Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary is 50Hz Only

absolute fail nintendo FAIL

hahhahhahhahhahahhaah. Had to be the case..

This is just too funny.

<Sigh>
Oh well, I guess I'll pass, then. This suddenly seems like a rushed cash-in rather than a 25 year celebration. Very poor. And no excuse - they're just phoning it in these days. You'd think that they would understand by now that this would be important to their target market. A company that inspires so much loyalty and devotion from it's fans really should be a bit more mindful of what appeals to them.

I reckon a VC release is inevitable anyway, when this 'limited edition' has disappeared from the shelves, because if there's one thing Nintendo do seem to know how to do consistently, it's milk their IP.

If you're not sure why PAL 50Hz is a problem, our article Talking Point: The Virtual Console's PAL Problem could be enlightening.

I still don't care about 60Hz as it makes my games look worse. I bought Lost Levels off the VC and it forces 60Hz on you and on my TV's (both oldish and new) it looks terrible with black lines all over the screen and its cut off at the top and much darker than videos on the internet look like. Then I play SMB on the VC and it is so bright and not cut off with no black lines. The only thing is that its not full screen unlike Lost Levels where its too full screen that it gets cut off. I have tried to get it to work properly but I can't and I'm wondering if you guys can help? (Though if it does end up working then I'll end up angry like you guys over 60Hz)

20 years ago nobody cared about this "problem" and the games were fun in Europe. And now they aren't? Apparently the folks at Nintendo are not able to reprogram the games to support both 50- and 60Hz modes. So they sell the PAL versions for PAL machines. How shocking!

It's 2010 Nintendo. Man up.

It's as Mario Party 8

and 50hz looks lovely on HD setups that everyone has now.

@outrun2sp: ... i do believe you're mistaking the Wii for an HD system in the first place, as if they cared about that anyway

Why not do what the PAL version of Sonic Mega Collection on the Gamecube did: Upon booting up the game you were given a choice of either 50hz or 60hz. If you chose 50hz you'd play the slower European versions of the Sonic games, and if you chose 60hz you'd play the faster and smoother American versions. Pretty simple solution, I think.
There can't be such a shortage of space on a Wii disc that they couldn't fit two versions of All-Stars on there, and with pro-scan for the 60hz version too.
I wasn't really sure about getting this before this news anyway. It seems a bit wasteful to stick a single SNES game (compilation or not) on Wii disc.

Well this is really unfair, always been.
1993 I bought my Sega Genesis, it did cost 50$ less in comparison to the European Mega Drive. Cheaper but way better...

I eagerly await the 2nd of December with...eagerness and...eager anticipation!

I think nintendo optimised the games to run at near enough the same speed with borders. Probably too much hassle to reprogram a 50 hz image of a cartridge for them and I assume that the american ones wont be used because of licensing issues.

End of the day this is a niche market and they dont really care about europe anyway. How many of the mass market users even use Virtual Console or Wiiware or now the difference.

The kids will love it and not know the difference so they will make the projected sales targets. Im sure it will be in the top 10.

I am truly sorry, to my Europeans/Aussie friends across the pond, but Nintendo of Europe is being half-donkey about this stuff and it's just plain wrong. It's bad enough that Nintendo is releasing a 3Mbyte SNES ROM with emulator onto a 4.7Gbyte disc and charging 30 bucks for it. And I wonder if it will have an in-game manual just like the VC games, and place save-state data into the save file? Nintendo put a lot of effort into the SNES release to port the NES versions of Mario, ditto for Super Mario Deluxe on the Game Boy Color, the Mario Advance series on the Game Boy Advance, and Super Mario 64 DS. I myself am a little peeved that they didn't go the extra mile by rendering the game sprites in 3D "New Super Mario Wii" style visuals. Super Mario All-Stars combined with Super Mario World would really have been a blast to play with redesigned New Super Mario Brothers Wii visuals, and quite possibly reopened those magical retro games to an entirely new generation. But instead, they slap us with the SNES-ROM-on-a-Wii disc, and it's the one without Mario World. I have the SNES cart in my room with both games in one. Main reason why I'm still buying it is for the bonus collectibles, but that's knowing I'm getting the good NTSC version. The fact that Nintendo is slapping PAL gamers with the crappy versions is a real travesty. I think it deserves to be boycotted by our friends across the pond, and I would never hold it against any of you.

