Super Mario 3D All-Stars contest (2 digital copies)!

[Helix]

these are some great vibes you are spreading OP, I don't want to enter the contest but I do want to share my Mario experience. I was 9 years old when I played my first Mario game, it was a birthday gift when I got my first Game Boy, the Game Boy Advance and with it Super Mario Advance and although it isn't the most well remembered of the Mario titles by a long shot, it still holds a special place in my heart cuz of all the great memories I had playing the game, especially the struggling in courses which I found particularly hard. I had also bonded with some friends and even family, bonds that remain through this day thanks to this game. every now and then we chuckle at the memories of struggling at a levels that we once did together which we can now easily do by our own. good times. thanks for helping me reminisce!

 

[KingPat]

I grew up playing super mario bros, 3, and world. I wasn't very good at them. Later I got a n64 and a copy of super mario 64 and it was just a blast to play. Not sure if it counts but my favorite mario moments would be playing Mario kart 64 with my family growing up. We would spend hours taking turns on doing 150cc in the grand prix. Still my one of my favorite games.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

my favorite mario-related memory is probably getting a GBA and a copy of super mario advance (SMB2) as a gift from my parents, that was a really fun day.
in the 3D collection, i'm most looking forward to playing sunshine since it's a game i've only heard about but never played.

 

[TheEchosOfTheCyborg]

Playing Super Mario Bros 2 USA for the first time and loving it after hearing about people disliking it or calling it a fake Mario game, I wish their was another Mario game like it.

 

[Tailzo]

Super Mario Odyssey was fun because I played it with my daughter. She was very eager for us to save the princess, and thought the tranformations were fun. At the time she was not into trying to control Mario himself, but cappy was fun for her :)

 

[Dragonyeuw]

It wasn't my first Mario experience but certainly my most memorable, running around the castle grounds in 64 for what must have been 3-4 hours just jumping, hopping and 'ya-hooing!' . It was such a joyous experience that I would have been fulfilled just at that moment if there no other parts to the game. Well maybe slightly hyperbolic lol, but what a revelation. That may be my singular 'this is the next level' gaming moment. I wouldn't feel 'that' again until playing Astrobot in the playroom on PSVR.

Of course, it would be remiss of me not to mention the countless hours playing Mario Kart battle mode with friends, and the number of times I've replayed Super Mario World and SMB3. This series overall has provided so many fun memories.

 

[dogbox]

Mario 64 is one of the most vivid game memories I have, I think! I was like 7 or so when it came out, and we didn't have an N64. My cousin was coming over to babysit me and my brother. He was bringing his N64. HE HAD MARIO. HE HAD ORANGE CRUSH. It was my first real 3D game and it absolutely blew my mind! The Crush was also very good.

 

[hanmik]

Best memory is probably playing Donkey Kong in the arcade as a kid.. my father showed me how it worked. My father died when I was 12, and my best memories with him are either movie or game related .. so whenever a new or old Mario game arrives, I think about my dad .. strange.

 

[Denghiu]

My first Gameboy and Super Mario Land. Nostalgia of years gone. I love how Nintendo can always keep this "emotional" element in any of their main entries.

 

[Charamiwa]

My best memory is my first one, Super Mario Land 1. It was the first game I've ever played, got it at Christmas with a Gameboy Color. I remember the first time I've ever played it, I was stuck on the first Goomba, and had to understand how to jump and move forward at the same time. It's the first thing the game taught me.

 

[nampad]

Only played a bit of Galaxy on the Wii of the games from the collection so I am ready to see what the fuss is all about!
Would play it in order of release.

Finished Odyssey when it released so now I want to see more.

 

[Hickem]

My favourite Mario Moment was playing Mario 64 with my cousin when we were young, many afternoon spent to trying to get every star... Can't wait to play again on my Switch Mario 64.

 

[one of us]

One of a thousand memories I'm sure, but I remember my dad eventually accumulating enough curiosity about what I had been spending all of my free time with. The timing couldn't have been more perfect as after a brief explanation of this amazing new device in interactive entertainment, (while demo-steering towards it..) I hand over the controller and let him find the piano. :)

 

[Doctor Phishshoe]

I think my fav memory with mario games were playing Mariokart wii with my brother, doing whole championships in the formula 1 esque cars to see with who was the best, with commentary and all. Mariokart wii is by far not my fav mariokart tho haha.

