Super Mario All-Stars

After many years i finally got myself "Super Mario All-Stars", a collection that includes four different classic Super Mario 2d platform games in one cartridge. Anyone who played original versions in NES will definitely know there's going to be a huge amount of familiar and nostalgic moments in this compilation. In "Super Mario Bros." Mario and Luigi go through levels defeating Goombas, Koopa Troopas etc. to rescue Princess Toadstool from evil Bowser. There's also "Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels [スーパーマリオブラザーズ 2]" included which is in fact the original Japanese version of "Super Mario Bros. 2" but it is known from its higher difficulty. Western version of "Super Mario Bros. 2" is completely different due to the fact it was known as "Dream Factory: Doki Doki Panic [夢工場 ドキドキパニック]" in Japan. Instead of jumping on enemies the method is to pluck vegetables from ground or lift other enemies and throw them to other enemies. Instead of just using Mario or Luigi, Toad and Peach are also playable with each one having their own abilities. Mario is a basic character, Luigi jumps higher, Toad runs faster and Peach levitates in air for a couple of seconds.

"Super Mario Bros. 3" was one of the best NES games when it was released. It improved Mario gameplay and managed to add more ideas that are norms in modern Mario games and other 2d and even 3d platformers.

"Super Mario All-Stars" is a great addition to everyone's SNES collection. Even though the collection is merely an "improved" version with a little amount of extra additions the collection is still a good collection to own. Plus, it's probably cheaper to buy this one rather than hunt down the original games. There's also "Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World" version available but it's rarer to find these days. If you do find it then i'd suggest to get that one instead.

Due to the legacy of "Super Mario Bros." and the Mario series "Super Mario All-Stars" contains many classic Mario songs conducted by the main Nintendo composer 近藤浩治 [Koji Kondo]. Maybe there's nothing new to tell about the music, but it sounds more 16-bit than its 8-bit versions and there's also new elements that take ideas from Caribbean music.