Finally, the Wii's hardware is more than capable of hardware scaling to stretch the image to accomodate the extra scanlines. It would be equally easy to cut every sixth frame to output a 60Hz game in 50Hz mode without slowdown. And I believe that's exactly what the European Turbografix system did.

When they first announced this I was hoping for 480p widescreen remakes........ at least it comes with some cool packaging

I still want it but NOT on disc. I´d buy the package if there was a Wii shop ticket included so that you could download it too.
Bummer it´s 50Hz. As this probably is a speed optimised version the real problem is that many flatscreens doesn´t play 50Hz that well. On a crt you only notice there´s less flicker on 60Hz. Animations are still smooth on a 50Hz crt.
My old (now secondary) flatscreen sucks at the above. My new plasma rocks though so I might still get this collection.

@ Mario Party Fan 999: I too have the Lost Levels but don´t have any problems with it. That is.. on my crt or my new plasma.

Awesome job, Nintendo.

I'm really glad I cancelled my preorder now.

It will be interesting to see how it displays on my widescreen TV. I'm guessing it will 4:3 with large black bars at the sides, and more boarders at the top and bottom where the image was originally shrunk to fit PAL displays. Surely Nintendo can't get away with charging a retail price for this?

As long as it works without me having to swap out my component cable, then I'm not really complaining.

Who are these people releasing games in Europe!?

...

And so what?

I run all my games in 50Hz.

Meh I personally don't notice any difference between 50Hz & 60Hz on my widescreen TV. So it's all good in my eyes.

Nintendo is getting too lazy. Not buying.

Agree with Stardust whos a lucky american. Anyone who abides by these 50hz rules is helping them carry this on. Everyone should boycott this release. You cant defend 50hz anymore as times have changed.

Look forward to 3DS games at 50hz with VC if it goes beyond handhelds.

I made the mistake getting a european nintendo product with the WII and im never making that mistake again. My snes was modded to run 60hz and I didnt have an N64.

American 3DS beckons for me and an account with the american shop. Since nintendo of europe have been such and treat us like the casualist of gamers I have no intention of supporting them anymore.

50 Hz is better/ more nostalgic for me, so no matter.

Thumbs down!

I was tempted to get this, but the more I look into it the worse it gets! I honestly thought there was a DVD and a music CD, turns out there's only a music CD and a small book. At least the Japanese and American version will have progressive scan mode, but the European version is 50hz only!?

Sorry, thumbs down, Nintendo, you're screwing this up!

Am I the only one who's actually looking forward to this release?

NINTENDO YOU MOTHER****ERS. SERIOUSLY. GO TO HELL.

Still buying the game though. But I might be writing an angry letter. I encourage all you to do the same.

@30.WiiLovePeace: Are you joking? 50hz games run a sixth slower than the original. It's sort of a big deal.

hmm, I was thinking of getting this, but I'm not sure how it would look/feel. Is there any example footage?

@35 Jon
I'm looking forward to it, I've never played this game in 60hz so I'm not entirley sure how it effects me... Nintendo should have included it as an option. It's out next week in the UK and I am really looking forward to it, I've got a few copies on pre-order with online companies and looking forward to who delivers it here first!!!

STUPID QUESTION ALERT!!
I probably don't have to ask, but the game is only in 50Hz in Europe and 60Hz in NA and Japan, right?

I am very, very angry. Shameful.

I have the Snes Mario Allstars couldnt of cared less if it was 50 or 60hz back then and couldnt careless now its just a game. also i can understand why games companies have always be against imports if it wasnt for the odd people for some reason couldnt wait for a game or console to be release in this country, we may never even known of an issue till the Youtube era.