Mario galaxy was very special, especially the music. Gusty garden galaxy music is a regular in my spotify playlists...along with Jump up superstar ofcourse

 

[Deleted member 13077]

I think two stick in my head.

One is the original SMB. I was very young when we first got a NES, and I was in awe of the grownups who could get to the end of the game. I remember my grandad would sit on the couch and play, and he would bounce himself every time Mario jumped for some reason. Maybe trying to give extra momentum or something...

The second is Mario Galaxy. I played that game for hours and I think it's the only Wii game I finished. Reminds me of some of the best and most carefree times of my life.

 

[Fitts]

Man, there's so many. My favorite was probably getting a SNES at launch and being the first in my class (first grade) to beat Mario World, though. I got invited over to so many houses and helped other kids beat parts they were struggling with. (same thing happened with Donkey Kong Country) They had us do an assignment where we wrote something nice about each one of our classmates and then each kid got to take home a "book" bound in yarn that contained all the nice things that were written about them. Like, half of my pages were about my Mario skills lol. Wish I kept it.

Most recent was playing Odyssey when it came out and coming across the Shiba Inu. I was so excited I ran over and showed my wife who also thought it was adorable. And, of course, I showed my own Shiba who was slightly less interested lol. We lost Meeka in March after almost 15 years and we miss her like crazy. We'll love her forever and having a little memory like that tied to one of my favorite IPs is a special feeling.

 

[WrenchNinja]

My favourite Mario memory is with Super Mario World. It was after you finish Star Road and Special Zone. The entire map and all of the enemies changed designs. Was mind blowing as a kid.

 

[Slash]

My favorite Mario memory is probably the day Super Mario Odyssey launched in 2017 when I was rushing home from school to open the game. I played it nonstop until the night and finished it pretty quickly that week. The new kingdoms kept surprising me with how unique they were, and it never got boring. Then, the end rush with you capturing Bowser was amazing with the Honeylune Ridge Escape song playing in the background. Odyssey is one of my favorite games of all time, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

[Pez]

Great memories of mario 64 back in the day. :) Dire dire docks still one of the best tracks in the series.

 

[EffettoNotte]

My favourite Mario memory is from Switch presentation in january 2017. I literally teared up when I saw Mario Odyssey trailer, despite I only played a bunch of 2D Mario game. Idk why that trailer hit me so hard, and in the end I decided to buy Switch :P
Then when I played it and went to new donk city festival I was diying from joy.

 

[Ckoerner]

My earliest video game memory was going over to my neighbors house to play Super Mario Bros. on his NES. We'd play so much (much to his chagrin) that I'd have the theme song playing in my head as I slept.

 

[CarlSagan94]

Galaxy is a treasure to me. I was hyped beyond belief for its release and bought the game before even owning a Wii. The game exceeded my expectations and is beloved to me.

Mario 64 is one of my most important games of all time since it was my very first game ever.

 

[Reizzz]

Definitely played sunshine the most. At first I couldn't afford a gamecube so I would rent one from blockbuster with the game lol. I did buy a memory card so i could keep my save though. Then I got both for Christmas and 14 year old me was pumped!

 

[MrWonderworld]

My favourite Mario memory was getting a N64 and Super Mario 64 as a Christmas present when I was a child. I was so excited that I was running around our house screaming for a good while until I calmed down. The game was magical back then and it's still an important title for me today.

 

[HighkeyGhoul]

If there's one thing about Mario 64 I remember aside from the hours of fun it provided in my youth, it was how it brought me and two of my cousins so close together as kids. I didn't own the game myself but they would always come over and we would play for hours chasing down stars and red coins. Hunting down the urban legends that were told to us in friend groups and eventually online about the game. It was something the three of us could always play and share turns or even just watch for a while if one of us were doing particularly well. Really a much simpler, joyous time. We're all scattered to the wind now....

