Super Mario 3D All-Stars Tech Review: Remaster, Emulation... or Both?

A celebration of three excellent Mario games, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy have all arrived for Nintendo Switch in a single time-limited release package. But just how good are the remasters - and are they actually emulated?
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[@Harry101UK]

4K 60fps Dolphin community emulation really spoiled us.

[@mortenera4423]

A big youtuber commented, alleluiah! Also, I agree with you. You can play emulators in 4K 60fps only by spending 500 dollars, or more. It's not accessible for people that don't have much money

[@Marren]

Dolphin is a great emulator, and is only getting better by every year. Yeah, I'm not buying this, I already own Sunshine and Galaxy(aswell as a modded Wii to rip these games with) Galaxy already has HD Textures available to dolphin, so what nintendo offers here is too little.

[@Marren]

Morte Nera dolphin runs like a charm, even on my Core i3-5010u laptop. Sure, not in 4k, but well enough at 720p. If you already own the game, it's most likely not worth the purchase.

[@mortenera4423]

@@Marren I don't own the games, I'm not good at ripping them either. I'm fucking jealous of my cousin and his gaming computer

[@boundivy2177]

Yeah, also the pc port

[@existentialselkath1264]

This has got to be some of the easiest money Nintendo has made

[@V3ntilator]

To top it, they even forced everyone to buy it ASAP with a huge price tag as it's a time limited release. Nintendo is pure assholes here.

[@tebhernandez]

and some of the most fun I will have this year! So excited

You mean scalpers. Lol they literally made godfathers out of scalpers.

[@tebhernandez]

@@clayjack9969 Oh man me and my gf have enjoyed the SNES games a lot, we finished DKC together and Super mario world. And I can continue my 30 year quest to beat punch out. Wonderful service well worth the price.

[@VexAcer]

@@clayjack9969 Yeah paying to use basic P2P. Literally paying for jack shit lol

[@Fab--]

Personally I would have preferred something more like the halo remasters in the sense that the games had updated graphics but you could switch with a button press to the old graphics.

[@HollowRick]

Too much effort

[@earfquake3768]

@@HollowRick i wasnt even hoping for that, but for something along the lines of twilight princess or windwaker, where the game was actually ported with all new textures, improved synths and quality of life changes. i guess they knew they could get away with that because these r the first time these games r available on switch and for sunshine the first time it was available outside of the gamecube, legally.

[@charizardoreo]

With Nintendo that would be $60 per game

[@earfquake3768]

@@charizardoreo tbh i would prefer an overpriced remaster that does more than a res bump and some slight improvement to some textures. its still overpriced but ur getting something out of it that u couldn't from emulation.

[@SteelSkin667]

I would have liked that also but be warned that they would have charged you $60 per game. The Halo games were re-implemented in a new engine, much like how Bluepoint handles remakes. That pretty much involves as much work as developing a brand new game.

[@djzion_]

5:41 "notice the elongated hexagonal pattern?" no, not at all, in fact i can't see anything reminiscent of a hexagon

[@Indpendent01]

yeah i was missing it too, lol

[@vim_programar]

6:26 Low detail mario? that's high drug addict mario

[@coopercurtis8502]

That's what you call "crack walk"

[@alx1231]

That low poly Mario model for Mario 64 blew my mind lol.

[@mikestockdale808]

Never ever knew that was a thing until today.

[@torgg7493]

You all NEED to KZbin "mario 64 boundary break" your welcome!👍

[@Jdogg4089]

@@torgg7493 Yeah, I saw that one a while ago

[@paradoxzee6834]

Yea the community is also calling it LEGO Mario, I wonder if people stop calling the low poly model that because now we have a LEGO Mario IRL

[@matthewbroom7448]

It’s very visible in Project 64 too unless you use the fancy new mods that have been made recently for the pc port

[@k1ln1k37]

I appreciate John's ability to be critical while still playing nice with Nintendo. Because we all know Nintendo could have done much better.

[@montygill2835]

The Spaceworld 2001 Trailer for Sunshine looks Awesome.

[@happyspaceinvader508]

Surprised DF didn’t notice this, but they’ve “de-inverted” the y-axis in Mario 64 and Sunshine, which will come as a shock to those whose muscle memory is expecting the original controls. Also not mentioned: in Sunshine, they’ve edited Fludd’s voice over to just say “the button” for any new Switch button names.

[@eggy333]

Control options sure would be nice...

[@TheXboxReviewer]

Okay, I just got my copy today, and I kept spraying the water wrong and I was like... why is it reversed? Was it always this way? Also the voice editing in the cutscenes pulled my ear too. I played so much Sunshine I immediately noticed stuff had been monkeyed with. I'm glad you mentioned it too. That being said, I'm pretty sure it's not a big deal. And despite what DF has to say, I just beat Mario 64 on the WiiU and it was fine. I noticed no severe input lag or color issues. I know that these guys are professional nitpickers, but sometimes I wonder if they're being critical for the sake of having something to say.

[@Prez4592]

Geez. No one should feel guilty for getting this collection and having a great time playing them, but man, it feels like Nintendo could have done a bit more. This is their big Fall game going up against a new generation of consoles, they should have went all out.

[@mjc0961]

Ah! Now I get why the release is limited. They wanted to mirror the PS5 experience of nobody being able to get one. 🙃

[@nickmotsarsky4382]

Nintendo doesn't care because they know their fanbase will buy anything, so the bare minimum is good enough.

