After seemingly finding a ton of success with its surprisingly hype, nonsensical battle royale Tetris 99, Nintendo is doing it again. But this time, we’re looking at a battle royale version of the all-time classic Super Mario Bros. That sounds too ridiculous to be true, but if you’re a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber you’ll be able to experience Super Mario Bros. 35 for yourself starting on October 1, 2020. Unfortunately, unlike Tetris 99, this new take on turning an ancient retro game into a multiplayer competition loosely inspired by an extremely violent novel about the lethally stressful Japanese school system, will only be available for a limited time.
Related: Super Mario 3D All-Stars Coming to Switch for a Limited Time
Super Mario Bros. 35 is part of the Super Mario Bros. 35 Anniversary celebration, which includes upcoming software we’ve already covered such as the also-limited Super Mario Bros. 3D All-Stars and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s fury. This game takes the 35 thing to its literal extreme, making the original Super Mario Bros. into a 35-player fight to the death. Players will drop in on the first stage, then play until the last Mario standing while sabotaging each other’s game states.
In the trailer, you can see that the framework for Super Mario bros. 35 is identical to Tetris 99, featuring the exact same style of UI elements. You can see each player’s game state in little windows surrounding your own play area, and a menu at the top of the screen lets you choose specialized targets for your sabotage attempts. Based on the footage, it looks like as you play and succeed, you’ll be able to send various enemies into other players’ games, making them think twice before they try to play like this is a pure Super Mario Bros. race. This is a wacky race, minus the jerkface dog and exploding vehicles.
Much like the other limited anniversary content, Super Mario Bros. 35 will last through the end of March 2021, at which point Nintendo will ostensibly pull the plug. Depending on how popular this ends up being I can see some real upset caused when the time comes, but we’ll see what happens. Perhaps this game comes back another time, or we see an eventual Tetris-99 parallel physical release. Who knows!
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Are you excited to try what may be the weirdest version of Super Mario Bros. ever made? Did you love Tetris 99 and want more? Or are you more focused on the fact this game has an expiration date? Let us know what you think over at the Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!
