Everyone’s favorite plumber is about to turn 35, and Nintendo wasn’t about to let that squeak by even during a pandemic. No. Instead, it seems they were hard at work in Dr. Egad’s lab coming up with this sweet birthday present.
First up was the announcement of a new Super Mario themed Game and Watch (click the link for the announcement trailer). Despite the Game and Watch debuting a full 5years before Mario’s first appearance in 1985, our crimson plumber did appear in later versions of the handheld as well in various Gameboy and DS versions of the software. As an added bonus, and keeping with the original Game and Watch aesthetic, this new edition will also be functional as a clock! Set to release November 13th of this year. Let’s a-go!
Next, Nintendo brought out a modern classic and dusted off some of the unpolished edges to give us a fantastic remake of Super Mario 3D World. If you missed out on the WiiU title, then fear not. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad are back at it again with crazy new powers like the Cat Bell and Double Cherry in this glossy remake to take down Bowser and the Koopalings and rescue the Pixies from certain doom. This is no simple remake though friends. In the final moments of the announcement trailer we were treated to a short teaser for some new content being called Bowser’s Fury. Bwah ha ha! I can’t wait to check it out. Super Mario 3D World+Bowser’s Fury launches February, 12 next year!
Next, Nintendo treated everyone to the reveal of a very interesting new take on the original Super Mario Bros. with their new multiplayer game: Super Mario Bros. 35! This game is an online multiplayer event using up to 35 players at a time! Each of you plays through the original Super Mario Bros, taking down enemies and collecting coins like usual, but this time around every enemy you defeat appears on another player’s screen! Battle until you’re the last plumber standing, running, or jumping your way through. Rosalina save me; that is going to be intense. This particular game will be a Nintendo Online exclusive, so if you can part with $20 a year, send me your friend code and we’ll blast right through this. Sorry in advance for all of the koopas that will inevitably be sent your way. Launching October 1st, and only available until March 31st, 2021. Wahoo!
What followed was perhaps the most interesting part of the entire announcement video, at least for me, in the form of a new Mario Kart! That’s right people. Mario Kart is coming back into the home in a very big new way with Mario Kart: Live Home Circuit. Nintendo and Velan studios have collaborated to create the future of RC cars. This new game uses an actual RC car controlled from your Switch console that drives a custom course set out in your living room! The RC cars in question use AR to generate the other players you race against and are affected by the various obstacles and course conditions you can set up. As a long time fan of Mario Kart, you can bet I’ll be picking this up when it drops on October 16th! Here we go!
After that bombshell Nintendo continued the Mario festivities with the announcement of 2 collections making their way to the Switch. Super Mario All-Stars, a collection consisting of: the OG Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario Bros the Lost Levels originally released back in 1993. The collection boasts smoother graphics and crisper music in this classic side-scrolling experience. For those of us with Nintendo Online accounts, this bad boy dropped into the SNES Classic Collection FOR FREE immediately after the direct. Wah ha ha!
With the classic 2d All-stars getting a nice polishing, when Nintendo closed with an announcement for 3D All-stars I was nearly floored. A flawless port of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy is making its way to fans on September 18th! Along with those 3 fantastic games, 3D All-Stars will also have a “music mode” where players can sit back and enjoy the entire musical catalog of all 3 games.
That is a LOT of Mario content set for the next 6months, and with any luck I’ll have gotten to play it all and report back just how awesome all of it still is. After all, its-a me, Mario!
I’ve worked my whole life to become a comic book illustrator, writer, and stand-up comedian. Batman and Captain Benjamin Sisko helped put a good head on my shoulders. I spent most of my childhood saving Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom and seeing the Justice League save all of creation time and time again. I live in Johnson City, TN with my wife Kary and daughter Laila enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery and occasional show. Three puppies round out the family and take up the rest of the time that isn’t spent debating which Wes Anderson or Studio Ghibli movie to watch. I spend an inordinate amount of time binge watching SVU, Futurama, and Letterkenny, and when I’m not watching I’m listening to “My Brother, My Brother, and Me” or playing the occasional game of D&D. If there’s a nerdy endeavor out there, I’ve probably at least tried it.
