On its own merit, Mario All Stars 25th Anniversary is acceptable, but not as a celebration for Marios 25th anniversary.
Don't get me wrong, the four games still hold up nowadays quite well and still provide some entertainment and satisfying challenge. But for a 25th Anniversary Nintendo was way too lazy with this package.
Super Mario All Stars : 25th Anniversary Edition contains 4 classic Mario games: Super Mario Bros , Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. Super Mario World 1 and 2? They are totally absent. Buuh.
As you all should now, all of these games, except maybe Super Mario Bros 2, are some of the greatest games in video game history. They, believe it or not, still hold up nowadays with good level design and a satisfying challenge. It's a proof on how good these games were back in the old days.
Though that doesn't necessarily mean that these games don't feel dated nowadays, and they do in some cases. I would have loved to see some updates to the game. Jeez, just imagine these games with the visuals of New Super Mario Bros Wii. Man that would have been awesome. Then some more improvements to some of the levels and other gameplay design choices and this game would have been everybody's money worth and a love letter to any Mario fan. But, those are only dreams, because the actual product left the games untouched. Nintendo didn't do anything to let these games feel new and fresh again. And that is a big disappointment more or the less, especially because this is Marios 25th Anniversary.
Now there are some extras that came bundled with this game. Sadly, they are just as disappointing like the whole game.
One of these extras is a little book about Marios gaming history, where they show us the main run and jump Mario games, and to every game there was a comment from Shigeru Miyamoto and two of his biggest helpers. What the book contains is okay, but there could have been so much more indeed.
The second extra is a CD with 20 music pieces of the Mario games, mostly their main themes. However, only ten of these tracks are actually music. The other 10 are only little sound effects like Mario jumping against a block earning a coin. It would have been much better if there were 20 music pieces and no of these lazy sound effects.
There isn't much to write about this game, it's very simple. These games are some of the best video games ever made for their time, but nowadays, they did lose a bit of their appeal. And the fact that this game is a celebration for Mario being a gaming hero now 25 years, this Nintendo offering is lazy. Nintendo was really lazy. It's just a shame, because I could see this game being an epic celebration for Marios 25th year. But it isn't. It's just an invitation to the old, classic Mario games that are still fun, but it's a pretty disappointing celebration. It's appealing to new comers that like Mario, but all of you Mario veterans, you probably already have one version of each game, and the extras aren't worth it.
On its own merit, the game is acceptable, but not as a celebration for Marios 25th Anniversary.
THE GOOD
+ 4 (or 3) awesome games in one package
+ appealing to casuals
THE BAD
- lazy ports of these awesome Mario games
- weak extras
Review Score: 6.5/10