Super Mario 35

(Available for Nintendo Switch only)
(Nintendo Switch Online account is required)

Super Mario 35 is a free online multiplayer battle royal game for the Switch online as part of the Mario 35^th Anniversary. You play the original Super Mario Bros for the NES with 34 other players at the same time darting between levels back and forth with a small time limit which can be increased by defeating enemies which also sends that enemy to one of your opponents, keep going until you’re eliminated, last player standing wins. Which opponent can be set to Random, whose attacking you, who has the lowest time, or who has the most coins. Coins are also used for an item roulette which can be activated at 20 coins collected making coin collection more incentivised. If it sounds familiar it is very similar to the previously released Tetris 99. This obviously is really just a more chaotic version of Mario Bros on the NES so it’s built on good foundation of the game that would define all platformers going forward so most talk is going to be on how it works now as a battle royal game.

Pros

• Gameplay: it’s so Addictive, I can’t drag myself off this game. Nintendo has been constantly re releasing Super Mario Bros for the NES through releases on platforms like the Gameboy or the Virtual Consoles on Wii, 3DS and Wii U and most recently the NES collection on the Switch online so it’s really not too exciting to replay it as much as it used to be (something that’s wrong with how Nintendo is handling it’s legacy content but that’s a subject for another day). this game really revamps the experience and gives me more ways to show off all the little tricks and short cuts I have learnt over the years with the 34 other players to outlast. The only major change is that if you get hit with a fire flower you go back to Big Mario rather than Mini Mario which makes it slightly more forgiving. The fast nature also really improves on the gameplay and makes you really think on your actions and learn levels to pace a strategies to benefit your score. Seriously I’ve been playing this game at least 30 minutes longer than I ever intended to each day just to see if I could do better and have finished in the top 5 on numerous occasions and even won a game. to add an extra dimension to a classic that has been replayed to death is an amazing achievement and has been pulled off

Cons

• Not too many features at launch: it’s very basic at this point in time. There are timed events that are planned for the future but if I compare it to the content you got in Tetris 99 it feels rather underwhelming. It also has little single player content unlike Tetris 99 which means that it’s not as good to play portably whilst traveling so if you want to play this game portably I’d advise turning you phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot
• Only available until end of March: for some baffling reason Nintendo is going to shut this game down at the end of March. Why is a mystery and completely sours the experience going forward knowng that a game I’m getting tons of fun out of will be gone. If a game has a good online community there is no reason to shut down a server. And I get that this is a special thing for the 35^th anniversary but it still feels like a bad move for endering yourself to your fans

Overall thoughts

To have this new amazing way of experiencing. Both oldschool players and New Mario fans will get a lot out of this and this is one of the most addictive multiplayer games on the Switch. I really enjoyed my time with Mario 35 and unlike many of the online focused games I’ve reviewed this one I will be regularly playing while I can. This has been incredibly enjoyable way of playing Mario Bros

Score: 9.2/10