@dangermouseuk78

What? You read the Talking Point?

I'm not gonna get it. I don't want to admit it but Nintendo seems to have lost all sense of shame!

pre-order cancelled, looks like i'll have the dosh for sonic colours after all then

Could Nintendo not had just coverted it from a ntsc version? I've seen the Sonic video comparing 50mz and 60 mz oh dear there is a difference, to be honest I'm more bothered about this game coming out. When Donkey kong country returns and SMAS comes out it will feel like going back in time...

This seems pretty dumb, but the real question is, for those who have the original cart, how well was it optimized in the first place? In theory, if the game was originally optimized well, it shouldn't matter all that much. I'm not trying to provoke arguments; I'm just trying to get some opinions, so those Europeans on the fence about this can make a decision.

I was definitely going to get this, won't bother now

60hz or no, the game’s still a waste of money. I had no intention of buying it anyway.

So... see, my television won't play some 50Hz games from the Virtual Console. The ones where you can use the button combination to "convert" them to 60Hz, they play fine, but the others won't play. Does this mean this game won't play on my TV either?

Nintendo are honestly the most lazy company ever when it comes to stuff like this. My SNES copy of All-Stars is 50Hz as well, so I've never known anything better, but it's still annoying. Lazy hounds!

@32 - differences in refresh rate on a handheld? wtf am I reading.jpg

Lazy, lazier, Nintendo (of Europe)!!! I can't wait to read Nintendo's lame excuse: "Sorry, but there's not enough disk space to include both versions"

@12 (Omega): Nintendo doesn't need to reprogramme Super Mario Allstar at all. Nintendo could just release the original game on the disk. All Nintendo would have to include is a simple check of your Wii settings when you boot the game. If your Wii displays already in 60 Hz, you could play the NTSC version. But if your Wii displays in 50 Hz, you would play the PAL version. I don't think that's too much to ask for. Especially for a game that will make a large profit compared to almost no developing costs at all. I mean it's just a Virtual Console game on a disk without any enhancements.

As much as I hate to say this, this kinda sucks for Europe and I really don't know why Nintendo did this

Yikes! I'm sorry to hear that. I feel bad for Europe and Australia.

@50 have you played street fighter alpha on a psp from the euro psn store its 50hz.

Course it will only stretch to non handheld releases.

@outrun2sp: I have no PSP. But I get all my PSOne Classics on PS3 at the US marketplace of PSN. Couldn't you do the same with your PSP? Or is there some region locking?

Unfortunately you can't access the North American Wii Shop channel with a PAL Wii. It would be the perfect solution to solve the PAL issues on Virtual Console for all European retro fans.

Looks like yet another knee in the groin for Europe, I'd say.

@50
I think he's talking about the region of the 3DS VC games, which, being PAL for the European handheld, will probably run at 50Hz, just like on the PAL Wii VC.

Yay, sympathy for Europeans! (And Aussies, don't forget the Aussies)

Well I still don't understand why slightly worse graphics are such a big deal, especially considering Super Mario Bros isn't really remembered for its graphics, but maybe I don't understand the situation fully.

EDIT: Ok, going back over the comments it seems like more than just slightly worse graphics. SHAME ON YOU, NINTENDO!!!

Another Epic Fail for Europe.
Nintendo fix it before this people kill you or give them a discount.

@LuWiiGi It's not just about the graphics, though. Some people's televisions, such as mine (potentially), won't play 50Hz games at all under some circumstances. Never mind the graphics, this decision will render the game unplayable to some.

I still don't know if I'll be able to play it, but I'm getting it regardless. If it doesn't work, I'll shout at Nintendo of Europe until it does.

@Guybrush_Threepwood: I always have set my Wii to 60Hz because this affects the framerate of many new Wii games. But when playing old retro games I want them to be like they used to be in germany back then. Without constantly switching between 50Hz and 60Hz in the system menu.