 

[Red Fire]

My first video game experience was Super Mario Land on the gameboy! I think i beat it when i was 4 years or something. I beat it so many times i couldn't count it.

Then came Super Mario Allstars on the SNES. That game was the best thing ever to me back then. I played so much that I made my parents angry. I also got super frustrated when i lost and got super mad lol. I beat it though, must have been like 6 or 7 years old then. The game was also my doom because me being addicted to it made my parents sell the SNES. All the games and my favorite toy gone. I cried a lot.

Playing Mario 64 for the first time was magical too. And the memories of playing Mario Odyssey with my brother before leaving the house. And all the other Mario games and spinoffs. I remember the times me and my brother played Mario Kart and Mario Party every day. Good times.

Mario means a lot to me. Can't decide on my favorite experience because they all have a special place in my heart. I'm looking forward to playing Mario Sunshine, which I haven't played yet since i never owned a Gamecube. Many people criticize it for different reasons but I'm sure I won't mind and i will love the game.

 

[Denamitea]

Honestly my favorite Mario memory is still the day I got an N64 on Christmas when I was like, 5 years old. Super Mario 64 was the game I got along with it and it was just the most life changingly cool thing to little ol me. My first console was the NES (and I skipped the SNES back then too) so the jump to 3D graphics was pretty amazing.

To this day the opening of Mario 64 is etched into my mind and it's still my favorite Mario ever (and maybe favorite game ever too)

 

[Manzoli]

My favorite Mario is Galaxy, which is why I'm so excited to get this collection.

I've bought my Wii in 2011 when my life was a mess, had dropped my job to try getting my IT's degree (my job was going from town to town hiring new sellers and dismissing the bad ones to my company so it was impossible to stay in place and and get things moving with my education) , was unemployed for about 6 months after dropping that job, without knowing how i was going to pay for my University and was feeling very lonely, looking at my friends that were already finished with their degrees and being the only one that was behind, with no future.

Back then i didn't even knew the Wii existed (i had a DS because of my constant travels and so that was my only gaming machine) and when i was finally back at my parents house i saw a wii trailer showing Red Steel, Metroid (the one with the guy dropping from the couch to shoot lol) and Mario Galaxy and was instantly hooked to the concept.

Grabbed mine while i still had some money left, with a bunch of games, and Mario was, and still is to this day, the most impressive game on the Wii.

The setting, the gravity and, the most special thing, the music, which made me feel sooooo much better during those hard times, it just made me forget i was depressive because of the game's up tone.

Super mario 64 and sunshine on the other hand I've never played, lol.

 

[dock]

My favourite Mario memory is when my sister saved up babysitting money to add to Xmas so she could get a NES with Mario 3, which had just come out. The U.K. launch of the NES was late, so I had seen the NES on American movies and TV shows, and once played with a demo booth before passing the controls over to another kid. my sister and I were allowed to 'test' the NES for an hour before it went off to Santa. Sitting on the floor and doing the butt slide in Mario 3 was an incredible time, and felt like a huge step above the Commodore 64 games I was used to. Thank you, Mario!

 

[Son of Sparda]

My favorite Mario memory would be the first time that I player Super Mario Bros on NES when I was... 5 or 6 years old? That game was super addicting and as a kid, really really difficult haha

I still remember getting really upset if I couldn't jump on the very top of the goal post at the end of a level. For some reason, I thought that was the most important part and if I didn't manage to reach the very top, then I had somehow failed the level lol

Also I legit still can remember the sound effect of Bowser's fire that you had to avoid when going through some of the dungeons/castles. I'm actually surprised about that.

 

[gardfish]

Honestly, my favorite Mario memory is just screwing around with the gravity mechanics when Super Mario Galaxy first came out. I remember trying to see how many times I could orbit around a planetoid with a long jump just for the hell of it.

 

[TGR Onix]

Thanks for the good vibes! ♥ One of my favorites was with Mario Galaxy, the first time you fly into the Good Egg Galaxy. As soon as Mario lands, you hear the incredible music start playing as "Welcome to the Galaxy!" shows up on screen. Incredible moment, one that I shared with my younger brother and we both always talk about it when we reminisce of the "good ole days." Truly magical and representative of that games imagination.

