Today is the day Mario dies, as folks have been joking about across the internet for weeks now. As had been announced when it was first revealed, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is set to be delisted from the Nintendo Switch eShop today with no further restocks of the physical version. The Nintendo Switch collection includes optimized versions of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, and if you’re wanting to make sure you can keep playing it after today, you’ll want to be sure to pick it up now.
The why of it all has never been explained particularly well. Nintendo has confirmed multiple times that the game is gone after today, and according to an interview with Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser last year, the whole point behind the strategy is that it is a celebration of the 35th anniversary — which doesn’t actually answer why it had to be this way. “[I]t’s not strategy that we’re going to be using widely,” Bowser said at the time, “but it’s one we thought was very unique for the actual anniversary.”
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Thank you to everyone who joined us in commemorating the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. We hope you continue to Power-Up and enjoy Mario and friends’ adventures! #SuperMario35 pic.twitter.com/9DVxSoSxRu
— Super Mario UK (@SuperMario_UK) March 31, 2021
In addition to Super Mario 3D All-Stars, the somewhat odd Super Mario Bros. 35 — the free-to-play video game that sees players compete against each other to run Mario courses — is also gone after today. As a digital-only exclusive, there will be no way to pick up Super Mario Bros. 35 after today, and according to Nintendo, the service for it is also done. While All-Stars will remain playable going forward, Super Mario Bros. 35 will not.
As noted above, Super Mario 3D All-Stars includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. It, along with Super Mario Bros. 35, are set to leave the Nintendo Switch eShop today, March 31st. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the Nintendo Switch collection right here.
What do you think about Nintendo’s strategy here with Super Mario 3D All-Stars? Do you think it will return in some form? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!
