The Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary was a celebration of the Super Mario video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto. The series began with the release of Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, and has since spanned over twenty games appearing on every major Nintendo video game console. Through a series of leaks initially reported by Video Games Chronicle in March 2020, plans revealed that Nintendo originally planned to celebrate the anniversary earlier in 2020; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the anniversary was postponed to September that same year. The anniversary was announced in a Nintendo Direct on September 3, 2020, and ran until March 31, 2021.
Nintendo released numerous Mario titles for the Nintendo Switch during the anniversary. New games included Paper Mario: The Origami King, Super Mario Bros. 35, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, while re-releases included Super Mario 3D All-Stars and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. Additionally, a limited edition Game & Watch handheld was released, containing Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as well as a remake of the Game & Watch game Ball. All the games received generally positive reviews from critics.
In addition to games, Nintendo partnered with many companies and brands to produce tie-in merchandise. This included the release of Lego Super Mario sets in collaboration with The Lego Group, which came with electronic figures that interact with certain parts of the set, as well as clothing and toys produced by Levi's, UHU, and Hasbro. Events such as the opening of Super Nintendo World were also held to coincide with the celebration of the anniversary.
History Background
The Super Mario series was first created in 1985 when Shigeru Miyamoto developed and produced Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom in Japan and Nintendo Entertainment System elsewhere. The game became a critical and commercial success, which warranted two more sequels on the NES. The next entry in the series was Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, developed in 1990. The game upgrade the series from 8-bit to 16-bit graphics, as well as introduced series staple features such as Yoshi. In 1996, Super Mario 64 was released as a launch title for the Nintendo 64, which brought the series into 3D gameplay. The game became a critical success and is often noted as influential within the gaming industry. The 3D gameplay of Mario 64 was then greatly expanded upon with two successors, Super Mario Sunshine (2002) for the GameCube and Super Mario Galaxy (2007) for the Wii. The series has since released over twenty entries split between 2D and 3D gameplay, with at least one released for every major Nintendo video game consoles.
The Super Mario series was first celebrated in 2005, for the series' 20th anniversary. In late July 2005, Nintendo announced the release Mario Tennis: Power Tour and Dr. Mario & Puzzle League for September 13 that year in Japan, as well as the re-release of the Famicom Mini version of Super Mario Bros. for the Game Boy Advance. In addition, they also released a special edition version of the Game Boy Micro styled after the color scheme of a Famicom controller to commemorate the anniversary.
The series celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2010. To commemorate the anniversary, a limited edition of version of Super Mario All-Stars bundled with a CD and artbook was released called 'Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition' for the Wii. Furthermore, other titles such as Mario series titles received additional reprints at Toys "R" Us for the anniversary. Similar to the 20th anniversary, limited edition consoles were also commissioned for the celebration specifically for the Wii and DSi, the DSi of which was a promotional deal with Japanese 7-Eleven. An event was held at the Nintendo World Store in New York City which featured Shigeru Miyamoto and former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, cutting a cake themed after levels from Super Mario Bros..
The series celebrated its 30th anniversary, starting in April 2015. For the anniversary Nintendo released Super Mario Maker in September, which became a big part of the celebration. The game also spawned two amiibo styled after 8-bit Mario called the Mario 30th Anniversary Amiibo, which were sold separately or in bundles. Other than games, Nintendo also teamed up with other brands to mark the anniversary such as Hot Wheels, Romain Jerome and Moschino.
Anniversary The anniversary celebration unofficially started on March 10, 2020, when Nintendo and The Lego Group teased a collaborative partnership on Twitter with a short video of a Mario figurine with an LED display, under the name of Lego Super Mario. By March 12, a trailer was released on the Lego YouTube account, depicting multiple interactive playsets based on level themes in the Super Mario franchise.
