RIP Super Mario Bros. 35, We Hardly Knew Ye
Nintendo may have missed The Legend of Zelda’s 35th anniversary –though they will likely celebrate it more throughout the year– but they did go pretty hard for their most iconic character, Mario. Super Mario turned 35 this past year and Nintendo went all out for the anniversary, offering new games such as the 2D platformer battle-royale, Super Mario Bros. 35, and new/old games with the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. The company clearly wanted to make these games special, so special in fact that they are only offering them for a limited time with both games set to be removed from stores on the franchises 36th anniversary at the end of the month, March 31.
While fans have been hopeful that Nintendo would change their mind on this decision and keep the games online, it appears as if that is not going to be the case.
A new post made to Nintendo’s Japanese Twitter account confirmed it.
「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
Thanks to a translation from Nintendo Life, we know that the post roughly translates to “The ‘Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary’ campaign will end at the end of March 2021. With the end of the campaign, the production, sales and services of some products will also end.”
So, unfortunately it seems as if Nintendo is sticking to their guns with this one. Here is the full list of affected titles:
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars will no longer be sold digitally or physically
- Super Mario Bros. 35 servers will be removed from the Nintendo eShop
- Super Mario Game & Watch system will no longer be available for purchase
- The original Super Mario Maker’s online service will be terminated
- and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light will be removed from the eShop –not a Mario title, but still an odd and noteworthy decision by Nintendo