Platform Game Review: Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine is the most divisive Nintendo-produced Super Mario game. Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto has even gone so far as to publicly regret that he and his team created it. With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Classics GameCube emulator for Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers incoming, it is the perfect time to look back and see if the title deserves the hate it gets.

When the Nintendo 64 was released in 1996, Super Mario 64 was one of its launch titles. It proved to be a game changer, as it popularized the 3D platformer genre and was instrumental in the change from pixel-based two-dimensional development to polygonal-based three-dimensional development in the video game industry. When the GameCube came around, fans were looking forward to the next installment. The Super Mario 128 tech demo at the 2000 Nintendo Space World trade show had 128 Marios running around the screen, leaving many people hoping that the next Mario game would move the platformer genre forward as much as the previous game. Instead, Super Mario Sunshine was released in 2002 and the next truly inventive 3D Mario game would come five years later on the Wii in the form of Super Mario Galaxy.

Super Mario Sunshine played mostly like its predecessor, except this time Mario is forced to be a janitor of sorts. Mario, Peach, and her Toad entourage take a trip to a tropical island. When they arrive, they learn of a shadowy figure shaped like Mario. This doppelganger is going around the island painting everything and ruining Mario's reputation. As punishment, Mario is given a device named the FLUDD, or Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device. This allows him to shoot out water forward as well as to shoot it underneath him to propel himself upward.

The FLUDD mechanics bring a completely new feel to the game. Bosses are now fought with water rather than jumps and the propelling mechanics allow Mario to hover for a bit. The drawback is that Mario needs to be in water in order to fill the FLUDD and once it is depleted, he has to head back for a refill. This doesn't take long, as Mario is on a tropical island with water all around it.

Alongside the frustration of FLUDD refilling, the setting of the game is among its drawbacks. While Super Mario 64 was filled with level variety, including sunny fields, platforms high in the sky, snowy mountain tops, and undersea exploring, Super Mario Sunshine is a completely tropical experience. The only breakup in the pattern is the challenge stages that take away the FLUDD and make Mario jump across spinning blocks with only his Super Mario 64 moveset. These levels are well made and feel like a true continuation from Super Mario 64, making it weird that there weren't more levels that used this style of gameplay. They were a welcome breakup of the overly familiar setting of every other level in the game.

The other welcome addition to the game is the return of Yoshi as a rideable companion. He does everything he did in Super Mario World, running, jumping, and eating anything he can get his tongue on, provided the would-be food is not covered in spikes or spines. The Sunshine team even brought one of the fun aural pleasantries that came with riding Yoshi on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Whenever Mario rides his dinosaur steed, bongos are be added to the current music track, and once you are no longer atop Yoshi the bongos stop.

Speaking of music, as with all Super Mario games, Super Mario Sunshine is full of wonderful compositions. With each change of audio hardware, Koji Kondo and the music team had more freedom as to what music they could produce. With Super Mario Sunshine, they went all in on the tropical setting and made some island music that lifts the game and gives it a charm that it would likely be lacking otherwise. I sometimes pop in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation on my Switch and play some Super Mario Sunshine just to hear the amazing soundtrack.

The game ultimately does not deserve all of the hate it gets. It's an inventive, enjoyable 3D platform game. The FLUDD does slow down the gameplay, making it feel like something other than a Super Mario game, but judged on its own, it is a fantastic platformer. It didn't light a fire in the industry like its predecessors, so companies did not use the Sunshine formula in its own games. That works out in its favor, however, since its unique gameplay makes it different than almost every other game out there.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

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Super Mario 64 Review

Super Mario Galaxy Review coming soon

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Super Mario Galaxy Review coming soon

Discontinued Free Battle Royal Platform Game Review: Super Mario Bros. 35

It's the tenth of March, and that means it's Mario Day. Today I decided to do something less expected and look at a fun Super Mario game that is still playable only thanks to the hard work of fans. 

Super Mario Bros. 35 was a version of Super Mario Bros. by Arika that was released in 2020 for the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Super Mario series. It was an online game that pit up to thirty-five players against each other. Players would play through the levels of Super Mario Bros. until they died. After that, the game would continue until only one player was left standing.

Along with a leaderboard, the game also kept track of enemies encountered and the levels played. The latter would allow the player to enter a match that started with the level selected.

The levels look, sound, and play just as they did in the halcyon year of 1985. The control is just as tight as it was then, allowing for the precise running and jumping that is needed for this battle royale. The music, graphics, and sound effects are just as they were back then as well, giving the game an authentic retro feel that is all the rage right now.

Like Tetris 99 or Pac-Man 99, which were both also developed by Arika, the game worked as well as it did because it was a classic game that was built to be picked up and played without the need for instruction. This way players new to the game on which it was based would be able to play it just as easily as seasoned players.

Super Mario Bros. 35 is sadly no longer available as of April 1, 2021, since Nintendo only intended to keep it going during Nintendo's thirty-five-year anniversary of Super Mario in 2020. Thankfully, fans have stepped in as they often do and created a server to bring this game back alive once again. It is good that they did, as this fun, free little game is worth playing as long as you have to means to do so.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Turn-Based Role-playing Game Review: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

In the early 1990s, Square and Nintendo had a good working relationship. Most of Square's games were on Nintendo consoles, from the Rad Racer series to Square's bread and butter, the Final Fantasy series of turn-based role-playing games.

