5/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Super Mario All-Stars.

System: Super Nintendo Started: February 4, 2025 Ended: March 6, 2025 Redemption Playthrough First Attempt: 1997/1998 It's Mar10 Day and it was a good coincidence that I recently finished Super Mario All-Stars, another game in my collection that got me into video games. All-Stars is a compilation of all the classic 8-bit Mario games remade into 16-bit for the Super Nintendo (or Super Famicom). The collection includes the classic Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. I’ll be going through all the games in this gem of a collection. Super Mario Bros.’s graphics and sound in this version exceed expectations from its original NES/Famicom version. The levels look colorful with their plains, snow, and castle levels. The music sounds much better from 8-bit to 16-bit; even the fanfare after reaching the goal sounds more majestic. Mario does have new sprites like forming the peace sign now and even gives you a fireworks display after reaching the flagpole. After completing a castle level, you get to see multiple variations of Toads performing their animations depending on what world you are on. It is still a tough game, but thankfully the All-Stars version makes it easier to save and continue at the start of the world you are currently on and gives you 5 lives this time instead of 3, which is fair. But by the time you reach World 8, there are no checkpoints, and Hammer Bros. become a real nuisance unless you find the pattern in how to beat them. Even the final level has you navigating a maze to find the right path to get to Bowser. I say this version is better than the original, so I give it a 4 out of 5. I didn’t find out more about The Lost Levels until I was in my early teens. I thought it was a new game, but The Lost Levels is Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan. It never went overseas because Nintendo USA thought this game was too difficult, and Japan re-skinned Doki Doki Panic to give the USA a different Super Mario Bros. 2. Until 1993, The Lost Levels was the first time this was released overseas. This is when you can choose between Mario and Luigi, and it's a one-player game. Luigi can jump high, but he is hard to maneuver while in the air, while Mario plays exactly like the first game. I do agree that this game is challenging, with so many leaps of faith, one-chance moves, perfect timing on the spring jumps, high winds that affect your jumps, and poison mushrooms. This game does not mess around and can cause you to lose many lives. Thankfully, in the All-Stars version, you can continue on the level where you died, so it's merciful. This game is basically the same as the original except for its difficult level design. If you want to see more difficulty, there is a World 9, but you have to play through all the levels without using a single warp pipe. I barely give this game a 4 out of 5 and if you really want a game that’s truly a challenge, play the actual Famicom of Super Mario Bros. 2. Super Mario Bros. 2, or in Japan: Super Mario Bros. 2 USA, or even further: Doki Doki Panic, was the game that North America was given first. When I first played this, I didn’t know what to think of it; it plays really differently from the other Mario games—you don’t stomp on enemies, you don’t hit bricks, and a level ends with a mini-boss fight instead of a flagpole. Originally, I did not like this game since it’s not a traditional Mario game. But after playing it now, I actually like it. The best part is that once you lose all your lives, you still continue at the start of the game, and it’s infinite this time compared to the original NES. So you can safely play through the entire game and check out all the varied levels and bosses. I could arguably say I like this entry better than the first two games, but it’s still not a traditional Mario game. Then it's a hot take: I like Doki Doki Panic more than Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2. The remake gets a 4 out of 5. Super Mario Bros. 3 is the last game. This is my absolute favorite game in this collection. This is the first game in the Mario franchise to have a varied world overview as a level selection. You can either skip a level if there’s a fork in the road to the castle or just complete them all as you wish. Mario plays better in this one, with more power-ups like Hammer Mario and the infamous Tanooki Mario. The difficulty is just right, but once you reach Worlds 7 and 8, it can throw a difficulty spike at you. World 4’s Giant World is known to be the best level in all of Mario games, and fans are not wrong when there’s a debate on what Mario Levels are the best. Thankfully for the All-Stars version, you can save in this game and take your time playing through all the worlds. No more leaving your NES Console overnight to play Mario Bros. 3 in its entirely since there’s no save battery or password. This easily gets a strong 5 out of 5. With 4 remakes for one full price, you cannot beat that deal. All-Stars is one of the best video game remakes in video game history and needs more love in the Super Mario Bros. fandom, as I don’t hear many people mentioning this aside from the 3D Mario games. Even for newcomers who aren’t fans of the 8-bit graphics of the original NES and prefer playing retro games and like the art style of 16-bit graphics of the Super Nintendo, this is a great starting point—especially for Mario fans who want to play the original classics after having their fill of the 3D Mario platformers. There was even a Nintendo Wii port for its 25th anniversary, so if you have either a Wii or Wii U lying around, this game is worthy of your collection.