Nintendo, in a Mario-themed direct, announced a litany of games, products, and in-game rewards around the company’s mascot for his 35th anniversary. The biggest announcement was Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which packages Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy into one game. The titles will receive a makeover with improved HD resolutions and 16:9 aspect ratios. The package will release on September 18, but will only be available in physical and digital formats until April 2021. It seems Nintendo will no longer make the game available for purchase after that date.
Nintendo is getting in on the battle royale craze with Super Mario Bros. 35, coming from the team that put together Tetris 99. Thirty-five players will compete in a never-ending, procedurally generated Super Mario Bros. level. Enemies defeated in one person’s game will spawn in another, and players can use special items to try and get a leg up on the competition. The game will be available for free via for Nintendo Online members starting on October 1, but will only be playable until April 2021.
Super Mario All-Stars, packaging the Super Mario Bros. trilogy and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, is available now for free for Nintendo Online members and comes with no such limited release stipulation.
One of the last Wii U holdouts, Super Mario 3D World, is finally getting ported to the Nintendo Switch as Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. It adds online multiplayer, as well as a new expansion, Bowser’s Fury, although details on that were not provided. The game will be available on February 21, 2021.
Nintendo also announced two physical products. Mario Kart: Home Circuit comes in either a Mario or Luigi variation and is a small kart remote-controlled by a Nintendo Switch. The players will place gates on the floor to create a track. Using a camera built into the kart, they will be able to view its perspective via their Switch, which produces an augmented reality track with other racers and items to pick up, the kart reacting to the virtual elements. It will include local multiplayer with other physical karts and will be available on October 16 for $100.
The other physical product is a new Game & Watch, which was Nintendo’s first handheld console, predating the Game Boy. It comes with Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels installed, and will only be available for Nintendo Online members to order, releasing on November 13 for $50.
In addition to all the new products, Mario themed in-game events and rewards such as furniture in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and a tournament in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be releasing over the coming months.
Knowing how much Nintendo has struggled with working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, it’s very possible the above Mario titles will be the company’s big holiday release, especially as 3D All-Stars will only be available through the first quarter of 2021.