 

[Tarot Deck]

Two jump in my mind:

The first time I saw and played Mario 64 on the Japanese Nintendo 64 ( at the time I still though the us version would be called Ultra 64). It was at a gaming rental and it could only be played there.

Didn't have a playstation and always found their graphics blocky/weird. Mario 64 was the first game that made me feel the 3D in a game and had a clean visual ( anti aliasing was the buzz word around), running anywhere, swimming and especially jumping. It was a sight to behold.
It was weird mario having a health instead of just shrinking and even weirder that coins worked as health... Yet it made sense.

Btw, this entire world of Mario, with the paintings, talking enemies and the gorgeous music had this weird feeling, that I was entering an alien world, that was somehow familiar. The floating platforms in Bowers road (and that insane soundtrack)... It was all strange but very good.

It took a few months before the system officially launched in us and arrived Brasil. But those weeks were amazing. It was like I was transported to the future. The jump from snes and n64 was almost too much.


Second time was with Super Mario Galaxy.

After Mario 64, I wasn't really sold on the gamecube and at the time I was basically a pc gamer. I returned to nintendo with the Wii and I loved the system. Virtual Console and the ability to play all old gems of the Gamecube made it one of the system that I most played ever ( I think even the switch still don't have the same playtime I had with the Wii... Yet).

I played a bit of sunshine and didn't clicked with me. So I was skeptical of the new mario. The first trailer was cute and the floating around platforms was ingenious, but it didn't grab me.
Just before launch there was a bunch of videos and impressions and it was kinda crazy how people were receiving it. And then the kicker: orchestrated soundtrack. I think it was one of the first Nintendo games to have that treatment.
I was getting hyped beyond belief, music is something I really care in a game. And the new videos kept showing an insane variety of worlds instead of being just space related. I was even banned for a couple of days for having a huge gif with SMG gameplay as an Avatar ( back when animated avatars were a thing).

Pre ordered (first time ever) it and even got the promotional coin that they gave at the time.

Played at night after my parents were sleeping. The intro, with the music (callback to Mario 3 battleship) and the tension made me realize this was a different game. It had some story, almost zelda like.

And right after that Mario wakes up and is introduced to one of most straight forward tutorial with the bunny chase with this surreal music https://youtu.be/zcjtjGCWDGY.
At that very moment I KNEW I was playing one of the best games of all time. I almost teared up.

And it only got better... Even after finishing the game and unlocking the special comets.

Super Mario Galaxy became my favorite game of all time for 10 years, until 2017.

 

[Ramsiege]

My favorite Mario memory is seeing my five year old son play Mario Odyssey and seeing him figure out parts he was struggling with. His excitement and sense of accomplishment gives me so much joy. He even likes to wear his Mario Odyssey Cappy hat whenever we go out, he thinks he's the coolest kid. DIt's been awesome being able to share my favorite hobby with him and seeing him become more of a video game fan.

 

[Kurtofan]

My first Mario memory was playing SMB2 All Star version on someone's SNES. It was amazing and it was the very first home console I ever played, going from the black and white game boy to color was amazing. I guess this is how our parents must have felt when they had color tv the first time. Also the Phanto masks were scary as hell.

 

[Edge]

Thank you!

My favorite? Super Mario Land 2 on Gameboy. It's such an amazing game and I've played it so many times as a child, I have every single stage and song still in my head.

 

[Emtazer]

Favorite Mario memory - like so many others - is Mario 64. Just running around and climbing as Mario was incredible. Never have experienced anything like it since. That freedom you get in a 3D environment was mind blowing at the time. So good.

 

[Zedelima]

My first experience playing Mario was with Super Mario Bros 3.
I remember the day that my dad brought a pirated NES (we live in brazil and were very poor) with a copy of SMB3. We couldn't turned it off because it had no save system haha we had to play for days and often all night to finish it.
Really good times

 

[Billy Palmer]

I played both galaxies and sunshine as child. Mario Galaxy specifically was a game that got me interested in game music. I remember being blown away by simply hearing a live orchestra in a video game. As an awkward pre-teen, I recall thinking the game's soundtrack was 'the most impressive thing ever that somehow made my weird hobby legitimate'.

