2 opinions pasted together (Super Mario All-Stars (N64))

Name: adidadi_young

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Product:	Super Mario All-Stars (N64)
Date:	29/07/01 (1777 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 5 of the best games ever in a small peice of plastic

Disadvantages: Too old for me to persuade people to buy, I guess.

Well, the name says it all. If you know what these games are, read ahead. If you don't, read ahead. I'll start with the All-Stars games first. Here we go:

Super Mario All-Stars - The only several-games-in-one package that is actually worth buying. After the extreme success of the Super Mario Bros. Games, Nintendo had decided to recreate all these games onto one cart. So they made this Masterpiece.

I’ll briefly go through all the games included in this cart, so you’ll have a basic idea:

---------Super Mario Bros.
This game was the first released (1985). There is your usual ‘Daisy has been kidnapped, save her’ story, and you must be guided through 32 levels, day, night, snowy: They do get harder in order, as you expect. The learning curve in this game is actually not bad; it is easy at first and progresses to become harder throughout.

The graphics are an improvement from the NES; it’s the same game but a smoother Mario has replaced the blocky Mario, it is SNES after all. The enemies have also been improved, graphics-wise. The gameplay of this game is very basic; it’s your plain run and jump. There are three pickups in the game, the ones you would predict. The Mushroom makes you bigger, thus letting you withstand one hit only. This brings on no new moves. The fire flower gives you the chance to fire two flame things from your hand and defeat any nearby enemies, which you are faced with ahead of you. Lastly, you are given a super star, which are rather rare in the game. When you do collect this, you are flashing a colourful aura, and you are invincible for this short time. Now is your perfect chance to RUN! If this is one of the first Mario games you have played, then it will be found not too bad at first, but when you get into the game you will realize how hard this game can get; despite it’s simplicity.

So if you ever get this game (emulated or bought from a car boo
t sale) and you have not played any of the games before then it will be good to start with this one.
Overall: **** Yes, something good that is from the 80’s.

---------Super Mario Bros. 2

Next along the line came this game. A lot of people will see this game and say ‘it’s exactly the same as Super Mario Advance’. Well they are right, but along the wrong lines.

This game came from the year 1988, and was eagerly awaited after the mad success of the first Super Mario Bros. game. It has a totally unique game system from any of the others, where you actually can jump on monsters and not kill them. In this game (I’ll have you know it was previously called Doki Doki Panic) you pick vegetables up from the floor and throw them at your enemies. You can also pick up the enemies and do the same, which is killing two birds with one stone. The graphics of this (NES-wise) are pretty basic again, but still are a major improvement over the original SMB game. On the SNES, again, the graphics on the characters have been improved and the textures on some things are much more suited to the SNES. Out of the 3 SMB games, the graphics come a predictable 2nd.

"So, fellow opinion writer, what are your thoughts on gameplay?" Well, I do think that it was not quite the gameplay I expected when I saw this. Still, it is innovative and new (old-new). There is the obvious ‘Y to run, B to jump’ pattern, but when you atop a shrub sticking out the ground, press B to pick it up. Same goes with enemies. Also, pressing Y will help you dig in the sand when you reach it.

Characters: well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect Mario (of course) but 3 of the Nintendo mascot crew have decided to join him. Along with Mario comes Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool. If you choose Mario, you’ll be getting a good, all-round character, who is quite fast at running, quite fast at digging up an
d quite high jumping-wise. If you choose who I think is Mario’s brother (Luigi), you are getting a person who is rather slow at digging up veggies, a mediocre runner but one hell of a high jumper. His high jump can reach especially high places, including on the 2nd level (1-2, do this if you own this or Mario Advance), you can jump on an enemy and high jump to a patch of grass, saving you to go through the door and skipping more than half the level. Toad; when you say/think Toad, an automatic reflex of "Mario Kart" comes to mind. Toad is one sprinter; the fastest in the game, and can dig up those vegetables in no time at all. Highly recommended for all levels. Princess Toadstool is the last of the lot, and has some unexpected characteristics. She is the slowest at digging up, and is quite a bit slow to run, but if you hold the jump button, she can float for about 2 seconds; this is highly recommended for beginners and also for the people who need to reach secret areas. She’s quite high when it comes to jumping, too.


Well, with 6 worlds and one major boss to go with each world, this game does last a while; it did with me. Expect about 5 - 6 hours in total if you are good at platforming games, and about 10 if you aren’t.

Overall: **** Another very good game in addition to the game (All-Stars).


---------Super Mario Bros. 3
This game is probably the most famous of all 4 of the games on Mario All-Stars. This was probably what most people got this for (for the most reasons), and I myself was an eyewitness to many that this was the most popular game. You start off on the first land in the Mushroom Kingdom, and then go on to several other worlds, which have unique attributes. These include icy worlds, water worlds, cloud worlds and a rather pleasing giant world. You start off from having an invite from the Princess, and surprisingly SHE DOESN’T GET CAPTURED AT THE BEGINNING!

The aim, a
bit too predictably, is to reach the end of every level. This is by jumping, running, flying and turning into statues. Yes. The graphics are obviously the best, when you compare them all to the NES versions it is the same order (SMB3, 2, 1), only this has been majorly improved. All character designs have been improved, all the texturing has had a full makeover, all the backgrounds are improved and the level quality has been made to look like there was no SNES version.