But I agree that they could additionally include the NTSC-versions of the ROMs and let you choose in a startup screen if you want to play the PAL or the NTSC version of the ROM. I think in case of Super Mario 1, 2 and 3 it doesn't really matter if they are in english or german.

But Nintendo don't wants us to purchase the US-versions of the ROMs. So if you want to play them, you better get your SNESXY or VirtuaABC ready. Nintendo loves emulation.

Honestly, I love Nintendo to heart, but... this package is a disgrace to what was supposed to be a celebration of the biggest icon in gaming. At the very LEAST they could have updated this for EU players- at least there would've been some actual good news about this title then. But now? I have nothing good to say about this game. Except that the very few people who've never played these games will actually have a pretty solid package here- but come on, who on Nintendolife hasn't played all of these yet?

@Majora Me, I'm not angry

@Jamba001 Yes, I'm sad first.

This effort increasingly feels like the shoddy double dips that collector's/limited edition dvds come out with. When first announced, it sounded great, but the flaws reflect a sad effort. I'd still like to see a definitive Mario collection of all nes, snes, 64 and cube Marios on a Wii disc with enhanced graphics. With numerous bonus materials and in packaging that does justice to the series.
And once that is out, I'd like to see similar treatment to Zelda.
Mario All Stars does not deserve an anniversary re-release.

Is it possible for Nintendo to care any less about this release? This should be a bundle with all new graphics and more than 4 games.

Oh dear, oh dear! Nintendo you really don't give a flyin F*** do ya! I wasn't gonna get this anyway but really..... 50hz in 2010!! LOL
I know some people don't care bout this stuff but this is meant to be an Aniversary special edition, it should at least have the option!! LAZY GITS!

Some 25th Anniversary. Sheesh.

Thats just... wow. No way I will buy this now or any future system supporting a VC that runs in 50Hz only. What a joke.

Didn't they release a bunch of Zelda games on one disc on the game-cube? I think the problem with SMAS is that because it will be in 50mz it will look bad on modern TV's, SO on my sony lcd tv (it's hd ready) it won't run very well. I am confussed because if I run this game on my snes it looks and plays fine, so when it ends up on Wii it should be OK?

I have cancelled my pre-order. I don't think i will buy a PAL Nintendo gaming console again. I hope the 3DS handheld is region free.

Nintendo have not fixed any of the 50/60Hz problems we have. Some of my games don't work with the official Nintendo component cable. They have the money to fix this. They don't care.

The only thing i can do is stop giving them my money. It won't make any difference. But at least i will not have to suffer anymore.

I'm only getting the game for the CD and the Art Book. I already have the SMAS cartrige, so I won't be playing the game.

Disappointment

European has them

Oh come on...

Hope it is like the VC games which won't work on some brands of HDTVs. That'll be a fun Christmas present for families everywhere. NoE deserve no mercy for single handedly RUINING the Virtual console by one careless decision made by a clueless suit and its time they paid for it with a PR nightmare (because the few Euro-centric blogs and other gaming journalists are too scared to actually do their job as they'll lose out on PR gifts and Nintendo being their fwend)

Geez. I feel bad for you EU guys. You're getting screwed.........again! I mean seriously what is going on here.

These games look far better on older displays especially using RGB (SCART). That is the way they are meant to be played though it's not hard to argue that 60hz is better than 50hz. The downside is that older TV's are becoming more and more rare and for most it's not practical to have a dedicated retro monitor. Not making these games playable to modern standards is a mistake on Nintendo's part.

Eventually we will see modern remakes of some of these games I'm sure of it. The games are good and still look fairly decent with the right hardware but as technology progresses the flaws become more and more apparent.

I hope that this game will work with the component cable in my French country.

I can't believe the amount of people who are cancelling their orders! I also blame companies who make TV's they should take some of the blame.

I don't understand what the big deal is. If everyone is complaining about the graphics being ever so slightly worse, then you probably shouldn't be playing the Wii in the first place.

I don't really mind, I will keep my copy sealed.

@Z.Bone
People are complaining because it means the games are going to run slower.