[@mortenera4423]

Instead I'm feeling guilty because those fucking PC users always boast about playing PS3, Gamecube, Wii and other consoles in 4K 60fps. It's irritating, expecially because my family is struggling at the moment

[@Mqstodon]

@@mortenera4423 i know right? It's so stupid since nobody asked them, and they act like everyone has q super powerful computer. The switch version is still the cheapest version as buying a switch + game is still cheaper than buying that powerful of a pc

[@aber1812]

@jesus barrera I mean yes, but in these 4 years of switch nintendo gave us more and more masterpiece, and I don't think buying those games makes someone stupid, talking about this collection, I'm not buying it cause I've already played those games, but if I was one of those who missed these 3 masterpiece I'd be super happy to get one, is still almost 170/200 h of gameplay, and even if people who already played the game will buy it, I don't really think there's any problem, their choice to use their money like this instead of getting something else, these report don't take much time from nintendo so I don't think that things like this can slow down production so I have to "tell people to be smarter" when they just can 3 fantastic games(sorry for my English)

[@stranger.granger]

4:3 aspect ratio and 30fps is NOT a 2020 worthy "remaster".

[@mixichip]

Yeah... especially when the fans have gone into the code and remastered the game themselves into 16:9, 60fps, 1080p+, etc. within months of getting the source code.

[@ShadowMan64572]

Nintendo fans don't really care about anything tech related, that's why they primarily game on Switch in the first place.

[@mixichip]

@@ShadowMan64572 That's certainly not the case or else BOTW wouldn't be so appreciated. The main theme of that game is the beauty that the simply graphics withhold

[@ShadowMan64572]

@@mixichip Game atmosphere and technical fidelity aren't the same thing. Technically, that game suffers from significant frame drops, low draw distance and pop in, low polygons, and blurry textures. Being made on superior hardware instead would've only done the art style justice.

[@mixichip]

@@ShadowMan64572 They are the same thing in BOTW's case since if the game had voxel-styled graphics with no other graphical effects it wouldn't have gotten the same reception. BOTW had an artistic choice to embrace its flaws through cell-shading (a technique that can actually be particularly taxing), but I still think it's got everything that other games had at its time of release - (e.i. - Dynamic shadows, physics, Screenspace reflections, ambient occlusion, dynamic lighting, day and night cycle, HD resolution, atmospheric backdrop, dynamic clouds, and much more) The game is by no means the best looking game, but leaps ahead of being just "decent"

[@ShougHell]

About the framerate for Sunshine: The game's fanmade 60fps patch actually does mess with a lot of things, certain animations are too fast, the music can glitch out and get stuck on the first note, there's a strange sparkle effect that gets stuck on the HUD, and a lot of other weird problems stemming from the game logic being tied to 30fps so closely.

[@granthamlin8126]

Yeah, I've tried running it on a good PC, and it gave me a lot of trouble.

[@Aenglaan]

As someone who replayed through the whole game, you’re right about those issues. However, the game looks and feels significantly better at 60 FPS. It was much more responsive.

[@cacomeat7385]

What's really a shame is that Sunshine was originally supposed to target 60, but they had to dial it back to work better on the GameCube hardware.

[@Felix-1309]

Although it does have the issues you've explained on dolphin I've run it at 60fps with mostly no issues.

[@HoangNguyen-ej4wb]

@@ea8455 the hard problem they faced is probably time and not money

[@UnquestionablyCommodore]

Once again, Digital Foundry have gone the extra mile and given us an in-depth analysis of this game. No other channel come close to giving us this much detail - keep up the great work guys.

[@ChrisBa303]

Modders: even though we didn't have any access to the source code we completely reverse engineered mario 64 to let you transform it into everything you want. Paied nintendo employees: Even though we have compelete accses to all sourcecode we areent even able to provide 16:9 and 60 fps on an over 20 year old game. Yep we are back to wii era Nintendo

[@HoangNguyen-ej4wb]

I think this is like comparing between Christian Whitehead's sonic 1 and any sega compilation. Christian Whitehead's sonic 1 is a recreation of sonic 1 using his retro engine Any sega compilation only use emulation and add effect for nostalgia. In my opinion, the Christian Whitehead's sonic 1 is way better because of widescreen and 60fps.

[@Kleavers]

Well they gotta save something for the next Nintendo console generation. I guarantee you there will be another remaster of these games in the future.

[@matthewbroom7448]

Not entirely true, modders do now have access to the source code thanks to leaks which is why the PC Port is so incredible. Still doesn’t excuse the lack of 1080p/60fps though

[@mjc0961]

@@Kleavers And those won't be very good either.

[@Kleavers]

@@mjc0961 Their engineers will have magically been able to get it to 1080 and 60FPS. And another 5-10 years after that, they'll actually do another remaster with completely new textures, 3d-models etc. Something the internet already achieved years ago.

[@17R3W]

Mario 64 is the most disappointing one. Nintendo did "remake" it in 2004 for the DS, so one assumes the source code is kicking around some where. N64 games do not age well, and it could have used some TLC. We've been able to download the virtual console version for almost 15 years now, I was hoping for something a little more fleshed out. EDITTED for clarity

[@Pilotgeek]

Hell, the homebrew community reverse engineered / decompiled the original source code which produces a 100% identical N64 binary, AND they ported it to PC. Nintendo themselves can't even be assed to port their own source code to the Switch? I honestly think they rushed this out just to cover up the homebrew efforts.

[@jamesalexander5559]

@@Pilotgeek Fans even ported that PC port to the Switch, in widescreen at 1080p 60fps with a fixed camera no less. There's also a 3DS, Wii U, PSP, Android, Raspberry Pi, PS2, and even an MS-DOS port.

[@Pilotgeek]

@@jamesalexander5559 Oh my goodness, I didn't realize there was a DOS port too, I gotta go find this now.

