Super Mario All-Stars
Reviewed by Spanky
Super Mario All-Stars is basically the original Super Mario Bros. games
of the NES beefed up for the Super Nintendo. Along with the three
original games is a completely different game called the Lost Levels.
This is the first time that the game has been released in the U.S. This
is the game that the Japanese call Super Mario Bros. 2. What we call
Super Mario Bros. 2 is actually called Doki Doki Panic in Japan. We
just changed the characters, some sounds, and some music, and voila!
Another Mario Bros. game! Enough with this, though. On with the review!
Graphics 10 out of 10
The ground on Super Mario Bros. looks like ground and not like a crude
looking circuit of a computer. All four games have backgrounds that fit
the scene being played. The backgrounds themselves scroll slightly
slower than the foreground, giving a sense of distance from the foreground.
Mario and Luigi look different in all the games (Mario has more mass and
Luigi has more height). The coloring itself is much more richer than the
original games, but then again, this is a 16-bit system game compared to
an 8-bit system game. There is evidence that there was some effort in
making the enemies look a little more 3-D looking by using shades of the
same color. The graphics are nothing compared to what we have today, but
at the time it came out, All-Stars have all-right graphics.
Music and Sound 9.5 out of 10
There was some trouble put into making the music sound considerably
better than the parent games' music simply because the Mario games are
now on the Super Nintendo. The music, especially in Super Mario Bros.,
does not sound like a series of musical beeps, but rather that they were
played off of an expensive keyboard. The sound effects were taken straight
from Super Mario World. You could listen to the music for hours on end.
Some music even has a Jamaican sound to it. When Mario is smashing Koopas
in a cave, the music and all the sound effects echo. Very good, Nintendo.
Game Challenge 5 out of 10
I suppose that the games would be challenging to a beginner, but for a
video game veteran like me, Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, and 3 are a walk in
the daisies. The real challenge is Super Mario Bros.: the Lost Levels. Now
talk about HARD. This makes the last three levels of Donkey Kong Country
and most of its sequel look like kittens. Fortunately, Nintendo provided
for the challenge the ability to save your progress level by level instead
of world by world. It took me AT LEAST forty lives to get past each level
after world 5. If it wasn't for the Lost Levels, the challenge rating
would be close to none.
Game Play-Fun 10 out of 10
Despite the low challenge of most of the games, it's Mario, our favorite
plumber. All of his games (except for a few bad bananas such as Mario
is Missing) are downright fun. Even the Lost Levels. Whenever I have a
chance to buy a Nintendo 64, I certainly would want Nintendo to come
out with All-Stars designed for it (of course, it would also have to
have both Super Mario World's in it, too).
Frustration
The only frustration anyone will most certainly have is with the Lost
Levels. And I pretty much explained THAT little bit in the Challenge section.
Replayability 10 out of 10
If these games were not replayable, then why even release them for play
on the Super Nintendo? Its a million seller. If you don't think this is
replayable, there is something wrong.
Game Value 10 out of 10
The game is only about thirty dollars now. I got my copy when I purchased
my first Super Nintendo. It and Super Mario World came with the system.
When that was sold to help pay off bills, I went without an Super NES for a
year and a half, then bought one of the new model Super NES's. I have been
looking for All-Stars, and have found it when I did not have any money.
Thirty dollars for a classic like that (with FOUR games) is quite a bargain.
Overall 10 out of 10
Get the game. I guarantee you will not regret it.