It's kind of ironic when a majority of the best Mario 25th Anniversary content is put on the Nintendo Channel.
Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.
Super Mario You-Again
Been There, Done That... Where's My T-Shirt?
The Classic Mario games are legendary. Some young gamers' first gaming experience was one of the Super Mario games of old. For me the NES original was the one that unlocked my joy. Super Mario Brothers 2 was rented in my house with the system at Blockbuster. Number 3 was the first game I ever owned myself. These games were a formative part of my youth and they hold a special place in many hearts. When Super Mario All-Stars was first released on the SNES, I was amazed at the graphical improvements, pleasantly surprised to hear Mario Brothers 3 had intro music, and I was in awe of the difficulty in "The Lost Levels". I never owned the game because I still had the classic games and later when a version of All-Stars was released with Super Mario World, I also passed on the collection.
When the title was announced for Wii release, I was quite interested. Since I never owned the original All-Stars and my NES was dead, I thought it would be a good investment - that is, until the facts came out about the package. No changes to the game. No Mario World. Half of the CD was merely sounds from the game and the booklet only made a comment or two on each game in the series. I guess when I first thought of the game releasing I had envisioned something closer to Metroid Prime Trilogy or what modern 'special editions' entail. I thought there would be more in the package. For someone who is one of the most iconic figures in gaming it sure seems like he got a phone-in for his 25th anniversary.
First off, I had envisioned better packaging for something as big as this. Metroid Prime Trilogy had a very nice metal case that both looked and felt great.
Call of Duty games came in metal cases with cool war toys. Some special editions had unique figures, like Epic Mickey which came with a Mickey figurine. Master Chief's helmet came in the biggest edition of Halo 3.
...And all that comes in the tribute to Mario is a paltry soundtrack that is half filled with sounds and an art booklet - soundtracks and art books come in new games - games without a huge legacy. It should go without saying that Mario, the most iconic character in gaming, deserves a more memorable and unique package. This is the type of package I would expect to get with a pre-order of any modern game.
Glancing at the Club Nintendo site you see a lot of stuff that could have been in this package. Pins, posters, and cards are all great ideas. Maybe an exclusive set for the game? How about some plushies? There have been a lot of promotional videos on the Wii's My Nintendo Channel. Why were they not included? What about some of the classic TV spots for the games? All the videos and trailers on a DVD or, even better, actually included on the game disc would have been great.
And what of the actual game itself? There is over four gigabytes of space left empty on there. Why wasn't the game fixed up more? All-Stars represented a graphical and performance improvement for some of the great classics. Why weren't we given a bigger graphical improvement? 'New Super Mario All-Stars' perhaps? Making the game over with the New Mario Brothers 3D engine would have been fantastic and the possibility of making it four player co-op is exciting to consider. The homebrew community has already pulled it off, so for professionals like Nintendo it would have been a walk in the park. They could make the disc release with improved graphics and release the classic All-Stars on the VC for the purists. Why was Mario World not included? Is it really that much of a financial breaker to Nintendo? The SNES launch title really deserves to be there with its NES siblings.
Why not capitalize on this opportunity to promote the newer games still on sale in stores? Include demos of Super Mario Galaxy 2 or New Super Mario Bros. Wii or even a demo download for New Super Mario Bros. DS. Super Smash Bros. Brawl included a VC theater with demos of the classic games. Why couldn't there be demos of relevant Mario games on the VC to promote the service a bit more in its twilight? Oh, yeah, Nintendo doesn't care about the Virtual Console, right? They could have easily added more games to the lineup. Give us the classic arcade Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. Wasn't Donkey Kong pre-installed on Red Mario Anniversary Wiis in some regions? Maybe throw in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Granted, it was more a Yoshi game than a Mario title but since when did Yoshi and Mario not go hand in hand?
Going back to Metroid Prime Trilogy, that game was given a nice meta-game shell. You could select which game to play and there was a freshly implemented achievement system spanning all three titles. Why couldn't we get an achievement system in the new All-Stars? Imagine getting the 'Achievement Unlocked' message for finding a warp whistle in Mario 3 or pulling off a 99-1up trick. Why couldn't we have something like that to reward us for exploring the hidden nooks of those games we loved. And getting achievements could unlock old art or bonus levels. Anyone remember the e-Reader bonus levels you could buy for Mario 3 on the GBA? Why not add them and let them be unlockable extras. Maybe add some playable characters to the games? They added characters to Mario 64's remake on the DS. They could add the toads from New Super Mario Brothers on Wii.
Truth be told I don't even see why this is limited at all. Lots of people obviously want to buy it, yet they force a limited stock to be shipped. Here's a better idea: release the standard version on the VC for $10-12. Make it $20-25 if Nintendo HAS to release it as a disc version, but don't make it a limited edition. Then release a more complete and deserving package for $50. Add some extra games to the product, throw in a shirt and figurine, maybe something similar to what is on Club Nintendo. There is a ton of swag on the site they could have thrown into the box. I want a Mario All-Stars shirt, a poster - anything more, really. More importantly, don't you think it was time for a Super Mario All-Stars 2? It's been over a decade and many more Mario titles have come and left their marks. Mario 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and New Super Mario Brothers.
Am I greedy? A swag glutton? Or have I just grown tired of Nintendo repackaging the same game with little to no modification and charging bucket loads for it? This should have come to Virtual Console. I'd think $10-12 would be a fair price considering the classics you get in it, but $30 is far too much. Remember when remakes were REmade? Super Mario Bros. DX was a nice step up on the GBC. We're getting the Prince of Persia trilogy in HD soon. That alone is more of an improvement than what we get in the All-Stars game.
So what did I do? I've voiced good reasons for me to get the basic game as replacement for old broken and lost cartridges and systems, so why not double-dip this one last time on the reprint next month? Because I recently hooked up my SNES again and discovered my Super Mario World cart lost the ability to save. So I looked up on eBay and snagged a nice copy of Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World for $20. A third less than the Wii title and I get a better total game in the process.
As for the Wii version, it sounds like a good gift for a younger sibling who never experienced the classics. What do you feel was lacking in the package? Were you content with what was offered? As for myself, I'll hold for when Nintendo is really ready to properly celebrate their flagship character, the mascot of an industry, and an entire generation.
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