[@dennymeuparente9603]

If you have an “special” switch maybe you can play an better port

[@jamesalexander5559]

@@Pilotgeek Oh yeah I was genuinely shocked someone actually did it. They finally replaced the software renderer too so the game shouldn't run too badly now.

[@JordanHJ]

Been waiting for the Digital Foundry take on this!

[@RyDawg96]

Disappointed there was no Dolphin comparison.

[@purrspctiv]

It is absolutely baffling as to why Nintendo never uses anti-aliasing in any of their modern releases

[@williamxie5901]

i believe they have some forms of fxaa in botw under docked mode

[@worm6820]

nintendo doesnt understand tech.

[@Pyovali]

anti-aliasing sounds too anti

[@Drilbit]

performance

[@Aqua_Xenossia]

Nintendo is secretly making up for how smeary the N64’s games looked, and has been for ages. Sharpness all the way! (Well, or just that it’s a big performance saver)

[@WheeledHamster]

Nintendo slaps 3 old games on an emulator and selling it for $60.

[@Matanumi]

what else could we expect from modern nintendo

[@alinepiroutek8932]

I would buy it for $60 if it was 4 old 3D games on emulator.

[@CarloNassar]

@@Matanumi I expected better effort because this is inexcusable. I'm still mad with Capcom and I'm not giving Nintendo a pass. I hope to interview someone working at Nintendo.

[@xXSN4K3E4T3R5Xx]

@@CarloNassar WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[@CarloNassar]

@@xXSN4K3E4T3R5Xx Please explain the point of your reply. Do you think I'm defending or what?

[@tenthirtyseven-v1]

It's a shame, you'd think the official companies could give us the best version of their own games, or if that's impossible, make us part of them (like rare replays interviews, videos etc etc) but they almost always end up worse than just emulating them yourself.

[@salsamancer]

Nintendo rarely puts much effort into their nostalgia baiting, I thought we had already learned this lesson

[@Poever]

nochtczar Zelda remakes have way more TLC than Mario ever gets. They haven’t remade a classic Mario since 2004

[@Mqstodon]

Which is illegal, so this is the definitive version as all others are illegal or require you to have a really powerful pc that costs more than the switch and the game, which isn't worth it

[@tenthirtyseven-v1]

@@Mqstodon Powerful PC? Super Mario 64 runs on a browser and if you've got a PC stronger than a raspberry pi, it can emulate the rest. It's not completely illegal either. Emulators are straight up, not illegal. It's also not illegal to pop in the disc of your game and play it via emulation. Making backups, even for personal use is the grey area. But if you want to argue for the big multi billion companies that we should not be allowed to make archival copies of the media we own, go ahead, see how popular you'll be.

[@tenthirtyseven-v1]

@@Mqstodon For the record, I made a PC that costs less than the Switch that runs all three (and infinitely more) better than a switch. Not hard at all. Not to mention, if you buy 3d all stars, you own the games, feel free to emulate them at that point without guilt, unless you're simping for Nintendo, then with slightly less guilt.

[@pumajlr]

I think im gonna stick to the "alternatives". What a shame, i was waiting for this.

[@MrLathor]

Honestly, these ports seem lazy. They easily have the power to run all of these games at a flawless 1080P/60. I get that it’s probably a lot of work, but this is Nintendo, they should care tremendously about their precious first party Mario games.

[@mjc0961]

Link's Awakening showed us that they don't care about their precious first party Zelda games. Why should they have any more care for Mario?

[@lapis591]

@@GolfWhisky This may not be untrue, as it has been the trend in the industry. However, they are each exceptional games in a high resolution so they do have some value.

[@jamescornwell1935]

this is nintendo they have 2 top tier games one with massive technical issues the other with cleverly masked ones. they rely in the dum fuq nintendo is my childhood friend ndf crowd and the money from parents who cannot stand their business practices but respect their best games and many if the games in the middle which are lazy as fuck but still the best option for kids. i mean really what is the alternative here for ages 6-12? mediocre lego games? crash team racing? shite yooka laylee rip offs? they do it because they can top to bottom and prey upon nostalgia and brand awareness. i accept that im getting ripped off if the game suits my 7 and a half year old we get value out couch coop which other companies have abandoned. is this bundle a fair price is it lazy as shit and could they have done more the answers are obvious however the nintendo ransom holds true, i had all these launch, my son loves and has finished odyssey, he has not played these, these are the best versions and are on his switch. its the same deal with 3d world in feb. proper coop we have not played like dk tf, scam pricing but it is that. and the mario pins cool to have for him but also bullshit which is classic nintendo. will i get both and the pins yes, christmas and his birthday in march, this is nintendo how they operate. i would only have bought 2 games if it was not for my son, and likely sold it all on. but we enjoy having both and he is proud to have his switch and just loves good games. at the end of the day if you want these this is the deal and the games are great. df as always giving us the technical view of what is on offer. i won’t hold my breath for 60fps patches but honestly im not buying these to okay again i’m buying them for my son for christmas. theres not much else on switch for him. considering this will be game #13 11 of which first party.

[@GoldSrc_]

This aren't ports, it's just emulation. Laziest way Nintendo could have done, I like their games but as a company they could die in a fire.

[@waverazor]

@@GoldSrc_ woah your comment went from 0 to 10 quick.

[@TechMetalRules]

I really hope Nintendo gives us at least one decent patch to fix a few of the issues mentioned as well as some more accessibility options.

[@SkemeKOS]

They wont. They are Nintendo.

[@ShadowMan64572]

Why patch something that won't exist anymore in April?

