Topic: Super Mario 3D All-Stars

@Bolt_Strike you are probably right......I might be using the wrong terms.....I'm a newer entry into the gaming world because while I have gamed since the 80's it was always very much in short and spaced out spurts, always on Nintendo consoles and it's only been the past 18 months or so that I have really picked it up and immersed myself in it.

Absolutely, the worlds have some cool plot lines and themes and some take it over several episodes......but I meant more that the initial monologue of the story (the mistaken identity and arrest) is easily forgotten and with the exception of a few major milestones (like Pinna Park episode 4, for example), you can bounce around and complete the game in no rigid order......currently I have Delfino Plaza done, Bianco Hills done (except for red coins of the dirty lake), Ricco Harbour done, Gelato Beach done, Pinna Park (on episode 6), Sirena Beach (on episode 2), Noki Bay (on episode 6), Pianta Village done........and done means all the secret shines, 100 coin shine and all blue coins. Without a guide, I found it difficult to figure out where to go next, what the major goalposts were or how the game was laid out. This is what I meant by lack of "storyline" but perhaps the right term is "progression".

Don't get me wrong, I'm still very much enjoying the adventure. SMS is a fave and appeals to my checklist ways but I found other Mario instalments much more structured around a central goal and the subplots served to support that. Of course, this is my perception as well and maybe for others, there is a clearer thread than what I see.

But we can all agree that the means of getting to the lily pad game is a form of torture, compounded by the cruel pipe at the end of it......right?

@cordova94 Actually that storyline is wrapped up, just not directly through a mandatory cutscene. After Delfino Plaza floods and you gain access to Corona Mountain, if you talk to the police officers near the station they mention that the flood cleaned up the rest of the goop, ending Mario's sentence. IIRC, they also know by then that Mario was not responsible for the incident, so by then everything's resolved in that plotline. The issue is more that the ending isn't in your face.

The progression meanwhile, is very wonky and not clear and complaints about that are perfectly valid. They don't really highlight what you're working towards to complete the game which other 3D Mario games do much better. In 64 you're unlocking more rooms to the castle and it tells you what you need to unlock it. In Galaxy you're collecting Stars to open up new rooms on the Observatory and continually power it up. In Galaxy 2, 3D Land, and 3D World you're progressing across a world map. In Odyssey you're collecting Power Moons to power up the Odyssey. In Sunshine... it's all over the place. Some of the world are unlocked by Shine totals (Ricco Harbor, Gelato Beach, Pinna Park, Noki Bay) and some of them are unlocked by specific storyline events (Bianco Hills, Sirena Beach, Pianta Village, Corona Mountain) and they don't really give you a good indication about which episodes are important (obviously Pinna Park Episode 1 is because of the storyline events preceding it, but there's no indication that Episode 4 is important or that you need to complete Episode 7 in each world).

Generally games like this are meant to allow you to bounce around like that and explore the game at your own leisure. That's part of the appeal, you can explore however you want and the collection mechanics help you to still progress just by going around exploring. It's just that in this game it seems that they wanted to tell more of a story than Mario 64 (which just amounted to "explore the paintings for Stars to rescue Peach") so they had mandatory Shines to facilitate that, but those two approaches conflicted with each other. Really this had been an issue up until Odyssey, where they've found a good balance between story progression and free exploration.

@Losermagnet those fences are awful......and the ones that move across the pole and drop. I often jump off but because I forget that my left thumb is pressing up on the joystick, I climb right back on the panel just as it drops.

I also find that I miss the right timing on backflips and wall jumps.......some of those "secret" levels where you don't have FLUDD really get me on that.

@Bolt_Strike you put it so much better than I could have.......but yes!

One thing I do love about its set-up though is that you can opt to relax for a few minutes and just collect coins and lives if that suits you and while that is always open in the plaza, the more you have completed in the game, the more options you have to do that in certain previous episodes in the different areas......it's a nice option if you only have 10 mins to spare and you still feel like you are accomplishing something useful, if not progressing.

I would actually finish Super Mario Sunshine if so many of the shines weren't mandatory.
I hate the F.L.U.D.D-less levels

Did they finally run out? I've been keeping an eye out on the stock, and noticed that several stores in my area haven't restocked this game for quite a while now.

@Nahr_Alma Looks like they are finally running out. Best Buy's is about the only major chain store (US) still selling Mario 3D All-Stars. Walmart site has them, but I didn't look to see if it's walmart selling it or third party. I don't trust third pary sellers on Walmart's site. If anyone still wants to get it, now may be the time to move on it. Target & Gamestop websites no longer have it new. GameStop only has them used.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/super-mario-3d-all-stars-nintend...

edit: I goofed. Walmart has them, as @StarPoint mentions below.

