Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition

Twenty-five years of running, jumping, and never once filing a plumber's license. The Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition for Wii celebrated Mario's 25th anniversary by repackaging the SNES compilation on a modern disc, and the collector frenzy that followed proved Nintendo still knows how to create demand. Initially a limited print run, the edition sold out fast enough that reprints were announced by early 2011 just to keep up.

, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. : The Lost Levels.

Nintendo kept this one clean and simple, leaning on the power of nostalgia and scarcity rather than piling on extras. The limited availability turned a straightforward compilation into a genuine collector's hunt during the Wii era. What makes this edition stick is what it represents.

This was Nintendo acknowledging a quarter-century of the most recognizable character in gaming, and they did it by looking backward. For Wii collectors, the Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition is one of those items where the story behind the release is almost as collectible as the product itself. The initial scarcity, the reprint rumors, the scramble.

It all adds up to a package that carries more weight than its contents alone suggest.