[@RiceAndRun]

How does Mario galaxy compare to the Chinese-only NVIDIA shield version ? That was 1080p, recalling one of your previous video.

[@Brookes79]

I was thinking the exact thing too

[@manakmishra]

the what?

[@HoangNguyen-ej4wb]

I like not understanding what I play so for me the chinese version is better.

[@matthewbroom7448]

Idk about the tech stuff but I did see pictures of some of the textures and the Chinese port seems to have more upscaled textures. But this is from a Twitter user comparing them, so take that with a grain of salt. I still think Galaxy looks great in 3D All-Stars from the footage I’ve seen though

[@arminkaza]

@@matthewbroom7448 switch is downclocked.

[@charlyy1337]

You guys do such amazing work and the personalities behind this channel are absolutely awesome. Digital Foundry ❤️

[@neocaron87]

18:30 "makes it difficult for me to play over the PC vers... I mean the original version. 😇"

[@GetSchanked]

I've never played Galaxy, so I'm going to get this game just for that.

[@firesnakex8]

if you have a wii the game is 20 bucks so you can just get it on that

[@ThaMobstarr]

@@firesnakex8 I personally don't own a N64, Gamecube, Wii or Wii U. So I am pretty glad that I don't have to buy any old console, buy the games and make it work on a modern monitor. It's really convenient to have them ported for the Switch.

[@TheColdBloodedGamerS]

@@ThaMobstarr or have backwards compatibility... Yeah that.. not paying the game over 40 times with no changes at all. Smfh

[@ZK-ff2ru]

@@ThaMobstarr use an emulator

[@Saiegg]

@@ThaMobstarr for 60$ tho?

[@JustOneMoreRyan]

Thank you for the deep dive @Digital Foundry. As others mentioned, I feel conflicted. It's an excellent compilation of games however you can't help but feel disappointed. It feels this game requires a final sprint of polish. According to the internet, there is already a patch planned for launch (tomorrow). I'll see if I keep my pre-order. Unsure right now... I still hope they can improve some of these issues with subsequent patches but it doesn't sound like Super Mario 64 will ever get to 60fps (given it's being emulated)...

[@nikkoa.3639]

What's worse is, if those rumors of a patch is true, then it means they've gotten sloppy with how they release their games thinking it's just going to be fixed EVENTUALLY but not at launch. This is incredibly frustrating. I'm incredibly conflicted in getting this game because I want to be able to play these legally but this is just disappointing in aspects such as these.

[@JustOneMoreRyan]

@@nikkoa.3639 Rumoured patch? Is this a new patch after 1.0.1?

[@nikkoa.3639]

@@JustOneMoreRyan Fans have been having chatting about that. But probably baseless rumors.

[@rocketpunchgo1]

15-year-old games running at 720/30 in the year 2020. I understand "aesthetics," but gawddam.

[@mazda9624]

15 year old? Mario 64 is actually 24 years old, which makes it even CRAZIER that it only runs at 720p/30fps.

[@HoangNguyen-ej4wb]

It's weird to see a game not being widescreen in 2020. (I know there are game that use 4:3 in 2020 for nostalgia. It just feels weird that super mario 64 isn't widescreen while super mario sunshine and super mario galaxy are.)

[@mjc0961]

I wouldn't even care if it was still all the N64 models (minus the long distance Mario - that should have been patched out so it's always the full detail Mario). Just give me 16:9, 1080p, 60fps with no dips or pacing issues and I'll be happy.

[@slainredd4339]

Check out Render 96

[@nickmotsarsky4382]

@RmxKing x52x Everybody can. You can run Super Mario Galaxy in 1080p on a modern high-end smartphone..

[@JamesPorter]

Nice to see your input on this John. Looking forward to playing these games again. I do recall Sunshine having some pretty bad frame rate dips - on those large mirrors, hovering high up in Noki Bay and a few other levels. Does the Switch version have these issues?

[@DigitalFoundry]

From what I've seen, no. It's been more stable. It just has frame pacing issues.

[@powert2009]

James Porter for me it does, I've had big dips where you mentioned and in some spots in pinna park

[@JamesPorter]

Thanks for the info. I'm not too worried about it, I'm more concerned that I have to learn "normal" controls over inverted haha

[@SkemeKOS]

@@JamesPorter Same. So frustrating

[@gordonwong2260]

I personally think this was just Nintendo throwing their test for Gamecube and Wii virtual console out for Mario's 35th birthday.

[@mindpretzel95]

What kind of AI upscaling? DF: *some kind of*

[@ldavelol]

I was really hoping for a Sunshine remaster as they did with Wind Waker, looks like we'll never get that :(

[@j.dviant]

Only Nintendo can get away with slapping 3 emulated games together with almost no enhancements, and charge 60$. 😅

[@italianstallion701]

And give it their Seal of Approval 😂😂

[@M3rtyville]

They are also still selling Pokemon with 2 slidely different versions at full price and even have them bundled costing almost double the price of one copy. The lastest games Sword and Shield also have the same DLC with slide differences so people can buy the same things twice. No company does that anymore besides Nintendo (or rather Game Freak which is also owned by Nintendo partly). I feel Nintend could have given us just 2 of these Mario games for 60 dollars and still get away with it. Personally, Galaxy 2 should have been the minimum in it to make it 4 emulated games.

[@j.dviant]

@@M3rtyville dont even get me started with pkmn $/$...

[@Indpendent01]

Wait, SIXTY DOLLARS??? pass.

[@ctuk-202]

And limiting it both physically and digitally

[@livingcorpse5664]

Now if we can get an Eternal Darkness remaster, that'd be great.

[@hichaelhyers]

one of the best games ever!

