Nintendo's celebration of the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. includes a few games coming to the Switch, but the company has even more ways to celebrate its mascot. During its dedicated Direct presentation today, the company revealed even more Mario products coming to market through the end of March 2021.
First, in addition to the brand-new Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection coming later this month, Nintendo is bringing back the original Super Mario All-Stars through Nintendo Switch Online. This is a collection of the first four Mario games, which was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It includes Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 (known in Japan as Super Mario USA), Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (known as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan), and Super Mario Bros. 3.
All four titles were remastered at the time to make full use of the SNES hardware, so even though these games are individually available in the NES library for Nintendo Switch Online, they will look and feel very different here. Additionally, a version of Mario Bros., the arcade game that launched in 1983, can also be played here.
Super Mario All-Stars will be available in the SNES collection of Nintendo Switch Online games today.
That's not the only bonus coming to Nintendo Switch Online members. Nintendo also announced Super Mario Bros. 35, a battle royale version of the original Super Mario Bros. In a similar fashion to Tetris 99, the game starts out as a typical Super Mario Bros. game, but defeated enemies are sent to opponent's games, and the same applies to enemies defeated by your rivals. As with other battle royale games, the last player standing wins the match.
Super Mario Bros. 35 will be available at no additional cost for Nintendo Switch Online members on October 1. However, it will only be playable until March 31, 2021.
For the true retro fans, Nintendo is also releasing a new version of the Game & Watch. These were Nintendo's first iteration into gaming hardware all the way back in 1980, and they were designed to be used as a mini-game that could instantly be paused and used as a pocket watch. Many variations were released throughout the years, and this year, Nintendo is bundling the original Super Mario Bros., as well as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, into a special Game & Watch release.
This new Game & Watch will use a full-color LCD, so if you were expecting the original calculator-like screen, that isn't happening. Keeping with the spirit of the Game & Watch line, though, you can still use it as a watch, this time with an animated Mario-themed screen. You can also play a special version of the original Game & Watch game, Ball, now with Mario as the main character. Nintendo also says there are 35 secrets to discover.
Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. is coming to market on November 13, and it will be a limited production.
Finally, Nintendo is doing a lot of smaller things through the end of March to celebrate the anniversary. Limited-time items in the Nintendo Store in New York, special quests and rewards on My Nintendo, and special events in games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Splatoon 2, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are all on the way. You can watch the full presentation here to know all the details about these events.
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