That will be a PR nightmare for them if it won't play on a lot of newer TVs. If that happens, hopefully it will get NOE to take its head out of its butthole.

Sadly one problem I forgot with the PR nightmare is 99% of Wii owners use the cables that came with the box. Those horrid composite cables and not even realizing that to get shiny graphics on their shiny TV they need component (doesn't help official ones have vanished from the face of the Earth).

Sadly the 50Hz games work fine with the composite cables no matter which TV.

haha no one cares about new zealand... its like the canada of the pacific

What can I say? A sadly all too predictable disgrace, even if I never believed when I wrote the abovementioned article that Nintendo would stoop so low as to output 50hz disk based retail releases in 2010.

Sadly, the decision was more than likely a very easy one for them to take. People have been happilly buying their 50hz VC releases and accepting second class service. Even now with trading standards investigating consumer complaints for a second time they are still mislabelling certain games as 'runs in 60hz' (they've only just gotten around to removing that little white lie from games such as Ironclad and MUSHA after almost a year of false advertising).

The statement above from what I presume are Codestorm (Nintendo's UK customer service team) even appears to reflect their own frustration at Nintendo Europe with the use of "unfortunately".

I suggest everyone who now won't be buying the game drop Nintendo an email to tell them why they are losing your money this Xmas.

It might just make them think again when next time around, even if it is too late to save this one.

Everything I hear about this game makes me want it less and I never wanted it. It's just a rom for a SNES game that was a remake of a group of NES games with updated graphics on a Wii disk for the full price of another Wii game and now they aren't even giving Europe the best version. The only thing that sounds cool is the soundtrack and all of my favorite Mario music is on Brawl and youtube. What I would really like is the Club Nintendo SNES controller but I don't really care that much. I would much rather get the VC versions.

@timp29
Most people are also talking about New Zealand when they say Australia since we get everything the same apart from our currencies. Most of the time I feel like Australia is forgotten about so I know what its like.

That's just plain pathetic. My sympathies, and I agree with StarDust...I don't blame a single person for boycotting this release. Really, considering the love the original release of All-Stars was given, the lack of a proper remake here is pretty sad, and this 50Hz thing just pushes it over.

That suck's big time, sorry for you european.

Guess they couldn't fit it on the disk.

@27 Soulsilver regarding swapping out your component cable - have you tried turning the interlace mode off? I had a similar problem where I couldn't run NES, SNES and MD games on my HD TV through a component cable but then I turned off interlace mode and it works fine. It sounds strange to do - you have to press the home button then hold down Z on the nunchuk and A on the remote and then press 2 (I think). You'll here a pinging sound if it's done right. I know it sounds like an old cheat code but it did really work!

Ive tried many different cables to connect my UK Wii up to my 50" Panasonic Plasma and i can say with ease the best the Wii has ever looked is to go and buy a MONSTER Wii Component Cable it trounces the official component cable out of the water in terms of ( and i mean a big difference ) Sharpness, Clarity, Amount of colours showing on screen, 3D effect, Contrast, Full Bodied Sound, after 2 of my friends on separate occasions saw for themselves the difference they immediately went out and bought the same MONSTER cable i use.

Since this is supposed to be a wii disc, it should be in the style of wii games, aka 60Hz.

pretty much getting it for the non game elements anyway. But still, I haven't ever played a 60Hz super mario 1,2,or 3. So I'm not any worse off.

Chances are, it's going to be a 60hz game running a game at 50hz speed, if that makes sense.

So the game is going to look choppier in PAL regions?

@ Big A2

That doesn't make sense

I think I might know what you are suggesting though, that Nintendo might have optimised the game to at least run full screen if only in 50hz as it does with its SNES VC titles? We'll have to see.

@ DrDaisy

It's not really about choppyness.

The game will run 17.5% slower than NTSC versions, it'll also more than likely have black borders at the top and bottom of the screen and a squashed display as a result. This is how the SNES game was and as it seems that this is little more than a Rom dump on a disk then this is probably more than likely how this game will look/play.