[@Cool_Toolbar]

Are you guys gonna check out the day 1 patch (1.0.1) and see if they have fixed some of the frame rates issues?

[@calebb7012]

the fact that this has framerate issues is laughable.

[@hypno18s]

That update didn't fix anything important like framerate sadly.

[@ShadowMan64572]

They should "update" the price point for this cash grab 🤣

[@7EEVEE]

nitpick but come on guys, comparisons are done with the original on the left, not the right!

[@Rohgamu]

🤣🤣🤣

[@megazenn22]

but the original runs better, it's a past remaster of these new games

[@davion4777]

I know right? They always put originals on the right, it bothers me so much

[@7EEVEE]

@@davion4777 Genuinely a strange editing choice for a Westerner, I don't know how that doesn't feel inherently wrong to put together lol.

[@SkemeKOS]

Maybe the are Japanese or Irish and read things backwards?

[@DallinBackstrom]

fascinating that they didn't just recompile the games and instead chose to emulate them... although I guess it would take some effort to "translate" to a new API, I can't imagine it being more difficult than building an entire emulation system

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

you can't "just recompile" games that were written specifically for the (extremely different) graphics hardware of these other consoles. you have to either emulate the original graphics hardware, or completely rewrite most of the game.

[@moloney55]

I think what they gain with emulator approach is they now have a system to port all, or at least most, N64/GameCube/Wii games over to Switch

[@lucass8119]

@@sirmoonslosthismind You can sometimes, if you're smart and use standard APIs and don't implement hardware specific optimizations. Nintendo... is known for hardware specific optimizations and shenanigans. It's generally why their games look SO much better than they have any right too. After all, their consoles are notoriously underpowered. But, if you use a reasonable engine and standard APIs like OpenGL, yes you can recompile and keep all your shaders.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

Being fair, the 4 point sampling is understandable as it’s super hard to do the 3 point filtering accurately, and it can significantly reduce performance even for PC emulators with powerful hardware.

[@3lH4ck3rC0mf0r7]

Being even more fair, they could've factory-upscaled every texture in the game's files by 3 or 4x using 3-point scaling to simulate the 3-point look without actually having to do it in hardware.

[@jatekforditok]

Nintendo could have included some cut levels from all games, or original demos, or teaser trailers, or unlockable Mario 64 DS and SMG2 as bonus. Loads of easy options were there to make it stand out. This is as cheap a package as original Mario All Stars was on Wii..

[@Skuntac]

"..as the Wii, I feel, was very much designed around CRT's, not a 2000's lcd flat panel, and looks stunning on a nice CRT.." As someone who plays Mario Galaxy (even this week) on a CRT via component, yes, it still is stunning.

[@xaisatsana]

if i hear "some kind of AI upscaling" one more time

[@riotfirerfi]

As someone that owns a gaming rig, the only game in this collection to me that is an improvement (but this is arguable) over playing in unofficial ways (Dolphin emulator with an HD pack, or unofficial native ports) is Galaxy. 64 has an unofficial port for both PC and Switch that runs in 16:9 (and scales to other aspect ratios), optional improved models, optional improved textures, optional 60 FPS, and of course analog camera control with X and Y inversion options. Sunshine has the Sunburn mod which removes the save nag screen when you collect blue coins and other QoL improvements, along with 60 FPS patch, widescreen patch, and removing heatwave patch. Playing Galaxy in Dolphin, however, without using a real Wiimote and a Dolphinbar is a bit of work to get going properly. Some may prefer it over playing it with a Pro controller on the Switch though.

[@MrBayren]

All it takes is a bit of playing with the keybinds, same as with basically any other game on an emulator

[@kaybecker]

Personally I never like Super Mario All-Stars, and never understood the big craze about it, for the mere fact that other than SMB3, the controls were ridiculously different than the original games. Not a really good way of keeping true to the original. I'm glad they didn't mess up with the controls for 3D-All-Stars. I like that one miles ahead.

[@CodyHimselfXI]

I was honestly so happy to get this collection and plan to beat all three games AGAIN next month. It's my yearly November ritual to play 64 and Galaxy (The best Mario platformer next to Odyssey)

[@R.conquistas]

Is the collection worth of the "All Stars" name? -No Thanks for watching

[@Jdudec367]

eh....it is all stars though

[@btarg1]

The fan port was better than the official for SM64

[@PugLifeJM]

They should've added the DS version of SM64 in this collection as well.

[@GenerationZ313]

or at the very least let you toggle between updated visuals and the original on the fly like Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

[@Mqstodon]

Nah, they're the same game

[@immortallix]

@@Mqstodon someone never played it

[@alinepiroutek8932]

@@Mqstodon lol, lies

[@FelixS.]

No. It is an abomonation and deserves to be forgotten. There is only one true SM64 and that is the original.

[@riftshredder5438]

You forgot to mention that the version of Super Mario 64 that was used in this collection is actually an updated re-released version of the game known as The Shindou version, it was originally released exclusively in Japan which added in the Rumble feature, it patched out the backwards long jump glitch, and it's why Mario no longer says "So long King Bowser" because in Japan, Bowser is simply known as King Koopa

[@keir92]

Worth noting that even the Gamecube controller on Smash does not use the analog triggers. Light shield hasn't been a thing since Melee despite Brawl, Wii U and Ultimate all supporting the Gamecube controller.

[@Whatnoww]

Are you guys going to go over the latest patch? Would be interesting to see if they fixed the framedrops, since most seem to say it's smoother. Maybe they've even fixed audio lag in SM64.

[@Rhedox1]

I completed Mario Sunshine at 1080p 60fps in Dolphin years ago.

