After two straight weeks of exciting releases, Nintendo decided to take this week off when it comes to porting classic games to their online service. That sucks, but don't worry, we still have plenty of 8- and 16-bit games in desperate need of the Review Crew treatment. I'm talking about genuine classics like Super Mario Kart, Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Sure, these games came out years ago on the Nintendo Switch Online service, but I still need to ask: Are any of these games worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Die Hard Game Fan and more classic magazines to see what the critics said back when these games first came out. So grab a turtle shell and get ready to be upgraded to 16-bits, because this is another Super Mario centric episode of the Nintendo Switch Online Review Crew.


Like it or not, Super Mario Kart is one of the most important racing games of all time. It may not share a lot with real driving and I'm pretty sure throwing turtle shells will get you banned from Le Mans, but Nintendo not only managed to create one of the few 16-bit racing franchises to still be going to this day, but they also opened up a floodgate of copycat kart racers from pretty much every developer you've ever heard of (and a bunch you haven't). It was one of those no-brainer ideas that simply took off, to the point where, at one point, the newest Super Mario Bros. movie devolves into an extended kart racing scene. Thirty years later, we know the impact this franchise had on the racing genre, but what did the critics think at the time? Did they have any idea of how important this franchise would become?

When it came to Electronic Gaming Monthly, there was a sense that Super Mario Kart was good, but maybe not a seminal release. Giving it an 8 out of 10, Martin called it “a cute, but very good follow-up to F-Zero. This game may look cutesy, but don't be fooled. It really gets intense. The game play is very good and loaded with neat features like instant replay. The graphics and music are high quality and utilize Mode 7 very well.” Steve liked the game even more, giving it a 9 out of 10 and arguing that “this is the best driving game to come along in some time. Mario Kart may look like an F-Zero clone on the surface, but there are many interesting upgrades ranging from power-ups to special combat modes using a split screen layout. Replay options and plenty of tracks add to the appeal of this super game.” EGM gave Super Mario Kart an average score of 8.5 out of 10.

Even though that's a strong score, it was a bit low when compared to other magazines. For example, Nintendo Power scored the game a 4.4 out of 5, while N-Force could only muster an 88%. For their part, Nintendo Magazine System managed to give Super Mario Kart a stellar score of 92%, asking this burning question: “Who'd have thought that the race game to supersede F-Zero would come in the form of a Go-Kart racing game? But still, if ever a game was going to topple F-Zero from its perch as a no-frills racing game of the highest order, Super Mario Kart is it. However, there is one small fly in the ointment. With two-players, Mario Kart is the most racing fun to be had anywhere. However, with only a single player, the enjoyment is severely reduced, although still great fun to play. A few more courses and a tougher difficulty setting would have improved things for the single player, but as it stands, Super Mario Kart is still a highly polished software classic.”

Even that score might be deemed a bit low when compared to some of the other magazines on store shelves, like Game Players, who gave Mario Kart a score of 94%. That's the same exact score that Super Play settled on in their fourth issue, and Die Hard Game Fan went just one point higher, with an average score of 95%. GamePro, of course, gave the racing game a perfect score of 5 out of 5: “Maybe you were wondering just how many ways Nintendo could squeeze a good time out of the Mario world. Here's one way that's a winner. Super Mario Kart makes wheel-spinning, bumper-grinding, motor racing actually cute! The little guys definitely have a lot of drive.”

That they do. And they have continued to drive well into the new millennium. Super Mario Kart is here to stay, and this Super NES installment was the game that started it all.

These days, we're used to Nintendo taking its time to release new Mario adventures. After all, Wonder came out six-years after Odyssey, and there was a seven-year gap between that and Super Mario Galaxy 2. But that was not the case in during the 8-bit era, as Mario fans had a new side-scrolling platformer to look forward to every couple of years. So, when Nintendo released Super Mario World in 1991 alongside the Super NES, most fans expected to see a follow-up in 1993 or, at the absolute latest, 1994. But that didn't happen. Instead, Nintendo decided to release the true follow-up to Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, in 1995, and that wasn't the only surprise. As the title suggests, this is more of a Yoshi game than a new Mario platformer. Yes, Mario was there in baby form, but clearly there were some big changes between Super Mario World 1 and 2. Let's see if the critics had a problem with these changes.

Spoiler alert: Most magazines loved this sequel and had no problem letting Yoshi take over for a while. That said, there was one outlier – Game Players. Giving it a 7.6 out of 10, Game Players was by far the toughest critic. They complained that “this game looks like a first-generation Super NES title” and that “most of the sounds are straight from Super Mario World.” They concluded that “Yoshi's Island could have been done better. It doesn't really need rendered graphics, just more time put into a project that Nintendo clearly didn't have faith in. Hopefully Nintendo is going to concentrate on these types of games more in the future. They may not appeal to the ‘blood ‘n gore' audience that the company has worked so hard to win over, but there's always a place in gamers' hearts for fun, well-made games.”

