Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a Nintendo Switch compilation game, released on September 18, 2020 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. It contains Super Mario 64 (1996), Super Mario Sunshine (2002), and Super Mario Galaxy (2007) with upscaled visuals. It has been made available in limited quantities as a retail edition, and a digital edition available until late March 2021. The compilation and name is based on Super Mario All-Stars, but instead contains the first three 3D platformers of the Super Mario series.

Changes from the original games include 720p resolution and rumble in Super Mario 64 (which was also featured in Shindō Pak Taiō Version), 1080p resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio in Super Mario Sunshine, and 1080p resolution and motion controls that mimic the Wii Remote in Super Mario Galaxy. All three games support docked, tabletop, and handheld modes, with Super Mario Galaxy having the player use the button to spin and emulate the pointer with the touch screen on handheld mode. Each game also modifies control graphics and tutorial text to correspond to the Nintendo Switch. Additionally, the game contains digital soundtracks of the three respective games, with 175 tracks in total.

The main menu of the game, along with the selection of the games, displays the original release date and system of each game, along with a description of the games' stories and mechanics introduced for those games.

Super Mario 64

 * , - Move Mario/cursor, climb poles, angle camera in second-person mode, fly (when wearing the Wing Cap)
 * , - Jump, swim, talk, confirm
 * , - Punch, dive, grab, throw, cancel
 * , - Crouch
 * , - Switch camera modes
 * - Adjust camera
 * - Pause menu
 * - Suspend menu

Super Mario Sunshine

 * - Move Mario, aim F.L.U.D.D. (while holding R)
 * , - Jump, swim, talk
 * - Switch Nozzles
 * - Pick up, dive
 * - Center camera
 * - Run while spraying (while using Squirt Nozzle)
 * - Guidebook
 * - Use F.L.U.D.D. (spray and aim while using Squirt Nozzle)
 * - Move camera
 * (click in) - Mario Cam
 * - Pause menu
 * - Suspend menu

Super Mario Galaxy

 * Move
 * , : Jump/swim
 * ,, (shake): Spin
 * (grounded): Crouch
 * (midair): Ground Pound
 * Fire Star Bit
 * Center camera
 * Reset pointer
 * Change camera view
 * (move): Aim
 * - Pause menu
 * - Suspend menu

Changes to Super Mario 64

 * The game is based on Shindō Pak Taiō Version, available in English for the first time . However, the notice for compatibility with the Rumble Pak has been removed.
 * In the screen with Mario's head, the text saying "PRESS START" now says "PRESS ", with a brand new text icon. Despite this, Mario's voice line "Press Start to play" is still played upon returning to the title screen from a gameplay demo.
 * The options menu is removed, likely due to the Nintendo Switch already having sound options in its settings, and due to the language options being moved to the game selection screen.
 * The game's camera controls have been flipped to be normal instead of inverted.
 * The directional buttons now act as full analog presses on the control stick.
 * The text has been updated to reflect the new controls.
 * In addition to the higher-definition HUD textures present in all three games, Super Mario 64 has also received a small selection of higher-definition textures within the game world, mainly textures on Mario's model as well as illustration-related textures, such as the Boo portraits in Big Boo's Haunt and the Bowser sliding puzzle in Lethal Lava Land. In the process, an error in the original version of the Bowser sliding puzzle illustration - a small orange square on Bowser's left ankle - has been removed.
 * Due to the higher resolution, "level of detail" models such as low-polygon count Mario, Mr. I's iris, and cloudless Lakitus are much easier to be seen.

Changes to Super Mario Sunshine

 * The game is based on the PAL version, presumably due to it being the most recent version and its support in French, Spanish, German and Italian.
 * On the title screen, the text is changed from "PRESS START!" to "PRESS ", although pressing start still works.
 * The title screen displays indefinitely, no longer playing the opening demo for the game or the story introduction if the player waits long enough. The music for the opening demo is still included in the game's soundtrack within the collection regardless.
 * The Rumble option no longer has the image of the GameCube Controller.
 * In F.L.U.D.D.'s tutorial video, F.L.U.D.D. says "press the button" instead of "press the R button". This is because spraying is done by and  in Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and the subtitles have been changed to reflect this.
 * The Stereo/Mono/Surround option is removed, likely due to the Nintendo Switch already having such an option in its settings.
 * The game's camera controls have been flipped to be normal instead of inverted.
 * The text has been updated to reflect the new controls. Talking to NPCs now has the button prompt over them (instead of ), although  still works.
 * The memory card is no longer mentioned when the player saves the game since the Nintendo Switch does not use memory cards.

