You don't even get a seizure and flashy lights warning when you boot up the Wii edition of Super Mario Collection (known in the west as Super Mario All-Stars), ostensibly the main feature in today's Japanese release of the 25th anniversary Super Mario Collection Special Pack. Yes, this is the first instance of Nintendo slapping a Super Famicom game on a disc wholesale and sticking it in a Wii case. You can even play these Famicom games converted to Super Famicom games converted to Wii games with the Wii Remote, turned on its side like a Famicom controller, in a bizarre emulation of past as present as past. Still, the in-game button configuration selection images are colored like the original Super Famicom controller, the blue, green, red, and yellow of Nintendo port apathy.
That's not to say the games (Super Mario Bros. 1-3 and Super Mario USA) don't hold up! You've played them a dozen times already. The real focus of this package is in the history section, a second, red DVD case included with the standard white Mario Collection one. Inside you get a 28-page full color booklet adorned with classy photographs of the original Super Mario Bros. design documents.
One of the more interesting revelations is a controller schematic, dictating that up on the D-pad is jump, while the B-button is for "rocket" attacks: kick, rifle, and beam. Also interesting are some small shots of the original promotional flyers for the Famicom releases of the original games, and a group shot of the Nintendo crew arranged in the shape of a big 25 (I can definitely pick out Miyamoto and Kondo in the front.
The other part of the package is a soundtrack CD in two parts. The first ten tracks on the disc are some main themes from each of the Mario games, while the last ten tracks are short second-long clips of the sound effects from the original Super Mario Bros. (coin, Mario jump, power-up sound, 1UP, going down a pipe, hurry up, Mario died, game over, course clear, and the world clear fanfare).
For Club Nintendo Japan members, there is another reward in the form of a code that enters you into the Mario campaign currently running, on through March: ten thousand lucky winners will get a Mario t-shirt, tote bag, or deck of stylized playing cards.
If you figure the Super Famicom Virtual Console version of this game would go for 800 yen anyway, that means you're paying 1,700 yen for the history section and contest code, and of course the packaging itself (it is pretty, I guess). If you're short on CDs of Mario music and you want a neat little booklet and an attractive red case, 2,500 yen ain't bad!
If you're a crazy guy dying to import, I would recommend not paying the fifty dollars that most online importers are charging.
"But soft," you whimper. "I still want to get my hands on this historical goodness!" Well do I ever have a treat for you! That's right, loyal N-Sider reader. I've got one brand-new bright and shiny copy of Super Mario Collection Special Pack sitting right here, ready to be dispatched to a lucky fan! All you need to do is as follows:
That's it! On or around November 1st, I will randomly select a winner and message them to get shipping information for their fresh new goodies. Remember, you need to have either a Japanese Wii or a way of playing Japanese Wii games on your system to run the game disc—reading Japanese would also help if you want to enjoy the manual, but Mario music is the universal language of love and I know you just want this to look pretty on your shelf anyway, right? Right.
"Wa-hoo"
That's not to say the games (Super Mario Bros. 1-3 and Super Mario USA) don't hold up! You've played them a dozen times already. The real focus of this package is in the history section, a second, red DVD case included with the standard white Mario Collection one. Inside you get a 28-page full color booklet adorned with classy photographs of the original Super Mario Bros. design documents.
One of the more interesting revelations is a controller schematic, dictating that up on the D-pad is jump, while the B-button is for "rocket" attacks: kick, rifle, and beam. Also interesting are some small shots of the original promotional flyers for the Famicom releases of the original games, and a group shot of the Nintendo crew arranged in the shape of a big 25 (I can definitely pick out Miyamoto and Kondo in the front.
The other part of the package is a soundtrack CD in two parts. The first ten tracks on the disc are some main themes from each of the Mario games, while the last ten tracks are short second-long clips of the sound effects from the original Super Mario Bros. (coin, Mario jump, power-up sound, 1UP, going down a pipe, hurry up, Mario died, game over, course clear, and the world clear fanfare).
For Club Nintendo Japan members, there is another reward in the form of a code that enters you into the Mario campaign currently running, on through March: ten thousand lucky winners will get a Mario t-shirt, tote bag, or deck of stylized playing cards.
If you figure the Super Famicom Virtual Console version of this game would go for 800 yen anyway, that means you're paying 1,700 yen for the history section and contest code, and of course the packaging itself (it is pretty, I guess). If you're short on CDs of Mario music and you want a neat little booklet and an attractive red case, 2,500 yen ain't bad!
If you're a crazy guy dying to import, I would recommend not paying the fifty dollars that most online importers are charging.
"But soft," you whimper. "I still want to get my hands on this historical goodness!" Well do I ever have a treat for you! That's right, loyal N-Sider reader. I've got one brand-new bright and shiny copy of Super Mario Collection Special Pack sitting right here, ready to be dispatched to a lucky fan! All you need to do is as follows:
- Click this link to be taken to the N-Sider Facebook page.
- Become a fan of us! You already are anyway.
- Leave a comment under the contest entry!
That's it! On or around November 1st, I will randomly select a winner and message them to get shipping information for their fresh new goodies. Remember, you need to have either a Japanese Wii or a way of playing Japanese Wii games on your system to run the game disc—reading Japanese would also help if you want to enjoy the manual, but Mario music is the universal language of love and I know you just want this to look pretty on your shelf anyway, right? Right.
"Wa-hoo"