Super Mario 3D All-Stars has been a tricky game to review – not least because we only received review code on launch day, but it’s also important to remember that there’s three completely unique video games stuffed onto its little Switch cartridge. In case you’ve been living under a koopa shell for the past month, those games are Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy.
Super Mario 64 was our favourite plumber’s first foray into a 3D world way back in 1997, however the game has since been “enhanced” for Nintendo DS and emulated on Wii and Wii U’s Virtual Console services. Save for a full remake, though, this game is never going to look better than here on Nintendo Switch. Sure, some textures still look ropey and its lack of widescreen support means that you’ve got unsightly black borders around the screen, but the 64-bit visuals are beautifully crisp and the colours really pop – especially in handheld mode.
Aside from its slight visual modernisation, everything else remains intact – including its clunky physics. If you’re a modern Mario lover and this is your first time with Mario 64, don’t expect the intuitive controls that we now take for granted with his most recent games. Having a right stick to flick the camera around undeniably helps with some of the game’s more fiddly jumps, but the physics stuck out to me like a sore thumb.
Mario doesn’t move with as much precision as we’ve grown accustomed to, and instead carries momentum forwards if you try to change direction too quickly whilst not stationary. As you progress through the game’s 15 worlds, the levels gradually become more intricate and require more precision from your inputs, meaning that you can throw your Mario muscle memory picked up from more recent entries right out the window.
Despite its age, Super Mario 64’s gameplay never gets as challenging as the 2D games. In fact, the main challenge comes with backtracking through each world to find hidden stars using its name as a clue, with some being more cryptic than others. I’m not ashamed to admit that I had to look up a couple of the later clue via YouTube, in pursuit of the seventy stars required to face off against Bowser.
All in all, don’t spend £50 on this compilation if Super Mario 64 is the only game in the trio that you’ve not played. It’s fascinating to see Mario’s blueprints gain an extra dimension and everyone should experience one of the most influential video games of all time – especially in the context of its two sequels – but you can download this game for a few quid on the Wii U’s eShop if you’ve still got it hooked up.
Super Mario Sunshine is a completely different beast, and this becomes immediately apparent in its opening cutscene. A pre-rendered video (see?) sets the scene as Mario, Peach and their family of Toads jet off to the idyllic Isle Delfino on a well-deserved holiday immediately following the events of Super Mario 64, before a “shadow” Mario is seen graffiting the island and generally making the lives of its resident Piantas a misery.
Despite Mario’s ability to punch and kick enemies in Super Mario 64 – which feels very experimental with hindsight – it’s clear that Nintendo wanted an alternative for future 3D Mario games; stomping enemies’ heads in a three-dimensional space will never be as precise or rewarding as it is in 2D, after all.
Enter FLUDD, a new gadget from Professor E. Gadd of Luigi’s Mansion fame, which is basically another Ghostbusters-style backpack which sprays water instead of sucking up poltergeists. Whereas the Super Mario franchise is renowned for its innovation and unique gameplay mechanics, FLUDD is unfortunately not one of the series’ best, yet it sticks around for the duration.
Sadly, Super Mario Sunshine almost feels like a cheap knock off when played immediately after 64. Yes, Mario runs faster and feels much more responsive to your thumb’s inputs, but the poor level design and cheap deaths do not make for a better experience than the challenge posed by Mario 64’s ageing controls. I’d only completed six levels before I experienced my first rage quit; it was during a level in which you’re climbing a big scaffolding-like structure in Delfino’s Port area, where immortal enemies spawn out of thin air and knock you back to the bottom before you’ve had the chance to react.
There’s no denying that the port is fantastic though, and as was the case with Super Mario 64, the game has never looked better than right here on Nintendo Switch – this time with full widescreen support and more of a graphical upgrade. In fact, save for a few rough textures and slightly overly-simple character models – there’s not actually too many giveaways that this game is eighteen years old. If you’ve never been able to play Super Mario Sunshine and have always been curious, it’s certainly a nice bonus in the overall package, if only to see how not to follow up one of the best games ever made.
Onto Super Mario Galaxy, and wow – what a return to form! What we have here is one of the finest games you’re likely to ever play. Whereas the 3D All-Stars versions of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine offer the definitive way to play those games, Galaxy’s Wii Remote-reliant controls haven’t made an ideal transition to Nintendo Switch, but it really doesn’t matter.
Star bits can be collected by swiping the touch-screen leaving you controlling Mario one-handed when playing in handheld mode, while the Joy-Con’s gyroscope replicates the Wii original’s pointer functionality more accurately, albeit with the need to re-center the pointer with the R button when it falls out of calibration.
That’s it. That’s the compromise. Other than that, Super Mario Galaxy is available on Nintendo Switch, in absolutely stunning high-definition, and available to take with you wherever you go. I think it’s left as much of an impression on me this time around as it did on my twelve-year-old self way back in 2007.
The level design is absolutely spot-on, the soundtrack alone could take you on a magnificent journey all by itself, and it’s filled with a level of charm and charisma that’s still only really been paralleled by its immediate sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Whether you’re chasing rabbits around a tiny sphere, taking on one of the many unique boss fights, or having Rosalina read her surprisingly emotional story in the library, Super Mario Galaxy has it all.
Thanks to Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is an essential purchase for Nintendo Switch. Even if you can’t get to grips with the ageing Super Mario 64’s controls, and if you never bother to so much as load up Super Mario Sunshine, Galaxy holds its value and is still worth paying full price for to this day. Of course, it’s a bonus if you have nostalgia for one or both of the other two games, and their modern enhancements will help those glasses of yours feel just a little less rose-tinted.
-Martyn
A review code for this product was kindly provided by the publisher.
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