In late March 2020, Video Games Chronicle reported on rumors of a big celebration for the series' anniversary, in which Nintendo would re-release games from the series' 35-year-old backlog. Additionally, VentureBeat claimed they received information from sources that the celebration was originally scheduled to be held at Nintendo's E3 2020 presentation, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic the event was cancelled and the celebration would have to be postponed. The event was also meant to tie into new details being revealed for Super Nintendo World and The Super Mario Bros. Movie in partnership with Universal Pictures. Furthermore, information later added on the official website for a Super Mario Maker 2 event suggested that some plans had originally been planned for as early as April 2020. Supplementary sources corroborated by Eurogamer and Gematsu claimed that one of the games in the celebration was a collection of remasters of 3D Mario titles reminiscent of Super Mario All-Stars, with sources claiming the game contained Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy. Other sources also claimed that there were a new Paper Mario games as well as a "deluxe" port for Super Mario 3D World which were also being developed for the anniversary. A Paper Mario game, Paper Mario: The Origami King, was later announced in May 2020 in a standalone trailer. In July, Nintendo fans discovered a hidden Twitter account for the anniversary celebration, the account of which shared the same email address as other official Nintendo Twitter accounts.
On September 3, Nintendo showcased a variant of their Nintendo Direct online presentations, titled Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct. Within the direct, several of the previously rumored games were announced, including the rumored "All-Stars 2" revealed as Super Mario 3D All-Stars. The original Super Mario All-Stars was also re-released as a part of the Nintendo Switch Online service. Other games not mentioned by insiders were also announced, including Super Mario Bros. 35, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit and the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. handheld. In addition to the new titles, the direct also featured a recap of previously announced promotions within the year in the form of events in other Nintendo games as well as merchandise provide by collaborations with other companies. The Direct ended with a montage of most of the mainline Mario releases since 1985, omitting Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros. 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U. After the direct ended, it was announced that the celebration would last until March 31, 2021. Nintendo later added that 3D All-Stars, Super Mario Bros. 35, and the Game & Watch handheld were all to cease sales after the end of the celebration.
On September 13, Nintendo launched two websites for Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels, alongside printable manuals for the respective games. The websites acted as tie-in promotions for the then upcoming Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. handheld, as well as celebrating the anniversary as a whole.
Games New releases Paper Mario: The Origami King
A Paper Mario game had initially been rumored by both Eurogamer and Video Games Chronicle on March 30. The report claimed that the game would "return to the franchise's roots" and would offer an experience closer to Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door compared to the other entries in the series. Originally, Origami King was meant to be revealed at E3 2020 alongside the other games meant for the anniversary. However, the announcements were split from the main celebration, partially due to Nintendo's transition to work from home development. On May 14, the game was announced as Paper Mario: The Origami King via a standalone trailer on their YouTube page. A second trailer, release on June 12, detailed further gameplay features of the game. The game was released worldwide on July 17.
In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Mario and Luigi are invited by Princess Peach to celebrate the "Origami Festival". However, the celebration ends up being a trap set up by King Olly, a being made from origami. Once inside the castle, Mario learns that Peach was turned into an origami by Olly, and captured Bowser to force him watching his minions getting turned into his army, the Folded Soldiers, so Mario and his new partner Oliva set out across five regions of the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach and stop Olly and his Folded Soldiers from turning the kingdom and its residents into origami. The gameplay consists of action-adventure game exploration in a linear open world where Mario can use mechanics such as the Confetti Bag or the 1000-Fold Arms to solve puzzles or to progress forward. When encountering an enemy, the game takes on turn-based battle system where Mario must line-up up enemies on a circular grid before attacking them. At one point, Mario can temporarily have partners, like Bobby the Bob-omb, Professor Toad, and Kamek. Unlike the previous entries, Sticker Star and Color Splash, the game was received more well by critics, with many praising the game's storytelling, worldbuilding, as well as the game's open world design. However, the game was also criticised for its departure of the battle system seen in older titles from the Paper Mario series, specifically the game's lack of experience points. The Origami King was nonetheless a best-seller, becoming the second best-selling Paper Mario game, the other being Super Paper Mario.
Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.
At the beginning of the 35th Anniversary Direct, a limited edition Game & Watch system was announced called Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., with the release date of November 13. The handheld itself is based on a modified Widescreen Game & Watch handheld, modified with a d-pad and a full-color LCD screen. The system was compiled with three games; Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels and a modified version of the Game & Watch title Ball that replaced Mr. Game & Watch with Mario. The handheld also contains a built-in clock. In addition, the announcement stated that the system contained 35 easter eggs, in reference to the anniversary. Nintendo went on to state that the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. handheld would be one of the anniversary games to be discontinued after March 31, 2021. Critical feedback for the Game & Watch was positive, revering the device for its presentation, secrets to find, as well as the clock feature. However, the handheld was criticised for the button designs, tiny screen and the lack of more games in the compilation.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury