For Mario’s 35th anniversary, Nintendo went all out. They packaged Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy into a collection, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, thereby making the Nintendo Switch the place for 3D Mario. Only Super Mario Galaxy 2 is unplayable on the console. That wasn’t all, though. Nintendo also introduced a bunch of neat things to celebrate their mascot, including a little battle royale Mario game that was available for free on the Nintendo Switch. We always knew it was a limited-time game, but even now, the removal of Super Mario Bros. 35 still really stings.
Nintendo Had No Good Reason to Delist Super Mario Bros. 35
Super Mario Bros. 35 was only ever intended to be a celebration of the 35th anniversary of the character, so it’s not at all surprising that it got taken down. We’re now into the 40th anniversary of the Italian plumber, so Nintendo titling it for the 35th anniversary was enough evidence that it wouldn’t last.
However, there was no reason to make the game limited. Nintendo created artificial scarcity for Super Mario 3D All-Stars at the same time, only releasing copies and allowing digital purchases between September 18, 2020, and March 31, 2021. After that, it vanished, and the price of physical copies skyrocketed. Unless you bought it during that time, you can’t play it.
It’s now obviously a very valuable game, and it’s only valuable because of the scarcity, but this was forced scarcity. There are still new copies of Super Mario Odyssey, and that’s an eight-year-old game. Nintendo could’ve kept making Super Mario 3D All-Stars, but they chose not to, just like they chose to prematurely end the shelf life of Super Mario Bros. 35.
Super Mario Bros. 35 was a brilliant riff on the battle royale genre and honestly provided a lot more fun and entertainment than any shooter battle royale does today. Those first few levels of Super Mario Bros. are iconic, and players know them like the back of their hands now. But when other players get involved and start sending enemies to your level, it gets a lot more chaotic and challenging. Finishing near the top of the leaderboard was truly exhilarating, and finishing second was a genuine heartbreak.
It obviously wasn’t that difficult or costly to make because it was a rare free game from Nintendo. This is the same company that charged gamers for the tech demo for the Nintendo Switch 2, so anything being given away for free is a huge surprise. In that short shelf life, it is reasonable to assume that thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of people downloaded it.
So what’s the point of removing it? Sure, it’s no longer Mario’s 35th anniversary. But that doesn’t matter, and if it’s a branding issue, then the game could literally just be called Super Mario Bros. Royale or something similar. That’s an easy workaround, and it really doesn’t matter that it only has 35 players per match. That’s tied to the anniversary, but it’s also a perfectly reasonable player limit.
Nintendo just removed it for artificial scarcity. It doesn’t look like they have plans for a Super Mario Bros. 40 this year, so it appears as if this was just a one-off that will sadly have to live on in our memories. The 35th anniversary isn’t even a typical milestone, so it’s even weirder that Nintendo chose that one and then took the game away.
There’s Money to be Made in a Return
Nintendo doesn’t really do live-service games, so maybe it’s not all that surprising that they didn’t keep the game up, but hosting servers for 35-player games is not that demanding for a game that features 40-year-old graphics and simple mechanics. And it is very likely that players would play enough to demand the server upkeep.
If Nintendo were to rerelease Super Mario Bros. 35 and charge for it, since profit is Nintendo’s main goal with every single possible thing, it would sell well. It’s the most unique 2D platformer the franchise has, and it fits into a niche genre that would probably develop a very strong, devoted player base. It could even be a $60 or $70 new game, and tons of players, myself included, would be thrilled to get a copy.
The alternative is to release it again for free but have battle passes, new level updates, and more for money. Nintendo could make a killing with different Mario skins for the games and different levels from the annals of Mario history. It would be an infinite money glitch, and Nintendo sure loves money. It’s just a shame they don’t see Super Mario Bros. 35 for what it is and give it back to us.
What do you think? Should Nintendo bring Super Mario Bros. 35, or is it better left nostalgic in our memory? Let us know down below!
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