The Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary Collection was crap. Some celebration of an icon’s storied history: A soundtrack CD, a flimsy little booklet, and a port of a nearly 20-year-old Super Nintendo compilation called Super Mario All-Stars. They didn’t even clean up the port for widescreen televisions. That is some shameful treatment for Mr. Mario. Where were the Game Boy games? The N64 and Gamecube adventures? It was one of the most cynical products Nintendo’s ever put out.
The Kirby 20th Anniversary Collection due out on Wii this summer isn’t a whole lot better. It does bundle together some of the little pink blighter’s greatest hits. Kirby’s Dream Land 1 and 2 for Game Boy, Kirby’s Super Star and Kirby’s Dream Land 3 for Super Nintendo, Kirby’s Adventure from the NES, and Kirby 64 from the N64 are all present, even though that’s just a small sampling of Kirby’s outings. Where’s Kirby’s Dream Course! Kirby Pinball! Get comprehensive, Nintendo.
There will at least be some new content though. Nintendo has added “More Challenge Mode” to the collection. This is an expansion of the extra levels packed into 2011’s excellent Kirby: Return to Dream Land on Wii. There will only be 10 additional stages but it’s better than nothing.
Where’s that Metroid 25th anniversary collection, Nintendo?