It's the latter that served as the inspiration for one of the most surprising team-ups at the time of its release. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars plays like a Final Fantasy game. It is played in a turn-based style with a party of three selectable from a total of five characters. The character's traits can be leveled up in a manner that should be familiar to Final Fantasy players. HP, or heart points, are represented by a bar that displays the number of hits that a character can take before they pass out. S stands for star and represents the amount of energy any character has to do a skill or perform magic, similar to the MP magic points or mana points in Final Fantasy games. POW, represented by a hammer, is the amount of total power a character is capable of using against enemies. These statistics can also be influenced by weapons and armor that can be purchased from shops in the game's towns. The Final Fantasy series similarities don't stop at the gameplay style, as there is an optional boss fight with remixed music straight from those games as well as a design inspired by them as well.

The story is about an evil force in the guise of a sentient sword named Exor who crashes into Star Road and then takes over the castle of Bowser, King of the Koopa. Star Road is the place where wishes turn into wish stars to grant the wishes of the people of the world. When Exor crashed down, Star Road was shattered into seven pieces.

Smithy's minions stole all of the star pieces so Mario teams up with Princess Peach, Mallow, a fluffy being that was raised by frogs, and a sentient doll named Geno. He also reluctantly teams up with his arch-enemy, Bowser, King of the Koopa, because he wants to get his castle back from Exor.

As this was released on the Super NES, the characters only speak through text, with one exception. Mario doesn't speak at all, instead communicating via pantomime. However, it works surprisingly well. This is helped by some spectacular character animation.

The game is presented in an isometric world with pre-rendered three-dimensional graphics converted into sprites. The process and appearance of the sprites are reminiscent of Donkey Kong Country. Super Mario RPG was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996, the same year the Nintendo 64 was released, so the choice of art style made sense since gaming was well into the three-dimensional era by that point.

The backgrounds are beautiful and fit in perfectly with the pre-rendered sprites. They also match the cheerful aesthetic of Super Mario games. The worlds Mario visits with his team really do feel right at home in Mario's universe. The new characters also fit in perfectly as well, as they have over-the-top personalities. The enemies range from characters that are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mixed with the Power Rangers, to the delightfully insane Booster. I really hope that Nintendo and Square work out a deal to bring Booster back into the world of Super Mario someday.

Super Mario RPG is an excellent game that merges Super Mario with Final Fantasy-style turn-based role-playing games surprisingly well. The music is spectacular and really memorable and the art is as cheerful as Super Mario games should be. The characters, both old and new, are really entertaining. On top of all of this, the game, from the tone to the storyline, sets up two different series of Super Mario RPGs and does it remarkably well. This is a game that should be played by all fans of Super Mario and role-playing games.

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5

Super Mario All-Stars Review

Super Mario 64 Review

Platform Game Review: Super Mario 64

In the mid-1990s, video games turned toward polygonal three-dimensional experiences in contrast with the sprite-based games of the previous console generations. Super Mario 64 was a seminal game that inspired countless others.

The storyline retains the simple story of previous Super Mario games where Bowser, King of the Koopa, kidnaps Princess Peach. However, there is a bit of a twist here, as Bowser used the power stars within the castle to imprison Peach and her servants inside the Mushroom Kingdom castle. Mario has to collect enough stars to open the three locked doors and defeat Bowser once again.

The game starts with Mario out in an open field outside of Peach's castle. This is the game that pulled the princess of the mushroom kingdom's two names together, as she's referred to as Princess Toadstool, Peach. Mario can run in three hundred and sixty-five directions. With the increase in movement also came an increase in moves. Mario can now slide, backflip, long jump, wall jump, ground pound, and front flip after jumping three times. If Mario has a wing cap, which is unlockable by hitting a red switch in a hidden level, Mario will begin flying after the third jump instead of flipping. Most of the classic powerups are not found in this game, however, the different caps with time-limited powers, which are unlocked through hidden levels, make up for it. There is the aforementioned wing cap, the metal cap that turns Mario into Metal Mario allowing him to walk underwater, and the vanish cap that turns Mario invisible.

To get inside the numbered doors, a specified number of stars must be collected. These are spread throughout the castle. There are one hundred twenty stars in total. Inside the doors are levels, which are represented as paintings Mario can jump into. There are also hidden levels, which are entered by jumping through windows, or by performing a specific task to get to them.

There are fifteen regular stages with six stars each, as well as a bonus star in each stage for obtaining one-hundred stars. To earn the stars, Mario must perform specific tasks mentioned under the star in the level selection screen. These tasks include things such as using the ground pound power to knock four wooden posts into the ground, racing characters to a point in the stage, and defeating bosses by picking them up and throwing them or jumping on their backs.

There are also three challenge doors that contain castle levels with a boss fight with Bowser, King of the Koopa, waiting at the top. Defeating Bowser here leads to Mario obtaining a key that he can use to unlock castle doors to ascend stairs up to areas he couldn't reach before.

Alongside the one hundred-five stage stars are fifteen hidden stars that can be obtained by entering hidden secret levels, chasing characters, or speaking to specific Toads out of the handful that remains inside the castle.

One of the best parts of any Super Mario game is the music, and Koji Kondo doesn't disappoint here. He makes full use of the increased number of electronic instruments available on the hardware of the Nintendo 64. There are some real gems here that will get stuck in your head forever, my personal favorite being the Slider song that plays when Mario slides down slippery slopes. I get that music in my head often, and it is the song that I immediately remember when I think about Super Mario 64.

Super Mario 64 is an absolute classic that deserves its place in the pantheon of great games. Because it is bright and cheerful with characters with proportions more like cartoons than actual people, the graphics have stood the test of time better than some of its contemporaries. It's still full of jagged edges and blurred textures like other games of its era, but the fantastic art design and level design makes up for it. Add in the fantastic memorable soundtrack, and it is a game that children and adults of any generation can enjoy. There is also an enhanced port for the Nintendo DS, but that version is so different, that it's worthy of a review all on its own. 

The best official version of the game, in my opinion, is the enhanced emulated version of the game included in Super Mario 3D All-Stars. This version increases the resolution to high definition with some improved textures although it is still presented in a 4:3 format. It also uses the rumble version that was previously only available in Japan. This version fixes some of the bugs that speedrunners use to play the game quickly, so your opinion on the best version may vary based on your needs. 

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

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Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance Games Now on Nintendo Switch Online

I'm late to the party, but Nintendo has finally released the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance emulators that data miners had discovered were coming long ago.

There are two emulators, one for Game Boy and one for Game Boy Advance. Nintendo has always counted the Game Boy and Game Boy Color as part of one product line when they calculate sales, and they have done so for the Switch emulators as well.

The Game Boy emulator includes nine games so far. The games include the Game Boy Color games Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Game & Watch Gallery 3, and Wario Land 3, as well as the Game Boy, games Gargoyle's Quest, Kirby's Dream Land, Metroid 2, and Tetris. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare isn't available in Japan and Hong Kong, however, the batch of games in Japan and Hong Kong includes the Japanese Game Boy game Yakuman. 

The Game Boy Advance emulator includes six games so far. These games include Kuru Kuru Kurin, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, and WarioWare Inc.: Micro Minigame$!

The emulator that includes Game Boy and Game Boy Color games is available for all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers while the Game Boy Advance emulator is only available for subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.

Platform Game Review: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins is a bigger game that is more aligned with the mainline Super Mario games than its predecessor.

In this game, Mario's nemesis Wario appears for the first time. Wario is an evil doppelganger of Mario who stole the latter's castle. Mario has to complete many levels in order to collect the six golden coins that are needed to confront Wario and take back his castle.

Mario's sprite is aligned with the Nintendo Entertainment System sprites and the flowers once again are fire flowers that grant the ability to throw fireballs rather than bouncy superballs. This removes the ability to collect coins in small places, but the levels are designed in a way that wouldn't need them anyway. As in Super Mario Land, the rest of the power-ups from the main series are here including the super mushroom that makes Mario large and starmen that grant temporary invincibility. Due to the monochrome graphics of the Game Boy, the 1-Up that grants an extra life is a heart rather than a green mushroom.

The game makes up for this by making the game huge compared to the first Super Mario Land. Mario traverses the island that makes up his titular land, traveling through six zones with a total of thirty-two levels. This is much larger than the twelve levels within four worlds that were in the original game.

Like Bowser, King of the Koopa, changes radically in size depending on the game, Wario does so here as well. In the boss fight, which is the first time Mario confronts the twisted thief, Wario is gigantic. This makes it a more satisfying ending, however, as beating a large opponent felt like a win for our mustache-sporting land owner. Wario would take his defeat toward higher heights as the next game was Wario Land, and Mario land became a relic of history.

Like Super Mario Land before it, fans have released a fan patch for Super Mario 2: Six Golden Coins that converts the game to full color for use on the Game Boy Color. As with the other fan patch, this colorization is extremely well done.

Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins is a great game that improves on every aspect of its predecessor. If you are able to play the game using the Super Mario Land 2 DX fan patch, such as playing the cartridge on the RetroN 5 with the patch loaded from an SD card, I highly recommend playing the game this way. However, even if you are only able to play it with monochrome graphics on the Game Boy cartridge or on the Virtual Console for Nintendo 3DS, I still highly recommend it. This game is a game that deserves to be played by all Super Mario fans.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

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Platform Game Mega Review: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

Like Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 for Game Boy, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was the beginning of a new series and was more of the title character's story than Mario's.

Unlike the Super Mario series proper, Yoshi's Island has a unique story that doesn't involve saving Princess Peach. A stork is crossing over Yoshi's Island on the way to drop off two babies, Mario and Luigi, to their parents in Brooklyn, New York. Kamek, a powerful Magikoopa and a high-ranking member of the Koopa Troop, looks into the future. Kamek foresees that when the two babies grow up they will repeatedly thwart the plans of Bowser, King of the Koopa. Kamek tries to steal the babies before they can reach their home, but only succeeds in kidnapping baby Luigi. Baby Mario drops down to the island below where he is rescued by a yoshi.

The yoshi carries baby Mario on his back through many worlds to reach Koopa's Castle and rescue his twin brother. If Yoshi is hit, baby Mario floats in a bubble, crying, and a timer counts down until he is picked up by the yoshi or when the counter reaches zero. The latter causes Kamek's cronies to swoop in and carry the baby away.

The yoshi can do the standard platformer moves such as running and jumping. The yoshi can also hover by doing a flutter jump. The yoshi also throws eggs that are abundantly scattered inside each level. Six eggs can be held at a time and can be thrown in the direction indicated in the graphical user interface by a line with a circle at the end. Egg blocks can also be hit and grow to create boxes to get to areas that normally can't be reached.

The game has a pleasing aesthetic that includes a unique and colorful pastel palette with graphics that look hand-drawn. Each world is colorful and the flowers and numbers at the end of each level intentionally look like they were drawn by a child There are forty-six levels with a boss battle at the end of each of the six worlds.

The five flowers within each level can be collected to give the yoshi an extra life. It also counts as 50% of the level score. Twenty coins within each level nets 20% of the level score. The rest of the score is calculated by the star bar which begins each level full and drops depending on how long baby Mario was separated from the yoshi. The object is to obtain the flowers and red coins and to have a full star bar to get a 100% rating for each level. However, getting 100% is not required to complete the level and open up the next. Each level can be revisited to attempt to make the percentage go up.

