Until then, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a great way to get your nostalgia fix, or encounter these landmark games for the first time – and getting all three in one package deal isn’t to be sniffed at. We expect it may be part of some master plan (or remaster plan) for these games, possibly with the older titles coming as free as part of Nintendo Switch Online when the service starts adding Nintendo 64 games to its emulator. The result is a shakily-assembled trilogy that not everyone will be able to try out for themselves, particularly if they're waiting until the Switch becomes more affordable. The limited release schedule – pulling physical and digital editions from sale in March 2021 – feels needlessly restrictive, too. Super Mario Galaxy (2007) (Image credit: Nintendo/TechRadar) This doesn’t function nearly as well in handheld mode, where you’re forced to take your hands off the controls to tap and drag across the screen in the midst of the gameplay – something you’re also forced to do for menu screens, which simply don’t recognize d-pad or button inputs for selecting ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or the specific galaxy you want to travel to. This is fine when playing in docked or tabletop mode, when you can move the Joy-Cons to change the direction of your trigger (for shooting projectiles or dragging Mario between stars). Super Mario Galaxy, meanwhile, was clearly designed for the Wii’s motion controls in mind. Surely this could have been fixed at some point in the last 25 years? It’s a small thing, but still disappointing considering its multiple re-releases on different platforms. You have to be in exactly the right position to see the ‘A’ prompt, and if you’re slightly out of sync you end up jumping over them instead. Super Mario 64 is still plagued by imprecise controls, largely when it comes to speaking to an NPC (Toad, a talking bomb, etc). There are a few areas in which Nintendo hasn’t done everything it could to optimize these games for the Switch and Switch Lite. Not all is well in the Mushroom Kingdom, however. Super Mario Sunshine (2002) (Image credit: Nintendo/TechRadar) Not a seamless transition (If you remember the reveal of Shadow Mario, you’ll know what I mean!) While cleaning up graffiti may not sound like the most gripping outline for a game, it’s made magical in Sunshine – which easily has the best storyline out of all three titles. What strikes me even now is how thematically consistent Sunshine feels across its many levels – a collection of waterfalls, beaches, boats, and lighthouses that put the game’s FLUDD spraying/hovering water-gizmo to fantastic use. Sunshine was the first Mario game I played as a kid, and it’s been the game I’ve paid the most attention to this time around. What’s brilliant about playing the games in tandem, too, is noticing the returning imagery and ideas – whether that’s the return of mystical painting portals in Sunshine’s graffiti, the need to collect Power Stars / Shine Sprites / Star Bits, or Peach inviting Mario over to the castle (for cake, obviously) just in time for him to see chaos descend. Gradually unlocking the doors and corridors of Princess Peach’s castle is still a delight, and the polygonal visuals are more pleasingly blocky in HD than they are badly dated (though the 4:3 aspect ratio will lead to letterboxing on your Switch or TV screen). While it doesn’t reach the heights of spectacle of later Mario games on superior hardware, it was a milestone in the early days of 3D game design, and it’s still lively and imaginative, from the talking Bob-ombs and elusive white rabbits to the magical paintings that host the game's varied levels. Super Mario 64 was the first Super Mario game made in 3D. The line we’re fed in the 3D All-Star’s announcement, though – “graphics updated to HD resolution and optimised for Nintendo Switch” – feels more true for the former point than the latter. You are getting a graphical upgrade, too, with all three titles displaying in 720p in handheld mode and Sunshine / Galaxy displaying in 1080p in docked mode for a TV (albeit with some letterboxing for the 4:3 aspect ratio for Mario 64, and the cinematic aspect ratio for Galaxy). Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Switch) at Walmart for $98.99. Super Mario 64 (1997) (Image credit: Nintendo/TechRadar)
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