Last week, Nintendo dropped a very unexpected but great surprise Nintendo Direct video. It was to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the release of Super Mario Bros. They also have many announcements on a bunch of Super Mario Bros. games and toys that are coming out in the next couple of months. After watching the video, I did have some thoughts and reactions that I wanted to blog out about the direct. Both good, bad, and what I’m looking forward to in the next few months from Nintendo and Mario releasing products.
Game and Watch: Super Mario Bros.
Game and Watch was the first announcement, and the one that I’m looking forward to getting. A Game and Watch was a device that came out in 1980 and was Nintendo’s first handheld system released from 1980 to 1991. Game and Watches featured a single game on an LCD screen and a clock and alarm clock on some other models. The Game and Watch line of games was Nintendo’s earliest success in video game products. Game and Watch: Super Mario Bros is the original game on a Game and Watch system. It features Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2 (aka The Lost Levels in the US), and updated Game and Watch Game: Ball. There is also a digital clock with 35 different animations that play. It’s a neat little device that I’d like to own. I can play Super Mario Bros on many other Nintendo systems that I own already, but this is a cool idea. It’s a neat looking system, and you can get at least eight hours of play with the device. My only wish is that there was a feature to play the original Super Mario Bros. in LCD mode style of gameplay. It may give the younger generation of gamers an authentic experience of what it was like to play a Game and Watch game: only beeps for sound and your character moving one frame per second.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury and Super Mario All-Stars
I don’t have much for this. It looks like a port of Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U. Due out in Feb. 2021, it still looks great, and as fun as I remember playing on Wii U.; there are two updates to this Switch version of the game that I both saw in this video and read about after watching. The first is an online multiplayer, as I’ve only experienced this game in single player. The next looks like the other world added to the game called Bowser’s Fury. There wasn’t much about the level or story of Bowser’s Fury. But I liked the idea of adding a new world not to make the game a 1:1 port of the original and add to the end of the story.
Super Mario All-Stars, released on the SNES console for Nintendo Switch Online, is a four-game Super Mario Bros. collection initially released on the SNES in 1993. You get Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels (Super Mario Bros 2 in Japan). It’s free, and there isn’t much else that I can say. These games are fun graphical updates of their original NES counterparts on the Super Nintendo if you have to have Nintendo’s online subscription to get this game for free.
Super Mario Bros. 35
Super Mario Bros. 35, a Mario battle Royale Game, looks interesting. You compete against 34 other players in Super Mario Bros. You have to eliminate the other players to be the last Mario standing. To beat your opponents, you defeat enemies in your game and send them to your opponents’ courses. This also gives you extra time in your game. Opponents can also send enemies to you to attempt to knock you out as well. There is an item roulette wheel that you can use when you collect a certain amount of coins and get a random power-up. The power-ups range from Super Mushroom to an Invincibility star. The game is from Akira, the video game team that made Tetris 99. I still have a few questions. Such as, will you always start of Level 1-1 or any Random -1 level? Do you only get one life? Is there a chance to play as Luigi? Maybe is there a chance to do the Lost Levels weekend for those that already won a game want a more difficult challenge? Regardless, I’ll play this game right away, because I have to. In a limited run, the game is releasing to Nintendo Switch Online members on October 1, 2020, and playable until March 31, 2021. Five months with the game is a letdown. I’m hoping that this game could be released later, even if I have to buy it. I’m guessing Nintendo is waiting to see who the game does before they make that call.
Mario Kart Live Home Circuit
Combining Video Game, Augmented Reality, RC Cars, and Mario Kart, you get Nintendo’s AR game, Mario Kart Live Home Circuit. You set up race tracks around your rooms and house to race around in a Game of Mario Kart. The RC Car you get has a camera that you look through your Nintendo Switch. You place four checkpoint areas around your room or house and drive the cart around and make your track. While you’re Kart races around your home, you see opponents racing around you in AR on your Switch. This game will be available, and you can choose either a Mario or Luigi RC racer version of this game. I assume that if this does well, other Mario characters will be available to purchase separately in RC Cart racers. This toy and AR video game is a fantastic concept and idea, but it’s a toy that I don’t mind passing on right now. If I were a kid, I would want this and ask for a Christmas gift. What I gathered from the video looks like it can only play on the Wi-Fi home network, so you can’t take this outside and make up your outdoor track. Unless you can set up a hotspot as the only way to do that, I also heard that the kart needs three hours to charge and can only run for about one hour on 150cc mode. It’s not a lot of time if you wish to play with friends, and they want to play or try it out. Still, this could be a potentially significant toy this holiday, as winter approaches and kids will be playing indoors for the next few months. I can also see creative players setting up courses and displaying them on Youtube. Mario Kart Live Home Circuit comes out on October 16, 2020.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars
The long-rumored game that everyone was excepting to be released finally got announced. A three-game set, Super Mario 3D All-Stars includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. I realized that while a great collection of three games, these games range from Thirteen to Twenty-Four years old. An “I’m getting old” moment. I wish they had added Super Mario Galaxy 2 in the collection, but I’ll be fine without that game here. I am not a fan of this collection being a limited release. I’ve already preordered my copy, but I’m hoping that this won’t be hard to get, or scalped, to say this least. This game will be available digitally and psychically until March 31, 2020. After that, this collection of games will no longer be available to purchase. You can still download the game if you bought the game digitally and happened to delete the game off of your Switch. I hope that the digital release will at least deter the scalpers for awhile. But I can’t help but feel the physical game will skyrocket once the game no longer available in April.
My Summarized Thoughts of the Super Mario Nintendo Direct
The Super Mario Nintendo Direct was a great video that led to many “shut up and take my money” moments for me. While I’m not a fan of the time-sensitive games like Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario 35, It’s not enough to deter me from already preordering and buying them when I can. While I’ll probably not get Mario Kart Live Home Circuit, at least right away, enough is coming this Holiday Season from Nintendo for any Nintendo Switch or Super Mario Bros. fans to look forward to in the next few months.
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