Good to see people agreeing. Boycott this 50hz turd.

Im not about to hit that 50hz switch for anything as I havent in gaming for over 16 years.

Any new nintendo product I get will be an american import from now on as I wont be supporting nintendo europe anymore.

@98.Betagam7: No, I mean the game itself will run in 60hz, but it'll running a ROM that plays like it's at 50hz, so that non 50hz compatible TVs will still be able to display it, or something.

Unlikely though... >: (

Hey, maybe the CD soundtrack will run 17.5% slower aswell!

@88.Dodger: Uh, it's not the full price of a Wii game where I live.

Since the music is supposed to be from the game, I guess it would make sense if it ran 17.5% slower. Otherwise, even more people would notice the 50-60Hz difference.

Big A2 is right I cant see how this will not autoboot in 60hz while the game itself runs in 50hz.

60hz emulating 50hz unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am now very interested in hearing what if any difference there may be between the soundtrack CD's across regions. Somebody's going to need to post a comparison.

Wow. Europe gets so screwed... I mean, I know you guys are in the "middle", so to speak, but you make up a vast region like us as well, so I don't see why care isn't given to make sure your market is treated better. Gotta love this world...

I think the music might have been altered to the correct speed in the original PAL release of this Cart - perhaps someone with the original can confirm?

The PAL cart version of Sonic 2 for example will play with the music at the correct speed on either a Megadrive or a Genesis, but the boarders and slower refresh rate will result from playing on the PAL console.

I think this will be a 'streched' but slower gameplay version, just like most SNES games on VC. Be interesting to see I guess, but I still wont buy it!

PLEASE CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 50HZ AND 60HZ Mario All Stars Wii?

@HapsNinFan It's slower. To quote the very story you're commenting on, "If you're not sure why PAL 50Hz is a problem, our article Talking Point: The Virtual Console's PAL Problem could be enlightening."

if supermariobros.3 from the virtual console worked fine will this work fine?

@Ristar42. Regarding music, all SNES games had correct speed music as the sound processor had its own timing, independent of refresh rate. As for NES games, given how commonly they use the 60Hz version of the SMB theme in promotional stuff rather than 50Hz version (which is high pitched and slightly faster due to how the NES works) the CD certainly won't be corrected.

In the case of Megadrive games, its sound processor was linked to refresh rate. Some games had coding whereby the music was made faster if the systems region was PAL (as generally PAL region systems ran in 50Hz unless you've made modifications in which case you would probably also have a region mod switch) which means it sounds normal (the music is 6/5 faster but since the processor is at 5/6 speed the numbers cancel to make 1).

As for how this links with the VC. Nintendo seem to be reluctant about having say, the US ROM for 60Hz and use an if statement on boot to switch between the two for whatever reason (why two? some PAL optimized games behave very strangely at 60Hz). I can see in some cases it being a bureaucratic nightmare (different companies logos on the versions or no US version) but those are the exception.

Also, in the case of later games in systems some basically throw up error messages if set to the wrong region or refresh rate. PAL Super Mario All-Stars will refuse to boot up in 60Hz (though if you use a SNES modified to have a 60Hz switch you can boot it at 50Hz, flick the 60Hz switch and enjoy it the way it should be).

Is it worth getting for the improved graphics though shown on the screenshots above?

I'd like to see this site do more to get Nintendo's attention with regard to PAL gaming issues. This site is based in England, right? It seems to be a popular Nintendo site so causing a fuss here from time to time might get Nintendo's attention at some point.

The main problem is some Virtual Console games not working at all through the component cables, never mind being in 60hz. I've bought several titles (and this includes popular ones such as Castlevania) that simply can't be run unless you connect with a scart lead - a complete pain and needs to be sorted asap.

@Starwolf_UK: Ah, thanks for the info. Well, at least the SNES has correct music. The slowed down music in the Sonic comparison video bugged me more than the slowed down gameplay.