As with all Super Mario games, the music is fantastic. Baby Mario's crying sound effect is objectively a good sound effect as it does sound like a baby crying. However, this sound becomes annoying as it is more likely than not that this sound effect will be heard a lot.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island has a look that is really a joy to experience on the original game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as its emulated re-releases. The remake, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, retains the wonderful aspects of the original albeit with a lighter palette due to the original Game Boy Advance lacking a backlight. Super Mario World The pastel backgrounds and hand-drawn aspects really evoke a feeling of childhood. That is a really nice experience, even, or to be even more accurate, especially, as an adult. As with all games in the Super Mario series, the music is pleasing and fits the game even if none of the tunes are as memorable as the standard Super Mario platform games.

There is only one drawback, and it is, unfortunately, one that might turn people off from the game. The crying sound effect can become grating as it is most likely going to be repeated a lot while playing. If you can play the game without being too annoyed by Mario’s crying, it is a fun game.

Final Verdict: 

3½ out of 5

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Platform Game Review: Super Mario World

Super Mario World was the first Super Mario platform game released on a 16-bit console when it was released on the Super Famicom, known in the west as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, in 1990.

The storyline of the game, like most Super Mario games, is very basic. Bowser, the King of the Koopa, once again kidnaps Peach, Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario, and optionally his brother Luigi, have to travel through eight worlds in order to reach Koopa's Castle. As he had previously done in Super Mario Bros. 3, the Koopalings guard the castles at the end of the first seven worlds, while Bowser himself guards the last.

The power-ups common to all Super Mario titles are here, including the super mushroom that causes Mario or Luigi to grow in height, the fire flower that gives the ability to throw fireballs, and the starman, which grants invincibility for a short time. There is now a box at the top of the graphical user interface which allows for the holding of a powerup, which can be used when shrunk into small Mario or Luigi or at any time by pressing select.

The costumes from Super Mario Bros. 3 are unfortunately dropped, so the Mario bros. won't be able to get a frog, raccoon, or tanooki costume. The good news is the flying raccoon and tanooki suits are replaced with a cape, which can be worn by getting a feather. This cape allows the Mario brothers. to fly throughout a level, which could not be accomplished in the previous game without using a P-wing. By running at full speed, jumping, and then tapping the back button at the right time to collect wind in the cape to cause an updraft, the cape can float the plumbers in the air until flying into an object or enemy.

The graphics all have been improved from previous games, taking advantage of the 16-bit hardware. The sprites of the Mario brothers and the enemies are all more detailed, and the backgrounds now have more detail than they ever had before. The music has also improved, as the tracks have more instruments than before. The final fight with Bowser, looks and sounds great, as the booming soundtrack is matched with a fight that uses the sprite scaling abilities of the Super NES to their full potential.

Super Mario World is one of the best two-dimensional Super Mario platform games of all time. The sound qualities of the Super NES create an experience that still sounds great today. The graphics are much improved over its predecessors as well, creating an overall experience that remains a joy to play to this day.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

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Super Mario Kart Review

Platform Game Compilation Review: Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Super Mario 3D All-Stars, like its two-dimensional counterpart, is a compilation of Super Mario games. However, due to the advancements in technology, this compilation contains the original games which have been emulated, although sometimes enhanced, for the Nintendo Switch.

This compilation contains three games across three platforms. The games included are Super Mario 64, originally released on the Nintendo 64, Super Mario Sunshine, originally released on the GameCube, and Super Mario Galaxy, originally released on the Wii.

While the games have been updated to high-definition. Super Mario 64 is still in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy are presented in a 16:9 ratio. All of the games run in the Switch's native resolution of 720p in handheld mode and in 1080p in docked mode.

Super Mario 64 includes some enhanced textures to make up for the increase in resolution. Even more welcome is the inclusion of support for the wireless Nintendo 64 controller that Nintendo released for Nintendo Switch Online.

Super Mario Sunshine is the most impressive of the three games, as a lot has been done to make the game look and play great on the Switch. It is presented in true widescreen, which is very welcome. But, the thing that makes this worth playing over the original game is that it contains multiple control modes. It can be played with the original GameCube controls, or with updated controls that make it play more like a modern 3D Super Mario game. GameCube controller support is also available to those who have a GameCube Controller Adapter.

Like Super Mario All-Stars before it, Super Mario 3D All-Stars contains an excellent selection of Super Mario titles. Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy are all classic 3D platformers. It's especially nice to see the addition of Super Mario Sunshine, as the game doesn't get the attention it deserves. With the option of a modern control scheme, Super Mario Sunshine is more accessible than it ever has been before. It is a little weird that Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't included, but that exclusion doesn't put a dent in the value of this game. It's well worth picking up for fans of the 3D Super Mario games or just for fans of 3D platformers in general.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Platform Game Compilation Mega Review: Super Mario All-Stars

Super Mario All-Stars is a classic compilation that defined enhanced ports. It remains a worthwhile play due to the ultimate replayability of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. The inclusion of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was an unexpected addition as this compilation marked the first time that game had been released outside of Japan.

All four games are ported from their Nintendo Entertainment System counterparts, or the Family Computer Disk System counterpart in the case of Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Because of this, they retain the same tried-and-true gameplay as the originals. There are a few exceptions to this, as it included bug fixes to remove the minus-world glitches in Super Mario Bros. In addition, Super Mario Bros. 3 is based on the Japanese version, so the block that was removed at the end of the world 8 enemy boat is there making it more challenging to jump up from the water onto the boat to get through the pipe to the enemy.