[@nintendo1889x]

That's nice

[@Santafip]

That's nice

[@scarffoxandfriends9401]

Yah, but even till today added HD texture packs bugs out the game and the goop becomes horribly jagged.

[@nintendo1889x]

@@scarffoxandfriends9401 OP Wow, people can play unofficial HD emulation, shocking lol

[@tetermc]

@@nintendo1889x it's literally just proof that its doable. Nintendo is a large company with a large team of people. They went the cheap cash grab route

[@joshfdesigns]

This is one of those things where I wish I could get each game separately, I'd probably get Sunshine. After having just played 64 on a certain portable console, this is pretty disappointing. A bit more work and this could have been a better collection.

[@ddnava96]

Something worth noting, and I'm actually surprised Digital Foundry didn't point it out, specially after talking about the texture filtering of the N64, is that the edges of the goo in Mario Sunshine now look pixelated, showing "jaggies", whereas the original GC release actually filters them to get smooth curves and edges

[@17R3W]

I've been thinking about this. You can still buy SM64 on the virtual console for about $10, and SMG for >$30, which means that more than half of the price is for Sunshine, which itself was a players choice title and would have sold for $30. Without SMG2, this is kind of a steap asking price.

[@17R3W]

@@00O3O1B Yeah, I think I'll buy it for my nephues, I'm on the fence on weather I buy it for myself.

[@funni_noises]

Super Mario 3d all stars is better since you can play these games anywhere at any time

[@17R3W]

@@funni_noises Sure, but isnt that just the "switch tax"? Isnt that how Nintendo justifies charging more for all their games?

[@funni_noises]

17R3W not exactly there is also the fact that everything is becoming more expensive with time and that the technology they use to make these games r pretty expensive so they have a few reasons but I understand what you mean

[@rjspires]

Would have been good to have a remaster (sorry meant Remake) of Super Mario 64. Bringing it in line with the look of the other 2 games.

[@buchiklop110]

That would be a remake, not a remaster.

[@rjspires]

Gflipnitz Blruiken remake, remaster, who knows what a studio would refer to it. It seems interchangeable nowadays.

[@JackFrost-1856]

@@rjspires they aren't interchangable terms though, I don't know why people, and especially competent studios, are throwing the terms around without clarity. Remaster is the original game with updated visuals. Meanwhile a remake is a brand new game on a brand new engine that mimicks the design of the original.

[@lapis591]

That would be a remake, much like Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

[@badnetcode6228]

Earlier this year the SM64 was ported to switch from the major source leak. Its full HD support, 4kTtextures and UI, improved sound and QoL features, including better camera control. The texture packs available are incredible. Nintendo should be ashamed. The community made something truly great, nintendo should of imitated it. Then theres the other ports... Dolphin done these so much more justice 5 years ago.

[@Sebbz]

don't forget that the switch port is 60 fps, nintendo is lazy

[@grandpa__gohan919]

Stop crying

[@nowun6043]

Grandpa_ _Gohan I agree, let people point out shitty business practices and stop crying when your favourite company, that doesn’t give a shit about you, gets rightly criticised

[@jamesalexander5559]

The wasn't from the leak of the source code. Fans had been working on reverse engineering the rom for years.

[@jamesalexander5559]

@@retrodad418 I doubt it was made in 6 months since rumors have been around since the begining of the year. That also isn't really Nintendo's style to do these things quickly like that. I also get the feeling they reused code from their Gamecube/Wii emulator on the Chinese Nvidia Shield since the one in all stars uses Vulkan (just like other shield games) instead of the proprietary API Nvidia made for the Switch. There's nothing wrong with reusing code though. Also, while it did take years for the rom of Mario 64 to be reverse engineered and documented into a byte for byte copy, the actual porting process only took a few months. The source code of the copy got uploaded to Github at the end last year. The DirectX12 and OpenGL ports happened in May and the Switch port, which was based off of the OpenGL port happened about a week later. I guess my real gripe is that if they're going to bother emulating the games why not give us the goodies that come with emulation like savestates and *remapping your controls*. If they're not going to do that why not port them for the better performance?

[@Ionic0]

Dolphin Spoiled me years ago. And did it better.

[@V3ntilator]

Still do. Mario Sunshine runs at 60 fps in Widescreen at 1440p here. Even at 4K/60 if i want.

[@Artur_0492]

V3ntilator still the the game and graphics

[@Ionic0]

@@V3ntilator the funny thing about it is i literally got a one plus phone this year with all 3 of these games and more running on it for cheaper than a switch.

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

How to run it

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

I don't know how to run old Nintendo system on phone

[@Derelict_Doug]

I notice these kinds of problems on PC games, but I don't remember noticing 30fps on Sunshine. Nostalgia is powerful.

[@3elawi]

you really wouldnt notice the 30fps in sunshine unless mentioned. I never played it before 3d all stars, yet I didnt realise the low frames. the game was an absolute joy to play

[@moddler]

It appears some sort of A.I upscaling has been used to improve the resolution of this video.

[@rickg2967]

I really hope the homebrew community can use this to make a really solid GC/Wii emulator with upres-ing for the switch

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I wonder how they messed up the colour banding so bad, could it be that the Wii version’s analogue output covered this up? Or is the switch version just messed up.

[@frostgamer9879]

9:01 Did hd say "Jump to the Swish"?

[@foxmusic5614]

My biggest complaint is the lack of inverted camera/aiming controls. They were inverted in the original versions, yet Nintendo went out of their way to change it in these versions and not even give us the option to change it back.