Walmart's site fooled me. If you search the site for Mario 3D All-Stars, the search results yield page of games that arent it, which looks like they don't have it. But if you scroll down, you will find it.

@WoomyNNYes My local Walmart does still have copies available on their website. But yeah it may be getting close to the end of its run.

@WoomyNNYes
They will never run out of this game. I think Nintendo printed too much copies.

Saw a few physical copies at the local Best Buy and Target stores.

So interesting observation. I am about 3/4 through Sunshine and some of the levels have been causing me significant trouble.....I just cannot get through them, especially the FLUDD-less ones and their timed red-coin versions. And I chalked it up to the fact that I am not a particularly expert-level gamer anyway, especially since my 3D/depth perception is sometimes really wonky (the time estimates that sites like IGN state, I'm lucky if I can complete a game in double that). Even though, it seemed like I was constantly overshooting left or Mario would go left even when I didn't direct him that way.

So I decided, ok, time to take a little break and shift speed and maybe revisit my ACNH island and get through the guilt trips of not being around for 6 months, haha. So I log in and discover that each time I move upward on the joy stick, my character then changes direction and slowly and continuously walks left......even when I have taken my thumb off the joystick.......sooooo perhaps I wasn't imagining it and I am not as bad in Sunshine as I thought. Is this that "drift" phenomenon?

I'll report back next week after I re-attempt some of these levels with a new joycon (Red Coins on the Dirty Lake is indeed, dirty).

Sounds like drift.

Though Sunshine is also hard as nails too. At least in my opinion. So it’s a bad combo of factors.

@cordova94 Like @Eel said, above, the phantom input making mario move MIGHT be analog stick "drift". Joycons and pro controllers can develop that issue, unfortunately.

However, the FLUDD-less challenge levels in Mario Sunshine can be pretty bleeping tough, and sometimes seem quite unfair, imprecise, janky, like you describe. I think those levels are a bit rough around the edgles compared to other mario games.

Regarding joycon drift, analog stick drift: Three of my pro controllers got left stick drift after 300-500 hours. I think online action games with heavy stick use, like Splatoon, online shooters, Rocket League, may be more likely to result in stick drift. I think people who tend to play less intense games are less likely to encounter drift.

@Eel hahaha yeah it is a really challenging game for sure......but I was telling myself not to imagine other elements where it was probably just me.......but then, lo and behold......maybe it really was not me. HAHA.

I'm weirdly having a really tough time with Sirena Bay, episode 2......I have every other world either completely done or with 1 of the red coin challenges left (Bianca Hills, Pinna Park and Noki Bay)......and obviously I haven't opened Corona Mountain yet.......but this one is definitely a holdup for now.....

Very oddly, I did not find the rollercoaster balloons, the watermelon festival or the lily pad river as hard as I expected to.......but the lily pad, I think I just had a lucky run......that is after I finally managed to get to it. My demon levels included that awful sand bird, this hotel lobby one and Yoshi's fruit adventure. There was one other FLUDD-less one that took me about 30 tries, I think it was the dirty lake one.

@WoomyNNYes indeed......oh wait, I forgot the horror of Ricco Tower......the camera kept panning weirdly and right as I was running so I kept launching myself into the abyss.....

I suppose I should admit that I'm probably rough on them when I'm stressed with time limits. I'm sure that does not help at all!

@cordova94 It's spirited game play XD ...It happens!

@WoomyNNYes I definitely like your interpretation best......spirited indeed!

So I've been doing some editing on the Mario Wiki and decided to do some experimenting for the 100 Coin Shines, and I discovered something amazing.

100 Coin Shines can be collected in secret areas.

https://imgur.com/ZB3dkH1.jpg

https://imgur.com/UMajgoV.jpg

The first image is where the 100 Coin Shine appears in The Hillside Cave Secret, and the second one shows all 3 Shines in the same image (the one closest to Mario is the Episode 3 Shine, the one next to that is the Red Coin Shine, and the 100 Coin Shine is in the background near the cube)

I had never in all my years considered this possibility but now a whole new world has opened up to me.

@Bolt_Strike WHOA! I never thought that was a possibility either!

I would love a Super Mario 3D All-Stars 2 with the following games:

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Super Mario 3D Land HD (new single screen 1080p resolution version running at 60fps)
3. Wario World

Well I can dream...