The things that make these games worth playing over the originals are the graphic, music, and sound effects upgrades. The graphics had a huge overhaul owing to the much more powerful hardware that powered the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. They are now akin to Super Mario World with more character detail as well as background elements that enhance the atmosphere. The underground levels also received an echo effect that also helps with immersion into the game's atmosphere. The music is structurally the same, however, they have been enhanced with digital instruments such as drums and horns that weren't possible on the original hardware.

Super Mario All-Stars was released on the SNES. It was later re-released through emulation on the Wii and through the online service on Nintendo Switch. As such, it is easier to access than it ever had been before. The enhanced graphics and sound may make it worthwhile to play the All-Stars versions of these games even if you had played the NES versions before. If you haven't played any or all of the included games, then I wholeheartedly recommend this compilation as it's the most technologically impressive way to play them.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins Review

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Review

Platform Game Review: Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 brought the franchise back to the basics of the original Super Mario Bros. However, it also added some elements that change up gameplay and some that would become staples of the franchise.

Super Mario Bros. 2 was a Super Mario reskin of a different game, Dream Factory '87: Doki Doki Panic. Because of this, a lot of Super Mario elements were included, but the core gameplay was very different than the games that came before.

Super Mario Bros. 3 keeps some of the enemies from Super Mario Bros. 2, but enemies are not defeated by grabbing objects and throwing them. It's back to the jump-and-stomp method of the original Super Mario Bros.

The game also keeps all of the familiar elements from the original game including blocks, coins, growth mushrooms, fireball fire flowers, 1-UP extra life mushrooms, and invincibility starmen. However, it adds a lot more abilities, through the suits Mario and Luigi can wear. 

The most common new powerup is a leaf, which will turn the player into a raccoon. By running until a power bar fills up, leaping into the sky, and mashing the B button, the player can take to the air until the power meter runs down, at which point the player dropping rate can be decreased by mashing the B button to slowly ascend. A P-Wing power-up gives the player the ability to stay in the air through an entire level. The tanooki suit allows the player to have all the flying powers of the leaf, however, by holding the down button, the player can also turn into a statue. As a statue, enemies will walk right past you without doing harm.

There is also a frog suit for easier swimming and a suit that will let you fling hammers like a hammer brother and duck to deflect projectiles. Finally, if you step on the goomba in a shoe you can hop in the shoe and use it to hop over obstacles onto which you normally can't step.

This game brings in the Koopalings that guard each level, with Bowser, King of the Koopa guarding the last castle. Each level is now represented by a map, and sometimes you can skip certain levels or head differently.

The map in this game and the large amounts of powerups make it a great game. The fun levels and final bosses make it memorable. All of this combines to make one of the best games in the Super Mario series.

Addendum January 28, 2023: I forgot about the alternate versions. Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System includes an enhanced remake of Super Mario Bros. 3 with enhanced graphics, on par with those in Super Mario World, improved sound, and enhanced music.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Game Boy Advance is an enhanced remake based on the Super Mario All-Stars version, however, it has limited voice acting. It also has lighter colors than the Super Mario Bros. 3 in Super Mario All-Stars so that it is easily visible on the original Game Boy Advance, which didn't have a backlight.

There is also an arcade version on PlayChoice-10. This version is identical to the NES version, except there is a time limit put in place where the game will quit when time runs out.

Addendum March 12, 2023: Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Game Boy Advance had extra levels which could be played by scanning the level card into the e-Reader peripheral.

The Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy Advance emulator includes Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 with all of the e-Reader levels unlocked.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Super Mario Bros. 2 Review

Super Mario Land Review

Platform Game Mega Review: Super Mario Bros. - The Lost Levels

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was the formerly Japan-only sequel to Super Mario Bros. Known as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan, Nintendo of America deemed it too difficult. Instead, a game created from a vertical scrolling Mario demo for Fuji TV's "Dream Factory '87" event, Doki Doki Panic, was converted into a full-fledged Mario game. 

The converted game was released in the United States and Europe as Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was released in Japan as Super Mario Bros. USA. The Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 wasn't released in Western countries until it was included in the collection of enhanced ports for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Mario All-Stars, as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in 1993.

The idea for a sequel to Super Mario Bros. came while developing VS. Super Mario Bros. for the arcade market. The team at Shigeru Miyamoto's Nintendo Research & Development 4 had so much fun creating new levels for Super Mario Bros. that they decided to make enough new levels to fill out an entire game. 

The resulting game was originally released in Japan in 1986 on the Family Computer Disk System, the floppy drive expansion for the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Its mechanics were like Super Mario Bros., for the most part. It still had Mario and Luigi as the playable characters, however, the game was only for one player. This marked the first time the abilities of the brothers differed. Mario controlled exactly as the Mario brothers had previously in Super Mario Bros. and its VS. System arcade counterpart. However, Luigi had different abilities. He could jump higher and farther, however, his controls were a bit more slippery, meaning that the choice between the two was up to personal preference rather than simply aesthetics or which controller you happened to use.

The gameplay also had some differences as well. The coins, blocks, growth-granting mushrooms, 1-UP extra life mushrooms, fireball-granting fireflowers, and invincibility starmen were all here. However, the game also had poison mushrooms. Grabbing these would shrink the player if they were large and kill them if they were small. In addition, there were also levels with the wind that would push the player backward as well as warp pipes that would take the player backward in levels as well as forward.