[@iProgramInCpp]

5:57 I see antialiasing around the edges. The textures are also blurred, though I don't think they used trilinear filtering for that either

[@charliegaudino]

You guys do such a good job that I'm actually getting disappointed here. The bar Nintendo sets is basically perfection for their games. Cutting small corners for anyone else might be okay but we expect more from Nintendo.

[@pikachu896]

Nintendo has been cutting corners for a long time. Seriously, too many people put Nintendo in a way too high pedestal nowadays.

[@Jdudec367]

@@pikachu896 hm? really? when did it start?also how?

[@gu3z185]

@@pikachu896 Obviously Nintendo has been cutting corners when it comes to the power of their consoles and the graphics of their games, but not once has a first party Nintendo IP been bad. Not even the sequels. BOTW was GOTY, Odyssey was a nominee, BOTW 2 will surely be a refinement of the first game, and the third party offerings are great too, like Astral Chain. Plus, the Switch is a great console that is surprisingly powerful for it's V2 battery life and double Wii-controller joycons. I think Nintendo is the best console manufacturer at this point, even since Xbox One's launch there has been controversy about the kinect, and the game sharing. Nintendo at least does something. They could have just not ported these games over at all. They didn't have to make people angry but they did just because it was easy money capitalizing off the innocence of people who hadn't gotten to play these games in the past. Alrighty that's my rant. I still prefer the PC as a platform

[@pikachu896]

@@gu3z185 Mario Tennis Ultra Smash. Vanilla Mario Kart 8. Splatoon. Animal Crossing amiibo Festival Star Fox Zero Mario Party 10 Wii U virtual console The Switch menu lol All of these are example of Nintendo cutting corners or straight up not caring about the final product. I can make an even longer and actually detailed list of all the cut corners of modern Nintendo if you want. Keep in mind this is not me saying Nintendo is bad, I'm just saying they're just as equally good and equally wrong as other companies, but people keep giving them this aura of perfection they've lacked for years now. Also, no one talks about the Kinect nowadays, you mention it like people are still mad about it.

[@ShadowMan64572]

@@gu3z185 You mention Kinect because you're out of touch and still stuck in the past, typical sign of a Nintendrone. 🤣

[@steel5897]

"We know the Switch can deliver a 1080p 60 FPS version of Mario 64" Hehe... yes we do. *cough* homebrew port *cough*

[@ZeroTheHunter]

The fact that all games have the original UI controls on display shows how lazzy they were making this collection, it has improvements but not enough of them for that charge price.

[@Protecter117]

I do wish every game got the Perfect Dark 360 port treatment. Zero real change apart from the 1080p 60fps upgrades, that being said I would love the PD port on PC or Switch since it was the only game I played on the 360+One. Nintendo could have done more, but I still enjoy these games how they were, and £40 to play all three on a portable doesn't seem bad at all to me personally.

[@Matanumi]

I just started playing perfect dark again recently- the XBLA version while not perfect is the cherry on top of an old masterpeice... I'll never forget when that and HGSS came out in March 2010- two of the greatest games ever made getting intense remakes/enhanced ports

[@nilsaulin5790]

Amazing review and explanation! If and this is a big IF, they release patches that improve the experience. Will you make an updated video?

[@pinkspider28]

Galaxy looks so clean. Can't wait to play it again!

[@montygill2835]

Super Mario Sunshine, I'm ready for Corona Mountain 😷

[@FallenOne3]

"Stay retro", more like "stick with emulators"

[@dcarpenter85]

Running Sunshine at 60 in Dolphin introduces numerous issues. If I had to guess, these limitations forced them to stick to 30 since fixing the game for 60 would require reworking the code base.

[@denimchicken104]

Nintendo is Bender from Futurama right now: “Shut up, baby. You love it.”

[@PR0XIDIAN]

I'm so excited to revisit sunshine after all these years

[@nickmotsarsky4382]

You could have easily done so for the past decade or so, all in 60fps and 4K on a PC emulator..

[@mortenera4423]

@@nickmotsarsky4382 Not everyone has 400-500 dollars to spend on a computer that can run them

[@goatgeta6549]

Nick Motsarsky bruh just let people do what they want you don’t have to pop in all the time and start talking about emulation

[@gu3z185]

@@mortenera4423 But they do have 360 dollars to spend on a Switch with the game? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[@jeja6801]

@@gu3z185 is the idea of already owning a switch foreign to you?

[@justanotherlikeyou]

Waiting for Digital Foundry's Crysis Remastered "Can it run Crysis" mode on RTX 3080 review😊

[@blaynestaleypro]

Mario 64 was decompiled some time ago. I think earlier this year or last year. There's a PC port you can make yourself with easy instructions that offers way better graphics at higher resolution and wide screen AND 60fps.

[@sirmoonslosthismind]

plus a whole bunch of exciting bugs to enjoy

[@blaynestaleypro]

@@sirmoonslosthismind 120 stars. No bugs. .. my bad, I think it crashed into desktop once. That's it.

[@IamSickCase]

Me : “ do you like this cake I baked for you?” DF : “ it seems like you’ve used some sort A.I upscaling technology here”

[@zedamex]

No mention that sunshine achieved 16:9 by cropping? I hate missing details, some scenes really bug me as it’s clear the framing is wrong and everything is too close to the camera. Also the camera controls are inverted so I keep spinning the camera the wrong way

[@volgornhorn4880]

18:09 Is that Ambient Occlusion on the wall? or at least an attempt to simulate it

[@perschistence2651]

The Mario 64 conversion is very disappointing. There is an Unreal Engine conversion out there looking way better. ;)

[@matt4193]

It made me laugh that the Sunshine port, a game all about water, is not as fluid as the original.