Changes to Super Mario Galaxy

 * The player only needs to press one button on the title screen, rather than two buttons simultaneously ( and ) like in the original Wii release.
 * Miis can no longer be selected as a save icon.
 * Due to the lack of speakers in the Joy-Con controllers, any sounds played through the Wii Remote speaker are absent.
 * The animated icon for how to spin by shaking the Wii Remote has now been changed to a Joy-Con. The animated icon for motion control-related tutorials displays guidance for both a Joy-Con and the entire Nintendo Switch console in handheld mode, regardless of which input is being used at the time.
 * The text has been updated to reflect the new controls.
 * The game features extra tutorial dialogue to accommodate for handheld mode.
 * When the player talks to the Mailtoad on the 121st star in the Grand Finale Galaxy, he now has different dialogue. The "Yes" or "No" prompt is now removed, thus the two images obtained from him are automatically sent to the Nintendo Switch album if the player talks to him. Additionally, the message from the Super Mario Galaxy staff that was originally sent to the Wii Message Board is now read out by the Mailtoad in-game.
 * The camera icon on the Star List that was used to take a screenshot of the list has been removed, due to the Nintendo Switch having a screen capture button on the left Joy-Con controller and Pro Controller.

Soundtracks
The player can listen to the soundtracks for all three games from the main menu. Although the Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy soundtracks were previously released as soundtrack CDs (the latter of which uses the two-disc Platinum Version in particular), this is the first time an official soundtrack of any form for Super Mario Sunshine was made available. Upon reaching the main menu, a random song from one of the three soundtracks would play in the background. While listening to music on a soundtrack menu, the player can switch to the music-player mode by pressing, which allows them to continue listening to music with the screen turned off.

Version 1.0.1
Release date: September 17, 2020  
 * Fixed/adjusted the display in Super Mario Galaxy when playing in Co-Star mode.
 * In order to let you play the game more comfortably, we have also fixed some issues.

Super Mario Sunshine
Scrubbing Sirena Beach can be completed with much less electric goop being cleaned than intended.

Debug cubes in Bianco Hills' second secret area that mark the flipping platforms are visible.

The sound heard when "GO!" appears on-screen in racing minigames is replaced by a.

The zoom-out effect when using the Turbo Nozzle underwater was not adjusted to fit the new widescreen display.

Super Mario Galaxy
The heat distortion effect of Bowser's Galaxy Reactor's Lava Tower Planet is only applied to a small section of the middle of the screen, rather than the entire screen as in other locations such as Freezeflame Galaxy.

Limited-release controversy
Super Mario 3D All-Stars's limited release date for both physical and digital copies of the game drew controversy from various fans and internet personalities. Elise Favis from The Washington Post compared the limited release situation to the "Disney Vault," referring to the Walt Disney Company's policy of regularly cycling home media releases of their films in and out of moratorium; Favis and other writers criticized the decision as anti-consumerist, describing a more traditional release pattern as being more favorable towards buyers. Favis additionally brought up the lack of a Virtual Console service on the Switch, which compounds the issue some fans had with the limited release. Alexandra Sakellariou from Screen Rant asserted the reason Nintendo made the game limited release boiled down to potential profits from it being labeled as an "anniversary release", and worried about whether or not future Mario releases would adopt a similar pattern if this sales tactic ends up succeeding.

On YouTube, game industry analyst and critic Jim Sterling compared Nintendo's move to prior, difficult-to-obtain Nintendo products that were high demand, namely amiibo and the NES Classic Edition. He brought up as the primary reason Nintendo artificially limited stock of the game, which urged a "have" and "have-not" system and persuaded players to own the game, and was echoed by other critics of the move. Yong Yea, who creates videos that research into various controversies of the game industry, documented the reaction on his channel while saying that the bundle was a good deal for some people and some fans reacted positively to the news, he criticized the timed, limited release of the bundle, especially with the limited digital release. He called the deadline of the six-month limited window "anti-consumer" and "senseless", especially compounded with the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic that left customers in harder economic situations that makes it more difficult to pay for a $60 game on top of the difficulty obtaining a Nintendo Switch at the time.