As an adult I write music for games - Mario Galaxy was one of a handful of stuff in my life that made me even consider this as an actual career path.

 

[jetpacks was yes]

I grew up on Nintendo systems and Mario games, but my favorite memory is probably from early 1997 when I got to play Mario 64.

I was in Croatia, a young preteen, and I was too poor to have an n64 at the time. My friend from Canada, however, got a system and I convinced him to let me borrow it for a weekend as soon as he got it. I was so in awe of Mario 64, and I played it non-stop for that weekend. I was so absorbed that I forgot to eat, until I eventually realized I was hungry and made myself the most satisfying sunny-side up eggs of my life. I managed to beat the game before returning it back to my friend, and spent the next year trying to convince my mom to buy us a Nintendo 64. Good times.

 

[Internet Nomad]

I was more into cartoons as a little kid, so buying mario 64 solely based on its box art and then discovering the miracle that was 3D mario blew my little 6-7 year old mind back then. I miss organically discovering games like that a lot

 

[Owlet]

My favorite Mario memory is probably the first Mario Galaxy game. There was just something about the setting I absolutely loved.

Really excited to play it again along with sunshine and 64.

 

[entheo]

One of my favorite memories was on Christmas 1996. After opening tons of great presents and being completely satisfied, my uncle called me into the other room, where a brand new Nintendo 64 was already hooked up and Mario's giant face was on the TV. After I sat down, I asked him who gave it to him and he laughed and told me it was all mine. I couldn't believe it and was so impressed with the graphics that I ended up spending a good 20 minutes just pinching Mario's face and moving it around.

The game I would play first would be Mario Galaxy because I'm one of the few gamers that never owned a Wii!

 

[wideface]

Taking turns playing Super Mario Bros Deluxe on the GBC with my dad.
First video game I ever played and only game I remember him enjoying and actively wanting to play.
Good times.

 

[Herey]

Really nice gesture OP!

There's too many to mention from my childhood, so I'll go for one relatively recently.

When I had a couple of extended stays in hospital, whenever family or friends came to see me, we'd get out Mario Kart 8 on the Switch and play a few rounds. I wasn't feeling good, and it helped a lot, just to take my mind off things and give me something to do. Again proving just how great the MK series is for pure fun, and a really nice memory to look back from a pretty gloomy period.

 

[MasonADC]

Super Mario Galaxy was the first game I ever played, so I don't think I need to explain why it is so special

My favorite memory is after you got all the stars, princess peach will send you a letter on the wii mail system and it was super cute.

 

[Zodzilla]

I never had an N64 or GameCube, so really my first experience 3D Mario was Galaxy on the wii.

I had great expectations of the game based on glowing reviews at the time.

What I didn't expect, however, was that the combination of music, art design and inventive levels would rekindle the Mario fan in me.

It took another decade or so until I felt that sort of intense appreciation for game design and inventiveness of a major franchise until I played BOTW.

 

[hrœrekr]

Mário 64: I remember starrring at the TVs in the mall with the game running and trying to imagine how that was possible. I was like 6 years old and never saw a 3D game before.
I remember imagining what would happen if I fly towards the clouds, like if the world was endless.

 

[Kaminogi]

Very vague but I remember my cousin playing Mario on SNES when I was 3 or 4 yo

 

[TheBlade]

To me super mario 64 is probably the best Mario memory. My brother and I were surprised with a Christmas present of an N64 and a copy of Mario 64. I remember struggling to get the first star!

We aint native english speakers so we didnt know what the bomb omb king was saying we kept throwing him of the cliff but that did nothing :p I would mostly watch him play after that and felt like it was the best form of cinema!

The memories of Gamecube are also very fond and I loved sunshine but tbh most fond memories in GC are melee WW and mario kart double dash! What games they felt like it was fun that could not be topped and subjectively.. it didnt!

I think part of why I still stick with Nintendo are these games!