The stage layouts were also different. There were larger gaps, and harder-to-find invincible blocks, among other challenging changes, making it a much harder game than the Super Mario Bros. titles that came before.

Western audiences finally received the game, titled Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment Entertainment system. This was an enhanced port that featured updated graphics and music in the Super Mario All-Stars compilation. 

It was later released with the same graphics and music as the original as an unlockable called Super Mario Bros. for Super Players in Super Mario Bros. Deluxe for the Game Boy Color. It had one difference, though. The Game Boy Color screen was a smaller resolution than that of the NES. Thus, the screen follows Mario. The fact that the top and bottom of the screen may not be visible at any given time makes this version slightly more difficult than the original.

The original Family Computer Disk System version was also released worldwide, via emulation, for the Virtual Console on Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS.

Super Mario Bros. is a classic that I recommend playing for everyone, however, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels doesn't reach that level. It's a neat curio for Super Mario fans, and for those platform game fans who want a challenge. However, it's not a mandatory play. There is a reason the poison mushroom is rarely used in other Super Mario games.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

VS. Super Mario Bros. Review

All-Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. Review

Platform Game Review: VS. Super Mario Bros.

VS. Super Mario Bros., released in 1986, is an adaptation of Super Mario Bros. for the VS. System arcade platform. It isn't a simple port, however, as it includes some different levels in comparison to the home console version.

In 1985, when Super Mario Bros. was released, Nintendo still had a presence in the arcade market. The VS. System was an arcade platform based on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with interchangeable palettes. This allowed games to be converted between the systems pretty easily. However, as VS. Super Mario Bros. was a game for the arcade market, Shigeru Miyamoto's Nintendo Research & Development 4 opted to replace some levels with harder levels as well as changing things such as hidden block locations and warp pipes to mix things up.

I played the game in an arcade, once, when I was a little girl on vacation with my family in Sodus Point, New York. I was an avid reader of Nintendo Power, so I knew all of the warp zones in Super Mario Bros. I tried walking along the ceiling to use the warp pipe on the second level of world one. I was surprised when it took me to the second world instead of the fourth, and I knew that I was playing a different beast than the game I mastered at home. I'm sure I wasn't the only person to be surprised on their first playthrough. I didn't get too far in the game, and I never saw this arcade game again.

The game contains all of the hallmarks of the home console version, including blocks, coins, growth mushrooms, fireball fireflowers, 1-UP extra life mushrooms, and invincibility starmen. In addition, most of the levels are from the home console version. However, as it's an arcade game, the new levels are quite hard. I didn't complete the game when I was young and didn't manage to complete it until decades later when it finally received a home conversion.

The developers loved creating harder levels so much that they created enough new levels to make a whole game, which became Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. Unlike that game, however, VS. Super Mario Bros. remains a one or two-player game. It also lacks the harder gameplay elements such as the poison mushroom and levels with the wind.

Since it lacks the poison mushroom and wind, it is easier to recommend VS. Super Mario Bros. Because it doesn't have the gradual difficulty climb and because some levels are extremely difficult, it doesn't have the replayability of Super Mario Bros. However, It might be worth playing if you're a fan of Super Mario or platform games, especially since it was finally released to home and handheld console players on Nintendo Switch through emulation by Hamster in their Arcade Archives series.

Final Verdict: 

4 out of 5

Super Mario Bros. Review

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels Review

Platform Game Review: All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.

All-Night Nippon Super Mario Bros is an interesting little curio. In 1986, Nintendo partnered with the Nippon Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Fuji TV, to create a version of Super Mario Bros. filled with personalities from the "All Night Nippon" radio show. Interestingly, the game isn't just a straight edit of Super Mario Bros. It is a mix-and-match of levels and features from Super Mario Bros., VS. Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.

Like The Lost Levels, All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. is a one-player game that can be played either as Mario or Luigi. Luigi has a higher jumping ability with less foot grip from that game as well. Eighteen levels are from Super Mario Bros., three are from The Lost Levels, and three are from VS. Super Mario Bros. In addition, one level has more enemies while another has a different puzzle solution.

The story is virtually the same as Super Mario Bros., with the exception of the stated location. In this game, Peach is the princess of the Viva Kingdom. She is still kidnapped by King Koopa, and Mario, or optionally his brother Luigi, has to travel through eight different worlds within the kingdom on the quest to rescue the princess.

As the game stems from The Lost Levels, the side-scrolling platforming gameplay is as responsive as always. Mario's jumping is the same as the original, so it is neither floaty nor abrupt. Luigi's controls take a little getting used to, as he slides on the ground a bit, but his higher jumps come in handy. Although it is built upon the physics of The Lost Levels, it is not as punishing as that game. There are no poison mushrooms or wind levels. 

It is great that the game begins with the first level of Super Mario Bros., as that level is a master class on creating a tutorial level to ease the player into the game. This level begins with the easiest baddie to stomp. It contains each of the power-ups available in the game, a height-increasing mushroom, a flower that bestows the power of fireballs, a star that grants invincibility, and a 1-UP mushroom that gives an extra life. Like all games in the Super Mario series, collecting one hundred coins also earns an extra life.

All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. also keeps the incremental levels that teach the player what to expect as the game gets harder. The aforementioned tutorial level is followed by an underground level, an above-ground level, and a castle level. The castle levels are puzzle levels where the correct path gives a chime while the incorrect path sounds out a buzzer. Like all of the games based on Super Mario Bros., the first seven levels feature a false King Koopa, and the eighth features the real thing. Instead of Mushroom Retainers, there are seven personalities from the mid-1980s era of All Night Nippon. One of these celebrities also replaces the easiest enemies, the goombas. Another replaces the piranha plants that sometimes come out of the pipes. After defeating the real Bowser in the fourth level of the eighth world, the Princess is saved.

