Today is the day Mario dies.
(I mean, that’s a little melodramatic, but it’s also not totally inaccurate.)
Nintendo previously announced they would stop selling the Super Mario 3D All Stars pack on March 31. The Switch bundle contains three popular Mario games from years past: Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. The free-to-play digital game Super Mario Bros 35 also gets the boot today.
The reasoning behind the games’ removal remains a bit unclear. In an interview with Polygon, President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser claimed dropping the games was part of celebrating Mario’s 35th anniversary.
“This is a celebration of Mario’s 35th anniversary. And we wanted to celebrate in unique and different ways, and we’ve done that through games like Super Mario 3D All-Stars, or we will be doing that through future releases, such as Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury,” said Bowser. “There are various ways that we’re celebrating Mario’s 35th. And with some of these titles, we felt it was an opportunity to release them for a limited period of time.”
(Bowser also said removing the games would not be a widely used strategy. So hopefully that means your other Mario games stay safe.)
So can I still play Super Mario 3D All Stars?
If you’ve already purchased the game, yes. (Or if you go purchase it today, before Nintendo removes it from their online store.)
Though the game will no longer appear in the online Nintendo store, it will remain in your personal library for future gameplay. Even if you remove the game from your system, you can redownload it any time.
What about Super Mario Bros 35?
NOPE. This is where Mario really goes to die: not only will Super Mario Bros 35 no longer appear in the Nintendo store, the company is also discontinuing service for the game. So if you’re a big fan of this one, you better play today and get your fix before it’s gone.
If you don’t already own 3D All Stars and you want to, make sure to grab it today from the Nintendo store.
Source: Nintendo
