nintendo video game compilations Super Nintendo Entertainment System games All-Stars Video game remakes Video games developed in Japan Video games directed by Shigeru Miyamoto Video games directed by Takashi Tezuka Video games scored by Soyo Oka Wii games