First, something needs to be made very clear- this is an EXACT port of the standard Super Mario All-Stars as it was on the SNES. When I say exact, I mean just that. There are no improvements made to anything, no enhancements, no widescreen option, no extra games to unlock, nothing. Heck, even the SNES controller appears when you're selecting files on the main menu, showing what button does what. Shouldn't -that- at least have been changed?
That being said, the games are still fun, and if you've never played any of these before, you're in for a treat. This collection includes Super Mario Bros, The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Bros 3. Super Mario World isn't included for some reason, but maybe just because it was only on versions of the game that came with the SNES console. Still, each game here provides hours of fun. There aren't many games from the 80s and early 90s that I can say that about, as most of them don't age very well, but these Mario games hold up. Super Mario Bros 3 in particular, which single-handedly changed gaming back when it came out. There's not really any plot to these games (though I do remember having coloring/activity books as a kid that explained what was going on), so you won't be stuck with boring cutscenes to sit through. You'll run, jump, kick koopa shells, shoot fireballs, and more through dozens of levels in each game. Really, I feel stupid explaining anything about them because I'm pretty sure everyone, regardless of their age, has played these in some form before. Be it on the NES, SNES, GBA, the Wii's Virtual Console, or through *cough* other means, the games in this collection are considered classics for a good reason.
Being a straight port from the SNES version, that means that the original 8-bit versions aren't here. This is one of many problems with this collection. Why bother porting the cart exactly as it was without any added features? It'd be nice to have those on here as well, to show the difference in graphics for people who might not have played the originals. Also, would it have really been that hard for Nintendo to throw in Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, the GameBoy games, and maybe even Super Mario 64? I get that this was released to celebrate 25 years of Mario, so why re-release an older game without going all out with the extra stuff? The bonus CD and booklet are lame reasons to buy this game, considering the CD only has 10 actual music tracks, and the other 10 tacks are just sound effects from the game. Yeah, did you ever want to have a quick sound of Mario going down a pipe or collecting a coin? Me either. The booklet looks nice and all, and serves as a kind of Mario timeline, but it's missing a couple of major games. I was expecting more of a book instead of this dinky thing. Basically, you can get everything in this booklet from various Nintendo sites.
If you notice, I gave this game 5 stars for fun. The 3 stars is the overall rating, because it applies to this as a 'limited edition'. You're not getting anything that special. Keep your NES, SNES and GBA carts if you still have them, unless you're a die-hard Nintendo fan and something being limited is that important to you. But if you haven't played these games before and have the means, buy them from the Vitual Console instead.