Super Mario Bros. is having a huge 35th birthday. Nintendo has unveiled a number of new products and games that celebrate the anniversary of everyone’s favorite platforming plumber debuting on the NES in 1985.
These were announced via the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct. Watch it below.
Besides a battle royale-style Mario game called Super Mario Bros. 35 and the AR remote control-based Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, the biggest announcements were Super Mario 3D World finally coming to Switch and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a collection of classic 3D Mario games.
Super Mario 3D World is a four player co-op game that originally released on the Nintendo Wii U in 2013. It was one of few Wii U-exclusive titles that was not ported to the Switch, but it’s finally coming! The Switch version includes the additional Bowser’s Fury. Based on the trailer, it seems to be a new world with new challenges and levels.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury comes to Nintendo Switch on February 12, 2021.
The biggest news from the Anniversary Direct was the reveal of Super Mario 3D All-Stars. This collection includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, all optimized for the Nintendo Switch. Mario 64 now has a higher resolution (but still keeps the classic N64 graphics), Sunshine is now in HD and has a wide-screen aspect ratio, and Galaxy is also in HD and sports optional joy-con motion controls (similar to the original Wii Remote control scheme).
For more details on changes made to these games, check out GameXplain’s video below.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars comes to the Nintendo Switch on September 18.
Unfortunately, Super Mario 3D All-Stars (and Super Mario Bros. 35 via Nintendo’s online service) are only available to purchase until 03/31/21. You can still redownload the game after that date if you purchase it digitally, but you’ll have battle scalpers if you want a physical copy April 2021 onward.
This is a baffling and much criticized decision on Nintendo’s part, with many comparing it to how Disney would create forced scarcity with their retired “Disney Vault” policy when rereleasing classic films on home video.
We’re very excited to revisit some of Mario’s best games (thoughts and prayers for Galaxy 2), and we hope Nintendo removes this unnecessary expiration date.
