everything wrong with super mario 3d all stars
Fans rejoiced upon the announcement of Super Mario 3D All Stars, but it has some worrying issues.
In September of this year, to celebrate Super Mario’s 35th anniversary, Nintendo released a collection of three of Mario's most important 3D games – Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy – called Super Mario 3D All Stars . This was very exciting for many Switch owners who wanted an opportunity to play or replay these classics on a hybrid console with higher resolution and hopefully some new features that make for a better way to play. But these gamers were ultimately disappointed with the release. It turned out to be lacking in the improvements and extras expected from compilations of old games, even at its relatively steep price. Though 3D All Stars wasn’t necessarily “bad,” it is widely agreed that it has some caveats, some of which could have significant consequences for the gaming industry.
A prime criticism of 3D All Stars is how bare-bones the collection is for $60, especially compared to others. All three games run at higher resolutions than on their original consoles and have AI-upscaled textures, but this is where the improvements end. Comparing 3D All Stars to other compilations, such as Spyro and Crash Bandicoot (which were full remasters, each one selling for only $40 when not on sale), makes it look weak for its price. It also includes a music player for its three games’ original soundtracks, but this should hardly be counted as a useful addition. As another example, Kirby Dream Collection for Wii, released in 2012, included six games plus a soundtrack CD, art book, and other extras for only $40 at launch. If such a comparatively simple product sells well at a $60 price tag, it could set a precedent for Nintendo and other companies that lackluster collections will still sell at lofty prices.
Another important comparison is between 3D All Stars and a method of play called emulation. Emulation is basically simulating a game console on a different computer, usually in hopes of getting a better experience than on real hardware. Through emulation, people have played Super Mario 64 in widescreen at 60 frames per second with higher fidelity models and other enhancements. In 3D All Stars, the same game plays at only 30 FPS in its original 4:3 aspect ratio. Similar improvements have been made to the other games in the collection through fanmade emulators, and all three games in 3D All Stars are emulated, so it is unreasonable that Nintendo couldn’t have done the same. Some may refute that emulation itself is illegal or otherwise invalid to consider, but a ruling by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals states that emulators should be respected as competition to real hardware (Sony Computer Entertainment v. Connectix). In the case of 3D All Stars, though, this seems to have been ignored. The vastly superior experience offered by free emulators makes the compilation’s steep asking price seem yet more unreasonable.
One very interesting decision Nintendo made regarding 3D All Stars was its limited availability. The game can be purchased both physically and digitally, but it will be unavailable in both formats as of March 2021. No one can know exactly why they chose to do this, but a prominent idea is that Nintendo aims to sell copies based on the fear of missing out: buy it now or you’ll miss out forever. Other than being somewhat anti-consumer, this could have serious consequences throughout the industry if it proves a successful marketing strategy. Removing digital video games from their storefronts makes it much harder for these games to be preserved and forces consumers to either buy or miss out completely. Hopefully, this limited digital release turns out to be a poor strategy, but the worst case scenario is other companies applying this strategy to their own games in the future.
But although Super Mario 3D All Stars is outclassed by other collections and by emulation, it’s not a bad way to play any of the three games it includes. In fact, Super Mario Sunshine for Gamecube on its own is $60 used, making this also the cheapest legal way to play the games, and playing any of the originals is technically a worse experience than this collection. It’s just that better compilations have been sold for less in the past, emulations offer the same quality for low prices, and the implications of the time-limited availability are worrying for gamers and the industry at large.
It’s Conrad’s second year on the Edge staff and senior year at Edgewood. He loves to collect and play retro video games. When it comes to magazine he finds small design errors and has a fascination with em dashes.