Okay, with that out of our system, let's proceed with the gushing. That's right, everybody else loved Yoshi's Island. I mean, the next lowest scores include a 4.2 out of 5 from Nintendo Power and GamePro giving the platformer a 4.5 out of 5. Not exactly terrible scores. The same is true for Super Play, who ended up giving the long-awaited sequel a 94%, making it the magazine's fifth best-reviewed Super NES game of all time. “As the best game since Super Metroid, Yoshi's Island is a testament to Nintendo's untouchable design skills. It won't last as long as is ideal, but that's because you'll be so addicted scrabbling through the thing. How it's going to be topped, I really don't know, but I'm looking forward to seeing it happen.”

Now, when it comes to the highest scores, Die Hard Game Fan came about as close to giving Yoshi's Island an average score of 100% without actually giving it a 100%. That's why we're instead going to turn our gaze to the notoriously grumpy Next Generation, who gave the game a perfect 5 out of 5, something that was extremely rare for a last generation game. “The long-awaited follow-up to Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, does a good job of picking up where the original left off. Although it would be nearly impossible to capture the magic of a Mario game without Mario as the main character, it's encouraging to see that Nintendo can still adventure with enough charm and sophistication to capture the hearts of Mario fans from long ago. You'll find yourself baffled at the task of completing this gargantuan game, but you'll definitely enjoy trying.”

While it may not have been the sequel that Mario fans expected, you don't see many people complaining about Yoshi's Island. Despite what Game Players said at the time, this is a gorgeous game that has held up surprisingly well. Give it a play, if you somehow missed this classic.

Perhaps fearing that angry Mario fans would burst through the doors demanding a new adventure, Nintendo decided to release a stopgap game to hold people over until Super Mario World 2 was ready. That game was Super Mario All-Stars, a compilation that featured completely redrawn ports of Super Mario Bros. 1 – 3, plus the Japanese version Super Mario Bros. 2 released for the first time in the West under the name The Lost Levels. It had only been a few years since the 8-bit release of Super Mario Bros. 3, but fans were more than eager to buy a new version of the game with enhanced 16-bit graphics, especially if it meant that they would be getting new content. What a deal. Let's see if the critics shared that same enthusiasm for this groundbreaking game compilation.

Before we get to the critics who couldn't wait to write glowing reviews, we first need to check in with Die Hard Game Fan, who were a little cranky when it came to Super Mario All-Stars. Just how cranky are we talking about? Check out this review from Skid: “What a thrill, all of my bad memories of 8-bit in living color ... boring, boring, happy, happy. I'm sorry, but the old Mario games just haven't stood the test of time. The music and sound FX are great, but the control is too loose and it's all just too cuddly. I believe it's time to retire Mario for a more ‘90s character.” To be fair to the magazine, the other critics liked it more than Skid, with Sgt. Gamer arguing that “it may just be me, but I can't get too excited about reliving the golden days of 8-bit with some scrolls, better sound and music. This collection of golden moldies is a must for ‘true” Mario fans, but I'm not one of them. This is Nintendo's biggest title for Christmas season, Santa's gonna be traveling light.”

Of course, Game Fan was the outlier, as every other magazine loved Super Mario and his All-Star collection of games. The next lowest score came from Nintendo Power, who went with a relatively safe 4.1 out of 5. Electronic Gaming Monthly, on the other hand, gave the game a 9.25 out of 10, with one of the critics giving it a perfect score. Ed raved that “All-Stars is a masterpiece from beginning to end. Although it really is nothing new, All-Stars blows the roof off the fun factor! Four fun games with enhanced graphics and music is just too much. The best part is that all those wonderful secrets have been left in.” Martin also loved the game and was one of the few critics to single out The Lost Levels: “As a big Mario fan, you can't say enough good things about this cart. The old 8-bit Marios were great, but converting them to the Super NES has made them even better. The graphics and sound have improved and it plays just as good. The Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 that never came to the U.S. is my favorite.”

The scores only go up from here. Computer & Video Games gave Mario a 94%, while Nintendo Magazine System went a bit higher with a 95%. Looking for a score of 96%? Well, Super Play has you covered. In fact, Super Mario All-Stars is their second-best reviewed Super NES game of all time. The highest score once again comes from our friends over at GamePro, who gave the game a perfect 5 out of 5: “Who could ask for more? This is the ultimate collector's cart – hundreds of hours of plumbing game play. It's a Mario lover's dream come true.”

While I'm sure there were plenty of Mario fans who would have preferred a proper sequel, there's no question that this All-Star compilation was a big hit with both critics and consumers. It's a shame that it didn't lead to more classic game collections from Nintendo.