All-Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. is a fun remix of the various games based on the original Super Mario Bros. The replacement of enemies with Japanese personalities is a little jarring, but the replacement of the Mushroom Retainers is actually pretty cute. Due to licensing issues, it's not likely that Nintendo will re-release this game digitally, but it's not really a game worth tracking down unless you actually own a Family Computer Disk System.

Final verdict:

4 out of 5

Super Mario

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels Review

Super Mario Bros. 2 Review

Mario Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels Review Punch-Out!! Review

Platform Game Mega Review: Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. is a hugely influential game as well as the game that made the Nintendo Entertainment System a worldwide sensation. The graphics are no longer a technological marvel, but the gameplay remains as easy to pick up and enjoy as ever.

The story is very simple. The one presented in the game is simply that Mario travels through various worlds to save the princess from the Koopa King. The manual provides more context. Bowser, King of the Koopa, invades the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnaps Peach, Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. King Koopa unleashes his minions upon the kingdom and magically turns its inhabitants into objects such as blocks.

An Italian plumber named Mario, and optionally, his brother Luigi, travel from Brooklyn to the Mushroom Kingdom. There, they travel across eight different worlds within the kingdom and collect power-ups to defeat enemies standing in their way, on their quest to rescue the princess. 

The side-scrolling platforming gameplay feels very responsive and the jumping is neither floaty nor abrupt. The layout of the game's eight worlds and twenty-four levels are excellent. The game starts with an easy-to-complete ground level, which gives Mario each of the power-ups available in the game, a mushroom that will make Mario grow in height, a fire flower that allows Mario to shoot fireballs, a Starman which makes Mario temporarily invisible, and a 1-UP mushroom that gives Mario an extra life. Extra lives can also be earned by collecting one hundred coins which can be found on the ground, in the air, or inside blocks.

The tutorial level is followed by levels incrementally increasing in difficulty, including an underground level, a level set on platforms high above the ground, and a castle level with a boss to defeat, followed by an underwater level to start the second world. It's a very excellent set of levels to start with, as it gives the player an overview of all the types of worlds in the game before the difficulty level raises too much.

The worlds have a varying amount of the level types above, but the fourth, and last, level of each world contains a castle with a lava and fire motif. In order to get to the final boss, the player must travel on the correct path. Which path is traveled is indicated with a sound effect. The correct path earns a chime while the incorrect path is indicated with a buzzer. In the first seven castle levels, various minions disguised themselves as their boss, Bowser, King of the Koopa. The false Bowsers can be defeated either by using fireballs with the fire flower powerup or by hitting a switch behind the false Bowser. The latter will take the bridge out under the false Bowser's feet, causing him to fall into the lava below. 

There are also warp pipes hidden in the game, which can be accessed to skip levels and warp right to a level at a further point in the game.

At the end of each of the seven castles is a dungeon, where Mario discovers one of the many Mushroom Retainers that inhabit the Mushroom Kingdom. Each tells Mario the words that have since become a meme - "Thank you Mario. But our Princess is in another castle".

The fourth level of the eighth world, which is the last level in the game, has Mario fighting against the real Bowser, who is defeated in the same way as the false Bowsers. After this, Mario rescues Princess Toadstool. She then gives Mario the option to try a new quest, wherein she is kidnapped again, but Mario must defeat tougher enemies to rescue her.

The game received enhanced remakes by Nintendo several times. These remakes are faithful to the original game but have been adjusted with the capabilities and limitations of the system on which it was ported. The first remake was in Super Mario All-Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which enhanced the graphics and music to be consistent with the other Super Mario games available on that system. The second was Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. This was a faithful port of the original NES game, complete with the same graphics and sound. The difference was that the Game Boy Color screen was a smaller resolution than that of the NES. Thus, the screen follows Mario. The fact that the top and bottom of the screen may not be visible at any given time makes this version slightly more difficult than the original. It also had a partial remake for the Japan-only Sattelaview online gaming platform for the Super Famicom (the Japanese version of the SNES) that was released weekly and included the level map from Super Mario Bros. 3 onward. Since it was only available for a limited time in Japan, and, as of this writing, not all of the weeks have been found and restored, this version of the game is not a viable option.

Super Mario Bros. is a seminal video game that was hugely influential to the entire video game industry. It deserves every accolade it gets. The gameplay is timeless, as anyone can pick it up and play, even today. For those who prefer SNES-style graphics, which are still popular with indie game developers to this day, the Super Mario All-Stars version might be worth playing instead. The level design is fantastic, and the jumping controls are tight, but not too much so. I highly recommend this game to anyone, as it's a fantastic game and is a great game to play for both beginners at platform games as well as experts.

Addendum January 28, 2023: There is also an arcade version for the PlayChoice-10. This version is identical to the NES version, except there is a time limit in place where the game will quit when time runs out.

Final verdict:

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5

Mario Bros. Special Review

VS. Super Mario Bros. Review

Platform Game Review: Super Mario Land

Super Mario Land was a platform game for the original monochrome Nintendo Game Boy portable video game console. It was the first game in the Super Mario Land subseries as well as the first game in the Super Mario series to be developed by Gunpei Yokoi’s Research & Development 1 rather than Shigeru Miyamoto’s Research & Development 4. The result was a Super Mario game different than any that had come before, as well as everything that came after.

