Nintendo's iconic Italian plumber, Mario, is celebrating his 35-year anniversary in style with Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a bundle of three excellent 3D Mario games for the Nintendo Switch. If this is the first you're hearing of this great news, then you might also be shocked to find out just how soon you'll be able to revisit these adventures.
Here's everything we know about Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
Nintendo hosted a surprise Direct presentation on September 3 to announce a slew of Mario games and peripherals meant to celebrate the anniversary. The announcement also include details for Super Mario Bros. 35, a battle royale using the original Super Mario Bros. game in a Tetris 99 format, along with Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a curious collision of augmented reality with physical RC cars that let you play Mario Kart in real life through the Switch.
For many Mario fans, however, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is probably the most exciting announcement of them all, as it ports three "modern" Mario games to the Switch — and it will happen very soon.
Go to the beach ... or into space!
What games are included in Super Mario 3D All-Stars?
Nintendo was upfront in the reveal presentation that the collection would include Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. This will be the first time that any of these games will be available to play on the Nintendo Switch.
Super Mario 64 had previously been ported to other Nintendo consoles, in official and unofficial capacities, in the years following its 1996 release on the Nintendo 64. Super Mario Sunshine was the flagship Mario game on the Nintendo GameCube in 2002. Similarly, Super Mario Galaxy was the Nintendo Wii Mario game released in 2007. Its 2010 sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, will not be included in this bundle.
When is the Super Mario 3D All-Stars release date?
As part of the announcement, Nintendo confirmed that Super Mario 3D All-Stars would be released on September 18, 2020. That's barely more than two weeks after it was revealed!
One major caveat of this collection, however, is that it's considered "limited." It will be available in physical form as a "limited-run retail edition" and the digital edition will only be available until March 31, 2021. So if you don't purchase the collection before April 2021, you may never be able to.
Is there a Super Mario 3D All-Stars trailer?
Yes! The trailer opens on the beloved title screen for Super Mario 64, where you can pinch and stretch Mario's face. It proceeds through a montage of footage from the game, followed by the same for Super Mario Sunshine, and then again for Super Mario Galaxy. All of the footage does look updated to this current version's standards.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars will be released September 18, 2020 for the Nintendo Switch.