I've had a small taste of 50Hz gameplay with the import of Ufouria...the idea of ALL (or the vast majority) retro games being like that is horrid.

@Starwolf_UK, thats right, I thought I'd read it was a hardware issue with the SNES whereas Megadrive games needed to be specifically coded to play music at the correct speed in 50Hz.

I see how some PAL titles would create problems for the VC, Street Fighter 2 on the Megadrive will only boot in 50Hz, switching it while playing sends the music crazy fast. Streets of Rage 2 wont run in 60Hz unless you set the region to Japan and play it as Bare Knuckle 2...

Either way, am thinking of buying myself a modded / import SNES to go with the Megadrive and Saturn, waiting for the VC to deliver retro games as I want to play them seems pretty hopeless!

This news isn't that bad. Where ever you live in the world aren't we all buying this only to sell it later on eBay in mint condition?

@madgear We know that Nintendo reads this site and user comments, we've discussed this issue with them in the past but Nintendo is a big machine with a lot of cogs and any change comes very slowly.

@ 36. Big A2 - Oh wow... a whole 1/6th slower ... /sarcasm (that's obvious just by looking at the numbers haha). As I already said, on my TV I don't notice the difference so they can go for it haha.

Is it worth getting for the improved graphics though shown on the screenshots above?

Yikes! Well, that's too bad for the people in Europe.

I'm more worried about how the game is played, with the SNES controller X and Y use to run or jump can't remember B and A was run or jump. I just hope that if I plug my SNES controller into the wii mote will it still work the same? I hope so. I've tryed to find the SMAS-Wii instruction manual on-line but can't find it, So I've emailed Nintendo but I won't get a reply maybe....

Wasn't going to get it anyway

I've cancelled my pre-order, I'll put the £17.99 towards something else. To be fair, I have the original games, plus Mario All Stars on the SNES. I have too many other games to play and probably would never play this. To be fair, I hate to say this, but I never truly loved SMB3, I always preferred Super Mario World. I didn't care much for SMB2. I played the first SMB when I was 9 or 10 - 23 years ago and I played it to death. I have GT5 on the PS3 and I have ordered the new Donkey Kong game, plus Kirby is out next year

The game is not limited edition enough to make it worth keeping to sell later on, especially in the 50hz format

Maybe it is the 50Hz version that becomes the rare super expensive one.

At the very least I would hope that this can finally be the game that can be given seperate review scores by Nintendolife for the PAL and NTSC version. I realise the possible impracticalities of doing this for VC games but this is a retail release that, when all is said and done, people will be paying around £20 for...that would seem important enough to me to justify seperate review scores so that its noted clearly and firmly that the PAL version is inferior.

Perhaps seeing its ratings dive in metacritic averages might finally wake Nintendo up a little.

I have cancelled my pre-order now as well NoE due to the many reasons above and no Cave Story still in the EU!

Any word on whether or not it supports Component Cable Interlace Mode?

Nintendo have lost sales over this! blimey, I don't believe it but my money is on that it still out-sells Donkey Kong Country returns!! Can't wait for this game, also for the charts next week...

I can confirm that this game is one of the WORST things I have ever purchased (I live in New Zealand (PAL also), it was released today), I am going to return it to EB games tomorrow for a full refund. The game does not even fill a 16:9 display with black bars at the sides AND above and below, it is similar to the way games played on a PSP look when displayed on a TV using a TV cable, albeit bigger vertically. I know I could change settings on my TV but I should not have to do this in 2010, a game should at least have an option to stretch to 16:9. Even the original SNES will stretch the image to fill the screen. The 50hz issue would not have bothered me as much if there was an option to at least fill the screen. Hell, there are NO other options whatsoever, when you start the game it starts exactly the same as the SNES copy. I can confirm it will run using component cables but trust me, you shouldn't bother. Sega got this concept right years ago with sonic mega collection, I am disappointed Nintendo could not get this right as I was looking forward to this. Epic fail.

I don't think it looks too bad!!!

gotta love being in na