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  1. The long-running rumors proved true and Nintendo celebrated 35 years of Mario platforming with a new All-Stars collection. Super Mario 3D All-Stars repackages Mario's first three 3D platforming adventures into one convenient Switch title, bringing with it some visual upgrades and controller adjustments to make each of Mario's landmark games more playable in 2020. It's easy to have wished for more out of this re-release collection, but in the end it still brings together not just wonderful pieces of Mario's history but three fantastic games to boot. Super Mario 64 Starting off with the original 3D Mario platformer, Super Mario 64 has the most significant visual upgrade in this collection—the game is 24 years old at this point after all. Smoothing out the original 64 graphics into crisp HD looks great, though obviously the game is still block and polygonal. Plus the simplicity of a lot of the textures is more glaring in full 720p. Technical looks aside, the visual style of Super Mario 64 is still absolutely charming. Blocky Goombas and Koopa Troopas may be simple but they have a delightful quality all their own. The gameplay also holds up in a lot of ways as a fantastically engaging transition to 3D platforming. The variety of challenges the game throws at you is excellent. There are plenty of stars that are simple to acquire, but there are just as many that provide unique challenges or clever ways of using 3D space, which was pretty novel in 1996. The level design is inventive, and oftentimes it's just fun to run around or try to explore with ridiculous chains of jumps. That said, there are some notable weak points in the game as well. The camera is the most obvious offender. It probably would have been asking too much to completely revamp the camera controls since it would impact how you collect a lot of stars as well, but it's a real adjustment trying to handle this camera in 2020. Mario's movements also have a bit too much slipperiness to them, which makes the simple act of turning around more awkward than it should be. New players, especially anyone that started with Odyssey and is now working backwards through Mario's history, might struggle. Overall though, I don't think it's just the rose-tinted glasses talking when I say Super Mario 64 is still a wonderfully constructed 3D platformer, not to mention an invaluable piece of gaming history. Super Mario Sunshine Super Mario Sunshine has the benefit of a more polished, detailed art style compared to 64, but there are still some nice enhancements at work here, including widescreen support and a reformatted HUD. What's really surprising is how great the game looks with just a few adjustments. The art direction of Sunshine is still excellent and just exudes vacation fun (even if Mario is stuck battling monsters), and the paint/pollution effects look great. The controls also work well on the Switch, even without the pressure-sensitive GameCube triggers (now ZR allows Mario to spray water and move while R keeps him stationary). The only negative is that you can't customize the controls, so anyone that prefers inverted camera controls—as in the original game—is out of luck. Like a lot of GameCube games, Sunshine was a bit of an oddball experiment for Nintendo. Using the F.L.U.D.D. to clean up the environment, attack enemies, and propel Mario around each world provides for undeniably unique challenges, and some of the most difficult parts of the game are when Mario doesn't have his water jetpack available. There are some pretty unforgiving challenges as well due to how vertical a lot of the environments are in Sunshine. Parts of the game also feel oddly padded out, including the huge number of blue coins to collect and the repeated tasks of fighting bosses multiple times. Still, Mario's tropical adventure really is a fun break from some of the typical gameplay elements of the franchise. Sunshine is unusual in the Mario canon which also makes it rather memorable, and helps its strengths shine a little brighter. There's also a clear evolution from 64's first tentative steps into 3D platforming to Sunshine's more elaborate and tricky challenges, and it's particularly rewarding to play them back to back and see that development so clearly. Super Mario Galaxy Finally there's Super Mario Galaxy, which has the easiest transition to HD—largely thanks to the already gorgeous visual design that brought these colorful planetoids and striking lighting effects to life in 2007—and yet also has the trickiest controller adjustment. Motion and pointer controls were inextricably built into the controls of the game on the Wii, and it's hard to properly replicate that on the Switch, even with multiple controller options, including touch controls for collecting and shooting star bits when playing in handheld mode. Even with Joy-Cons the controls just don't feel quite right, but after a bit of time to adjust it's not a huge problem. It doesn't feel like the ideal way to play the game, but it's still playable. And once you get into the absolute joy of leaping around all of the planets and wild shapes of Galaxy, controller quirks will be the last thing on your mind. Granted Galaxy is the youngest of these three games but it holds up incredibly well, from the beautiful visuals and stunning soundtrack to the pure delight of flying through space and playing with gravity. Though it is also the most linear, it still exudes the kind of inventive design that has kept the Super Mario series as one of the most consistently fantastic game franchises ever made. The level design is dizzying—oftentimes literally—and simply full of wonder and excitement. The other major feature of the 3D All-Stars collection is the music player, which allows you to revisit the soundtrack of all three games and potentially even play it in handheld mode and just enjoy the brilliant music compositions (especially if they're filled with nostalgia for you). The music player is a fun addition and it is great to see the soundtracks highlighted, but one can't help but wish there was a little more to make this feel like more of a full celebration of 3D Mario. The most glaring omission is Super Mario Galaxy 2 of course, but even a bit more like a concept art gallery would have been nice. Super Mario 3D All-Stars doesn't fully remake these classic Mario titles, the games really show their age in some respects, and the collection manages to miss out on the plumber's second trip out to space. When you're immersed in a Super Mario adventure though, those complaints end up feeling small. These three games are still an absolute blast to play, and playing them back to back really highlights the progression of 3D platforming design and Nintendo's seemingly endless ability to create inventive, charming worlds that leave the player amazed. New players may need a bit of time to adjust to some of the dated aspects of each game, but the visual upgrades are more the reason enough to revisit some of Mario's best adventures. Rating: 9 out of 10 Power Stars
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