In the game, Mario travels to Sarasaland where he rescues Princess Daisy from an alien known as Taranga. Even though the formula is pretty much the same with Peach switched with Daisy and Bowser switched for Taranga, some of the play mechanics are very different. This makes the game feel fresh, even thirty-three years after it was first released.

Most of the power-ups are familiar to Super Mario fans. There are mushrooms that cause Mario to grow if he is small. 1-Up mushrooms, which grant an extra life, have been replaced with 1-Up hearts due to the fact that the monochrome graphics would make it hard to distinguish between different mushrooms. The power-up change that changes the way the game plays is the power of the flower. In this game, flowers give the power of superballs rather than fire. They can be used in the usual way, to kill enemies. However, they can also be used to collect coins. Mario can shoot them into areas that he can't reach, allowing him to collect coins in passages that only small Mario would normally be able to reach.

Another change in the gameplay comes in the water level. Instead of swimming, there is a Mario-sized submarine named the Marine Pop that's used instead. The submarine can shoot missiles as well as collect coins, which gives the level the feel of a horizontal shooter rather than a platformer. The horizontal shooter aspect is only used again in the last stage, with an airplane known as the Sky Pop. I really wish that they'd use the vehicles again, as I really enjoyed the two shooter levels. I do not mind the traditional underwater levels, but I actually found it more fun to power a submarine through them rather than swim.

The game was only officially released in monochrome for the Game Boy, however, there is a fan patch named Super Mario Land DX that turns the game into a full-color Game Boy Color game. This patch adds color to the game and changes the sprite graphics to more closely match other games in the series. It is very well done.

Super Mario Land is an excellent game that deserves to be played. If you are able to play the game using the Super Mario Land DX fan patch, such as playing the cartridge on the RetroN 5 with the patch loaded from an SD card, I highly recommend playing the game this way. However, if you are only able to play it with monochrome graphics on the Game Boy cartridge or on the Virtual Console for Nintendo 3DS, the game is still worth playing. The gameplay mechanics that are unique among Super Mario games, as well as fun music, tight platform mechanics, and great level design, make this one a must-play.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Super Mario Bros. 3 Review

Dr. Mario Review

Platform Game Mega Review: Super Mario Bros 2./Super Mario USA/Dream Factory '87: Doki Doki Panic

Super Mario Bros. 2 is known as Super Mario USA in Japan. The reason for this was that Japan received its own Super Mario Bros. 2, which is a harder version of Super Mario Bros. This game is known outside of Japan as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels or Super Mario Bros. for Super Players. Super Mario Bros. 2 is actually a reskin of Dream Factory: Doki Doki Panic, a game that Nintendo developed for the Fuji TV Dream Factory '87 event.

Super Mario Bros. 2 is actually a very different Super Mario game compared to the other games in the series, yet it still feels familiar. The concept for the game originally came from a vertically scrolling Super Mario prototype. The vertical scrolling actually worked well for this game and was later used in Super Mario Bros. 3 as well.

The original Doki Doki Panic version took place in a storybook. However, this was changed to a land named Subcon, which can be visited by a person's subconscious while they sleep. Fans of Super Mario RPGs will recognize the concept, as, within them, dream worlds have been covered extensively.

In this game, there are four playable characters. The original Doki Doki Panic has Arabian characters named Papa, Mama, Imajin, and Lina. The localization replaced them with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach, Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. Papa and Mario have medium vegetable-grabbing speeds and a low jump. Luigi and Mama have slow-grabbing speeds and a high jump. I quite enjoy Luigi's animation of his running legs while jumping. Toad and Imajin have fast-grabbing speeds and medium jumps. Lina and Peach round them out with slow-grabbing speeds and medium jumps as well as the ability to float for a short period of time.

In this game, jumping on an enemy doesn't defeat it. You have to grab the enemy and throw it at another enemy to defeat it. You can also grab plants from the ground, which can also be thrown at enemies. Sometimes the grass pulled up from the ground can contain items such as shells which can be kicked at enemies, bombs, keys, health powerups, and other useful items. All versions of the game have the ability to collect powerups that allow the chosen character to be hit more than once. The Super Mario version shrinks the character when they only have one life left.

All versions of the game, including the enhanced remake included in Super Mario All-Stars, contain some of the catchiest music among all of the Super Mario games. This is saying a lot, as the Super Mario games always have excellent, catchy tunes. I still get the song stuck in my head that plays from the moment the door opens into the adventure in the first level of the game.

Eschewing most Super Mario games, there are six worlds with three levels each, and a final seventh world with two levels. This game also has a toad named Mamu, or Wart in the international versions. Interestingly, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening contains a cameo from Mamu, whose name remains unlocalized. I really like that they used a different villain than Bowser, King of the Koopa. It's also great that Peach wasn't captured, but actually contributes to an adventure for a change.

All of the versions of Super Mario Bros. 2 are worth playing, whether you play Dream Factory: Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario USA, or the enhanced remake in Super Mario All-Stars. It contains great music, great level design, and some of the most original and fun platforming mechanics that I've ever encountered while playing platform games.

Addendum January 2, 2023: I forgot about the enhanced remake of the Super Mario version, which is known as Super Mario Advance on the Game Boy Advance. This version is based on the Super Mario All-Stars version, however, it has limited voice acting. It also has lighter colors than the Super Mario Bros. 2 in Super Mario All-Stars so that it is easily visible on the original Game Boy Advance, which didn't have a backlight.

Addendum January 28, 2023: There is also an arcade version for the PlayChoice-10. This version is identical to the NES version, except there is a time limit in place where the game will quit when time runs out.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Punch-Out!! Review

Super Mario Bros. 3 Review