[@badreality2]

There is one "knock" against Super Mario Sunshine, that you did not mention, that knocks it back into the "negative". There is no option available to invert camera controls on both vertices. ALL video games pre-2006 had one or BOTH camera vertices inverted, by default. For a game that is all about aiming and shooting (water), this is a MAJOR handicap for veteran players. This is also an issue with Super Mario 64, but since one is not touching the camera controls EVERY MINUTE, unlike Super Mario Sunshine, it is less of an issue. The option to invert/uninvert camera vertices SHOULD be a right when playing 3D video games. ...I cannot see how forcing the way the the camera is controlled by the player, as being beneficial, in ANY way.

[@midierror]

Pulling the octpousses legs off in Mario Sunshine is one of my all time favourite gaming experiences.

[@edubockmann]

I have never played Mario 64, sunshine and galaxy, so it will be worth to me. But i agree that Nintendo was lazy

[@jaguar4120]

They are super lazy.

[@larsendx9708]

The question is not is it enough? The question is does it matter? A new generation discovers these games for the first time on Switch. The old timers brought up on these games on the older consoles may be best served going back to those consoles if this new release does not appeal to them.

[@mortenera4423]

My little sister has never played these games, so this might be a good chance

[@Babybarschalarm]

Nintendo fans are strange.

[@mortenera4423]

@@Babybarschalarm You're strange too :)

[@mortenera4423]

@@realdoomerhours As long as the games look sharp (With HD textures) I'm fine with that. I'm not a purist, and I don't want to play Super Mario 64 on Project 64 in 240p

[@piyh3962]

Getting a physical copy of Sunshine on gamecube is about $60 by itself

[@peterplaysbass]

Excited to hear your take on how these games run.

[@retrovideogamejunkie]

15:14 So that is how you call that effect...

[@lssjgaming1599]

I love the 3D All Stars collection so much as I am getting to replay 64 and get to play sunshine for the first time as well as finally get to beat Galaxy. I also just really love how I can bring the games with me too and show my favorite adventures with the portly plumber to my friends. I also am very glad that 64 is in 720p as it is a perfect integer scale of the original

[@NothingHereForYou]

Is it too much to ask for a perfect remaster when all three of these have been almost perfected for free by people not getting paid on pc?

[@elcocho1568]

Nintendo just didn't give this the proper treatment it deserved. We're talking about Nintendo's mascot here.

[@romefox]

When they announced 3d all stars, I was so excited to see Super Mario 64 remade, its really disappointing that they didn't upgrade textures and models. The original will always be awesome but a visual upgrade would be great.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I expect the 4:3 aspect ratio is due to either performance concerns or to avoid issues caused by enlarging the aspect ratio of emulated games, e.g. culling issues.

[@X2011racer]

Definitely Culling. But Super Mario 64 is one of those games with no culling issues when widescreen patches are applied, although enemies "pop in" beyond the screen borders.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

X2011racer The enemy pop in is an issue which keeping it 4:3 would avoid.

[@UncleSikki]

Funny thing I noticed for the Super Mario Sunshine emulation- when chasing Shadow Mario, on Gamecube he will drop one of his stylized Grafitti M's when he stops. But on the Switch, it doesn't render even though it can be sprayed, which is a known- and fixable- glitch when emulating Sunshine.

[@atquinn1975]

Nintendo half-assing it because they know their audience will lap it up regardless a la Madden. Disappointing.

[@joshzzzzrg]

Literally saw a comment somewhere else that said "Nintendo is playing people. But I'll still buy it for my collection." What the fuck.

[@calebb7012]

@@joshzzzzrg I thought this would be a huge awakening for most people to the bs people let Nintendo pull.

[@Renegado140]

@@mortenera4423 Where in the comment that was posted that states that he/she wants Nintendo to go bankrupt? Lol sounds like you're the one who needs help.

[@reptilianreptile4506]

I preordered 3D all stars as soon as I heard about. I’m disappointed, but I don’t regret the purchase because I never played these games before. It really should not be $60 though, they barely tried.

[@gymnosplat]

Darkseid crash isn’t trash but crash 1-3 are similar. These 3 mario games are much more unique and genre defining.

[@godofthecripples1237]

Laziest "remasters" I've seen. Most new textures are prerendered assets Nintendo already had. And Sunshine, which had a 60fps build in trailers, is 30fps here.

[@montygill2835]

Super Mario Galaxy look's great in 1080p 😀

[@megazenn22]

looks even better on Dolphin

[@gu3z185]

@@megazenn22 Hey it's you! I use Dolphin to play games like Wind Waker since my PC can run them, but the main reason why you buy this collection is to get the physical copy and to play it portably. I just like playing on the Switch on the road, or going to see my family overseas.

[@megazenn22]

@@gu3z185 yea but 30fps is cringe

[@drakensangj7757]

I doubt that Nintendo used AI up scaling for their textures and full motion vids. They probably made them higher quality to begin with and compressed them down to fit on the older hardware. Now that they are on switch they have most likely just made the games use the full resolution textures and videos since the compression is no longer needed for the game to run without dropping frames or running slower.

[@jonathanodude6660]

unlikely.

[@snakedogman]

Assuming they still had the original uncompressed video renders. Not impossible but also quite possible they didn't.

[@drakensangj7757]

@@snakedogman I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't have gotten rid of the og assets as the 3D all stars games individually are are HUGE staples in Nintendo's history...but then again you could be right, this is just speculation with no solid evidence after all. Thanx for replying! ;)

[@frickinfrick8488]

This was a really great video! Just a factual rundown of the upgrades and some really great side by side comparisons that must’ve taken forever to set up.