Super Mario All-Stars rebuilt four classic NES Mario games for the SNES and became a model for remakes

pop & funWikipedia1993

Super Mario All-Stars rebuilt four classic NES Mario games for the SNES and became a model for remakes

the gist

Super Mario All-Stars, released by Nintendo in 1993, bundled remakes of four 8-bit Mario games for the 16-bit Super Nintendo: the original Super Mario Bros., The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3. The remakes kept each game's feel but added upgraded graphics with parallax scrolling, new music, modified physics, a save feature and bug fixes. The Lost Levels was never released on the NES in the West because Nintendo judged it too hard, so this was its first Western release. The compilation sold 10.55 million copies by 2015 and was later described by Famitsu as a model for video game remakes.

how it works

Remakes rebuild the original games' levels, enemies and physics for the SNES hardware, which had far more memory and colour capacity than the NES. Developers used the design language of Super Mario World as a template while keeping the original layouts recognisable.

so what

All-Stars shows how a publisher can preserve classic games for a new generation by rebuilding them rather than just emulating them. Its design approach shaped later Mario rereleases, and it was re-released for the Super Mario Bros. anniversaries in 2010 and 2020.

the bigger pattern

Publishers have repeatedly repackaged old games as compilations and remasters, from classic-arcade collections to modern anthologies. All-Stars is an early large-scale example of that approach.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Illustrative photo · SNES_800.jpg : Holek derivative work: Alphathon TM ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

historyWikipediaclassic1336–1565 · Karnataka, India

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