Critical reception
Super Mario 3D All-Stars's has been positively-received with critics, receiving an 83 on Metacritic based off 61 reviews. Much of the praise is addressed towards the games being quality, classic titles being bundled in a convenient package to play on the Nintendo Switch, praising the improved presentation of the games, that the games are still fun to play in the modern age, and that new players should purchase the package to experience the titles. Common criticisms of the game include the minimal amount of changes to the old games and that while the individual games are well-made, the bundle itself was a fairly weak deal. However, the user score on Metacritic is mixed, with common grievances citing that the games are a bare minimum effort despite the quality of the games, the relatively-high asking price for a collection of old games, the limited-release controversy of the game, and the lack of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Luke Hemming of Cubed3 has given the game a 10/10, where the bundle represents "the pinnacle of platforming goodness and with perfect ports, as well as top notch optimisation for the console", and writes that the game is a "must-buy" for Nintendo Switch owners. Also, Cubed3 notes how new players can experience the evolution of the three 3D Mario titles and how Nintendo improves the formula of each iteration of games. He has praised all three games being included and the effort undertaken to upscale them for improved graphical presentation on newer harder. Jon Mundy from Pocket Gamer UK gave the game a 9/10 and had echoed similar thoughts and has proclaimed Super Mario Galaxy to be the best 3D Mario title of all time and loves all three games in the bundle, citing the improvements and the gameplay which still plays great in 2020. Mundy has written that "some have balked at Super Mario 3D All-Stars's premium pricing." but has recommended that Super Mario Galaxy alone justifies the price if the reader has never played the game before.

On the mixed side, Riley Little from Screen Rant has given the game a 3.5 out of 5, stating that while the games are worth owning for the Nintendo Switch, for players who want to experience the Mario titles again or for new players, they are not exactly a bargain deal either. Little has unfavorably compared the game to Activision's remade bundles of older games, such as the ' and ', which both launched as complete graphical overhauls and had a cheaper retail price than Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Little has also written the absence of Super Mario Galaxy 2 where no explanation was given for its omission. Stefan L from TheSixthAxis has echoed the sentiment and compared the 35th anniversaries to actual 35th birthdays, writing them as unassuming. He has written that while the games themselves benefit from the increased resolution, he has lamented that Nintendo could have "gone above and beyond in a meaningful way." He has written that Super Mario 64 is the weakest game of the trio due to how much times the game was re-released, that the game was more about preservation than improvement, and how the game in this bundle "lags behind fan game projects that have demonstrated Mario 64 can work in 16:9 and 60fps just fine." and has even stated that the game is inferior to its Virtual Console release due to the lack of save states and a digital manual.

Super Mario 64

 * "Princess Peach has invited Mario to her castle to enjoy some cake! On his arrival, he's greeted by an eerie silence...until Bowser's laughter echoes through the halls. Thus begins an adventure to rescue the princess by exploring the magical worlds within the castle's many enchanted paintings. This first 3D action game in the Super Mario series launched alongside the Nintendo 64 system. The introduction of the analog Control Stick set a new standard for later games in the series."

Super Mario Sunshine

 * "Mario and friends have arrived on Isle Delfino, ready to enjoy a relaxing vacation. Instead, they find that someone has polluted the island with icky, goop-like graffiti! Framed for this terrible crime, Mario must clean the island, find the true culprit, and reclaim the Shine Sprites—Delfino's sunny energy source—that have hidden themselves to escape the mess. Using the power of the Nintendo GameCube system, this game offered dazzling water effects and a slick set of moves for Mario through his new tool, FLUDD."

Super Mario Galaxy

 * "It's the night of the Star Festival, and Star Bits are falling from the sky! As everyone celebrates, Bowser suddenly appears and lifts the castle—and Princess Peach—into space, leaving Mario stranded in orbit! It's here that Mario meets a curious star child, Luma, and a mysterious woman in blue...This game introduced new ways to control Mario, like pointing and shaking the Wii Remote, as he explores miniature planets with fun forms of gravity."

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros.: Mario's running animation from this game is used to indicate a track is currently playing in the soundtrack menus. The game is mentioned in the description for Super Mario Sunshine's soundtrack section.
 * Super Mario All-Stars: This game's name is referenced by the title.
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2: This game's "You Got a Star!" fanfare plays before the title screen appears, albeit higher-pitched and slightly abridged.

Trivia

 * Despite all three titles in Super Mario 3D All-Stars being known to be fully localized in Simplified Chinese (albeit with Super Mario Sunshine's Chinese edition being unreleased), the collection does not include any of the Chinese localization and only offers Chinese translation in the game menu. It was said that negotiations were attempted, but was ultimately unsuccessful as iQue/ localization was considered "spin-off" translations not in direct ownership of Nintendo.
 * The renders used to represent the game's official soundtracks in-game are photoshops of each soundtrack's Japanese cover art overlaid on top of the same image of an empty jewel case, rather than being simply an image of the cover art alone or a scan of the actual CD packaging (in the case of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy, as the Super Mario Sunshine soundtrack was never given a dedicated release prior to its inclusion in Super Mario 3D All-Stars).