![]() Super Mario 64 is still an utter classic that introduced the wider gaming world to quick, unencumbered movement in a 3D space. Small changes aside, the question remains: How do Mario's early 3D adventures hold up after anywhere from 13 to 24 years of advancement in 3D game design? ![]() Through some bog-standard upscaling, Nintendo has merely managed to make these games match the decidedly SD images in your memory. Sunshine feels a little less claustrophobic, too, in a screen-filling 16:9 aspect ratio.Īll in all, though, there's no wholesale graphical overhaul here to give the same "wow" factor as seeing 16-bit versions of Mario's 2D enemies in the original All-Stars. Sunshine and Galaxy manage the HD transition better, with fewer apparent artifacts that look out of place after upscaling. Oh, and that infamously misheard "So long, gay Bowser" voice clip during the boss fights? It has been replaced with a simple "Bye, bye." This edition also fixes the notorious "backwards long jump" glitch, making this version of the game much less amenable to speedrunning. The so-called "Shindou Edition" of the game was only released in Japan in 1997 and added Rumble Pak support that translates nicely to Switch controller shaking in this re-release. Mario of the Rising SunThe version of Super Mario 64 in 3D All-Stars is one most Americans might not be fully familiar with. Thus, fields of grass or rocky mountains look like smeared, muddy messes on a big-screen TV in a less-than-endearing way. Where Super Mario 64 suffers is in its environmental textures, which don't appear to have been redrawn to look any sharper on higher-resolution screens. And while in-game enemies and items still appear in their original, comically low-polygon models, their sharp edges now come across as charmingly retro. There, original UI elements like pixellated, blocky text have been replaced with lettering that looks smooth on an HD display. The effects of this change are most noticeable on Super Mario 64. I say "almost" because the games feature what Nintendo describes as "improved picture resolution" on the Switch's more powerful hardware. Rose-colored glassesĪside from those minor changes, these games play and look almost exactly like their original counterparts (right down to retrograde 30fps frame rates on Super Mario 64 and Sunshine). It may well be the best solution possible for a difficult use case, but mostly it reminds us of some of the most uncomfortable moments of 3DS touchscreen tapping. This is a pretty awkward ask, requiring you to temporarily remove one hand from the Switch's physical controls briefly while supporting the entire unbalanced weight of the Switch with the other. ![]() In portable mode, though, you control the star cursor by tapping or tracing your finger across the screen. This isn't as precise or intuitive as the Wii Remote's IR pointer, but after a little practice, it's generally accurate enough. In docked mode, the cursor flits around based on very small movements detected by the controller's tilt-sensitive gyroscope. Without a Wii Remote, though, it's trickier to move the game's on-screen "star" cursor (used to pick up and shoot star bits and grab certain in-game objects). In general, though, the game's default camera programming still usually delivers a useful and cinematic viewing angle without much player interference. That feels a little weird, especially in situations where a more flexible, freely rotatable camera would be welcome (as we've seen in recent unauthorized PC ports). In Super Mario 64, for instance, the camera movement that was mapped to the four C-buttons on the N64 is now controlled by flicking the right analog stick. (For example, the intro screen to Super Mario 64 says "Press +" rather than "Press Start.") There's also a pause menu that lets you switch quickly between the three included games or read through a single-page reference for Mario's controls.ģD All-Stars also updates older Nintendo control schemes to work with the Switch Joy-Cons and Pro Controller. The user interface and in-game instructions in each game, for instance, have been updated to refer specifically to the Switch controls. To be clear, Nintendo has done a little more than throw some old ROMs into a new Switch-based emulator. (Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.)
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