Spill The Tea
Enter a brand new release featuring one of pop culture’s most iconic characters: a little moustached plumber in a blue-red jumpsuit, the mushroom-killer brave enough to traverse the most treacherous of castles! Nintendo is out with an esteemed drop: Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Switch comes out this week on 18th September, for USD$60.
Why now?
Opening to vast fanfare, Nintendo released news that it would release remastered versions of the original Super Mario Bros. This comes as part of the game’s 35-year anniversary happening this month, which Nintendo is celebrating by releasing a truckload of games. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is amongst these games, and it’s an awe-inspiring three-game bundle featuring Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy.
What can we expect?
The remastered bundle is not a fully-fledged remake, instead enhancing many of the games’ features to provide an updated user-experience for gamers and old-school fans. Super Mario 64 features a higher resolution, rumble-enabled controls, and access to the classic soundtrack, so that users can pick what they’d like to listen to. Super Mario Sunshine comes with similar features and a 16:9 aspect ratio, while Super Mario Galaxy gets a necessary boost in resolution.
How do I get my hands on this?
Announcement of this release has sent fans into a frenzy, particularly because it comes with a catch. You can only purchase the bundle digitally until 31st March 2021, let alone trying to get your hands on one of the physical copies, which have been available for pre-order.
With many brick-and-mortar shops having sold out on pre-orders, Nintendo has been secretive about whether or not there will restocks for these. The company had previously mentioned that the game would see a “limited release”, and third-party sources have said that stocks assigned to stores have been “woefully short”. A UK retailer also said that restocks were “uncertain”.
How about a brief look at the releases?
Kit & Krysta, hosts of Nintendo’s weekly show Nintendo Minute have flaunted the game, providing first-looks at the main menu and title-screens of Super Mario 3D All-Stars. The pair also did an unboxing video for the game, where they shared an exclusive look at the North American release for the game.
The physical look that was shared on Nintendo Minute provides a complete look at the game case from front to back, as well as the game card which comes nestled within the case. The game’s case is illustrated with some stellar Mario artwork that’s just adorable to look at, as you’ll see in the unboxing video below:
In Nintendo Minute’s digital first look, it is revealed that the game’s menu allows you to toggle between choosing which game title you want to play, and also allows you to pick which soundtrack you’d like to listen to. Each game also comes accompanied with its own descriptions.
Is there more?
Fans have been quick to jump on the soundtrack release, with some doing the internet a favour by making complete soundtrack OST compilations from all three of the games in Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
And while fans of Mario might find the soundtrack pretty outstanding as it is, Nintendo fans have drawn comparisons to another one of Nintendo’s anniversary releases. The Kirby’s Dream Collection is lauded by fans as a more impressive benchmark because it has plenty more to offer.
What else is coming for Super Mario Bros.’ 35th Anniversary?
Apart from the Super Mario 3D All-Stars release, Nintendo has also unveiled a slew of thrilling releases for other mediums. These include the Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury for Wii, and Super Mario Bros. 35, which puts a trending spin on the iconic game, turning it into a battle royale game.
With battle royale games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds amassing phenomenal amounts of players and casual gamers, this comes as no surprise. And it’s an awesome non-surprise! The new Super Mario Bros. 35 game requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership to play.
But the most ingenious of all of Nintendo’s Mario releases is probably the Mario Kart Live: Home Edition. The game is a stunning meld of human and digital worlds with the use of Augmented Reality (AR) allowing players to use the Nintendo Switch to race physical Karts with custom courses. The premise of building racecourses within your home is exhilarating, and paired with what the new digital Lego Mario set has to offer, could welcome the infinite potential of games that transcend generations.