The gameplay is one big factor on this game; the powerups (the number of then and also what they are) have to be the best in any Mario game yet. The mushrooms make you big (no one saw that coming, huh?) and you can withstand one more hit, then you will go back small again. The fire flower (you have guessed, haven’t you) makes you white and red, and you can shoot two consecutive flames at a time to vanquish your enemies. The next basic power up is the brown feather, which makes you grow a tail and also some insignificant ears, which when you run you can fly into the sky. Without running you will not get any fly power, but you can hover. The next one, as we move onto the more advanced powerups, is the Frog Suit. This, as blatantly obvious as it is, makes you better at swimming. Holding Y improves it further, by pressing Up, Down, Left and Right to actually swim in that direction, instead of constantly pressing B to keep your head at bay. This is really handy in some levels, not to mention the whole of World 3. Next up? There’s the Raccoon Suit. Imagine that the feather is half of this. It is a totally nice-fitting suit, which totally covers Mario with brown, and the tail and the ears. Now, holding Y to run and jumping will make you fly, but there is one unexpected move that comes with this. If you hold Up, you can turn into a statue of which resembles nothing at all, but there you go. Enemies will walk straight past you, as if you were not there. Beware, though: you can only hold th
is for 5 seconds. There is one more, which comes in quite handy, especially with the feather; this is the ‘P’ Wing. This makes your run constantly be at full at all times, so you can fly off in the sky right from the start!

Overall: ***** This game is very varied; nice to look at, has loads of powerups and is playable to an extent of making you smile.


---------Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels.


Unfortunately, there is not too much to say about this game, so I’ll first of all say it’s a direct port of SMB1, same graphics, gameplay, same number of levels etc. But, there is one major difference: It’s hard.

Yes, it’s the same, but much, much harder. "Super Mario Bros. Expert Edition" it should be called. I have completed this game, and the second time, which makes it the expert mode (yes, the game is made harder the second time round). This took time and patience. If you are a hardcore platform fan you will love this, just make sure you have padded the controller for when you throw it at the T.V. It is a great game, SMB1 is a classic and this is the same with a revamp. Oh, and there is also 2 playable characters: Mario, who is more or less the same, and Luigi, who is faster and a higher jumper, just takes a LONG time to stop. Stick with Mario; except for the times you know you should use him. One more thing, this game has an introduction of purple mushrooms; they do the opposite of the ones you originally knew.

Overall: *** Not a classic, but a great challenge once you have finished the other 3.


So what can I say? This is also, along with Super Mario World, one of the best games ever. And Nintendo didn’t have to do that much for the SNES version anyway. Download it for the graceful ZSNES or blow away the dust from your old God and play it if you don’t remember.

And now, for the main game:

---------Super Mario World
Ma
rio had started in the early days of arcade where Donkey Kong (another mascot who went on to become a good guy) had captured Daisy (Princess Toadstool) and you took control of this Mario fella and got to the top. Classic. He then went on to a debut game for the Nintendo Entertainment System - namely Super Mario Bros. This was a 2D, side-scrolling platform game which involved you picking up mushrooms and growing, then picking up a flower and being able to fire. This game was a hit for years to come, people today still deem it excellent. The NES adventures had been developed to create the much more enjoyable, resourceful game known as Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3. Man those were the days. In the days of SNES, Mario had become much more popular and games consisting of Super Mario Kart and Super Mario All-Stars had been made. Before that though, (stepping back a year or two) the Nintendo company had gone to make this game they named Super Mario World.

So, Nintendo knew the power of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and decided to make a game, which is MORE than some 2D Platformer. And this time there isn't just a Princess that needs saving.

Bowser had taken over Dinosaur Island, where Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool had taken a vacation, and gave one piece of land to each of his smaller counterparts. Each had their own castle, strangely they got cleverer as you get closer to Bowser' Castle, and you start off at the furthest point. This is Yoshi's Island, which was where Mario and the crew were relaxing. The Princess had been kidnapped, but as you go on your first journey you find that Bowser had captured all the Yoshi eggs on the Island! Now, Yoshi: Yoshi is this Dinosaur who is green, has a long tongue and a big appetite. Also, s/he becomes good friends with Mario and decides to give him a lift. Very handy.

So, you need to make it through Yoshi's Island, Donut Plains, Vanilla Cove, That place where all the levels are
named after food, the Forest of Illusion, Chocolate Island and, finally, Bowser's own Underground Keep.

The graphics are so much more of an improvement of the previous games it's/was eye-popping. Much more anti-aliasing is involved, so no more squared edges. The Backdrops are astounding, especially when you compare them to the other games. New monsters (a lot of them) are now out to seek you and you must get past them in much more ways as you thought you could do.

The gameplay, well what can I say? So much more moves it’s unbelievable. You can pick up the mushroom, this will make you much more bigger and you can now destroy vulnerable blocks by pressing the A button. Getting a Fire Flower will give you fire power. Press Y and you can shoot out 2 flames to scorch your enemies. Is useful and looks a cool white with red, too. After that you will pick up a feather; this will give you a magic yellow cape. Holding Y to run, at full speed, hold B and you will soar in the air! Here, you will start to drop. Press the opposite direction you are flying to go higher, or you can hold the down button and bomb everything that is in your screen! Also, riding Yoshi can be joyous. Press Y to unleash his tongue. And to make things better, there is a non-simultaneous 2 player mode of which you must take in turns to get futher than the other, Mario or Luigi? Place your bets now!

The game size - wow. 96 whole levels for you to explore. And these aren’t like Croc. These are all big, and very carefully developed levels which all have the perfect learning curve, for beginners or Mario veterans. 8 worlds (there is the Special World and the Star Road World, but let’s leave them out) for all these levels, and over half of the levels have 2 or even 3 finish points! The game lasted me ages. It will/did with you too.

So, you had a SNES and didn't buy this game. Well, I don't hate you because you might have been trapped in i
ce, or you could maybe have been in a coma. Either way, this one cartridge, that small peice of plastic which slots into some grey box can bring you hours more joy than you expect. Yes, this game is one hell of an essential game. Get. Play. Smile.

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