Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Super All-Stars works best when you treat it as a rummage through five separate Codemasters games, not as one unified game with a steadily building campaign. The immediate hook is choice: Steg The Slug, Magicland Dizzy, Captain Dynamo, and CJ In The USA are all part of every version, giving you several distinct starting points in one package.

That variety is also where the collection can become frustrating. There is no single game here that has to carry the whole purchase, but there is also no reason to expect every included title to land equally well for you. Spend time with the games that catch you rather than forcing yourself through the entire lineup in order; this is a compilation, and sampling is part of the point.

The biggest practical warning is the fifth slot. DOS owners get Seymour Goes To Hollywood, Amiga and Atari ST owners get Robin Hood: Legend Quest, while the Spectrum and Commodore 64 editions include Turbo the Tortoise. Before you commit, check that your edition contains the game you actually want. That difference is large enough to change the value of the package.

Graphics

There is no one set of characters or places to judge across Super All-Stars, because it collects five separately titled games rather than presenting a single shared world. The visible cast and locations change with whichever game you load, and even the fifth game changes by platform.

Story

Story is not the unifying draw here. Super All-Stars is framed as a collection of individual games, so the through-line is the Codemasters lineup itself rather than one ongoing tale.

That can be a relief if you want a break from a long, continuous plot. Each title gets to stand on its own, and moving from Magicland Dizzy to Captain Dynamo or CJ In The USA feels like changing programs rather than turning a chapter.

It also means the package has little built-in momentum beyond your own curiosity. If you need one story to pull you from beginning to end, a five-game anthology is a harder sell. If named games and changing themes are enough to make you explore, the format has its own charm.

Overall Experience

Super All-Stars is a decent-value retro bundle with an important asterisk: it is not one fixed collection across all of its platforms. The shared core of four games gives it a clear base, while the edition-specific fifth game makes choosing your version part of the buying decision.

Its strongest argument is breadth. A single game can disappoint; five chances at finding something that clicks makes this a more forgiving package, especially when you are in the mood to dip in and out rather than settle into one title for weeks.

Give it a chance if the Codemasters catalog itself interests you and your platform’s fifth game appeals. Do not confuse it with Super Mario All-Stars simply because of the similar name: this is a different five-game compilation with its own platform-specific lineup.

Retro Replay Score

6/10