This all sounds great in concept, but in practice, FLUDD's novelty wears off around halfway through the game the exact moment that it lost me was during the Eely-Mouth boss fight in Noki Bay. The "R" button allows for more precise, stationary aiming, and "ZR" allows Mario to spray water while on the move. The few levels without FLUDD are tougher, but they make Sunshine feel like a greatly enhanced version of the platforming you're used to from Super Mario 64.ģD All-Stars does its best to fix FLUDD's mechanical awkwardness by providing a more simplified control scheme and adjusting the button layout. Sadly, FLUDD overstays its welcome due to its occasionally clunky controls. The Hover Nozzle is easily the most useful of the choices, as it allows players to find their own unique ways through many of the game's levels with some outside-the-box thinking. It has four different nozzles that shake up the gameplay in four very different ways. It's a creative idea that starts out interestingly enough. It's a machine that blasts water to spray enemies, clean the environment, and improve Mario's mobility. This time around, you'll have to use the water-filled backpack, FLUDD, for pretty much everything, from attacking to platforming. It immediately feels like a plot point from Sonic Adventure 2 involving Sonic and Shadow. Here, Mario is framed for drawing graffiti all over Isle Delfino, and now he has to clean it up. Somehow, Sunshine feels like it has more downsides than Super Mario 64, despite launching six years after that game in 2002. While Super Mario 64 may feel a bit outdated as a result, its shortcomings are nowhere near as bothersome as those found in Super Mario Sunshine.
And there's no setting to change camera preferences at all, making an update or addition here a welcome one. It doesn't help that it's inverted in some situations, while it's not in others. It always manages to get snagged on an invisible wall when you're trying to rotate it around, making certain segments of the game feel impossible to get through.
The graphics are about as updated as they can be without going into full remake territory, so while the jagged edges and blurry textures aren't exactly major issues, they are noticeable. Super Mario 64 really shows its age, though, specifically in its visuals and archaic camera controls. Bob-omb Battlefield, Hazy Maze Cave, and Big Boo's Haunt are some of the standouts in that regard, with Big Boo's being fun from the start, since you actually find the level first. Most of the game's levels take full advantage of the 3D space with some truly timeless platforming. It's full of memorable levels, creative puzzles, and secrets that are a joy to find. Ignoring the near nonexistent story, Mario's 3D debut still holds up as a platformer. In other words, it's as standard as a Super Mario plot gets. The main goal in Super Mario 64 is to, unsurprisingly, save Princess Peach from Bowser after he's taken control of Peach's castle. Thankfully, that wasn't the case here - at least not for the majority of the game. If your situation is similar to mine, and you're experiencing this for the first time, playing through this old-school Super Mario classic will still fill you with nostalgia. As someone who was too young to even hold a controller back then, I expected SM64 to be a somewhat trying experience to start. you're experiencing this for the first time, playing through this old-school Super Mario classic will still fill you with nostalgia. Super Mario 3D All-Stars Review: Star-Studded Selections The collection's games do end up feeling dated in some areas thanks to the lack of major modern updates, but those flaws don't do much to diminish their original magic. It's easy to see why so many players fell in love with these games years ago, even when experiencing them as a first-time player in 2020.
With that said, the 3D All-Stars collection is certainly a time machine in more ways than one.