Last year, Nintendo celebrated Super Mario Bros. 35th anniversary in a grand, but slightly unusual fashion. We got a blowout Super Mario focused Nintendo Direct with tons of great announcements. There was a fantastic 3D Mario Collection, a quirky battle royale, a rerelease of a Wii U classic and so much more – the caveat to it all however, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Super Mario Bros. 35 and Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. are all getting pulled from the Nintendo Switch store and physical retailers on March 31.
Is there a chance they stick around?
Many had hoped so, especially after Jump Rope Challenge was saved from an impending doom last September. Unfortunately, that’s not looking too likely. A tweet from the official Japanese Nintendo Twitter account shared the information that Nintendo is still planning to kill off the range of timed exclusive games, as well as some limited edition Super Mario Bros. 35th anniversary merchandise.
「スーパーマリオブラザーズ35周年」のキャンペーンは2021年3月末をもって終了します。キャンペーンの終了にともない、一部商品の生産・販売・サービスも終了します。くわしくはこちらをご覧ください。#スーパーマリオ35周年https://t.co/37dTGdpJkP
— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) March 1, 2021
What does this mean for Super Mario Bros. 35 specifically?
In case you’ve never played it, Super Mario Bros. 35 is an online, 35 player battle royale. It sees a bunch of Mario’s, racing their way across familiar Super Mario Bros. levels with the goal of being the last one standing. It’s a fun game, that we scored a 7.5/10 in our official review, and has built up a cult fanbase.
With Nintendo pulling the game from the store on March 31, players have just shy of a month to download and play the title. From the 31st however, Nintendo is pulling the plug on not only the game but also the game’s online servers. This means that from the end of this month, that title will be totally inaccessible.
Why is Nintendo pulling these games on March 31?
This is a question that’s been asked over and over again. Even the brightest minds in the video game world can’t put their finger on why, other than it’s a cash grab from the Japanese giants, as they bid to create panic and exclusivity around each product.
It’s a shame because Nintendo is a company that has had a huge impact on millions, if not billions of people’s lives, so to see them continuing to be so stubborn and anti-consumer is not good.
The post Super Mario Bros. 35 is Getting Pulled from the Nintendo Switch – Here’s What That Means by Sam Woods appeared first on DualShockers.