Nintendo site suggests Mario 35 plans could have been delayed by nearly 6 months

A page discovered on the official Super Mario 35th Anniversary website suggests Nintendo could have delayed the festivities by nearly 6 months.

Last week Nintendo published a surprise Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct and announced it would celebrate this month’s Birthday with the release of several games including Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

VGC first reported on the plans back in March – a story which was corroborated by other outlets – with sources telling us Nintendo would showcase the 35th anniversary plans at E3 in June, leading up to the opening of Nintendo’s Japanese theme park in the summer.

However, these plans were eventually disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with E3 2020 cancelled and the Nintendo theme park’s opening postponed.

Now a page discovered on Nintendo’s website seemingly suggests the 35th Anniversary plans could have begun as early as April.

The page for a special Super Mario Maker 2 Online Challenge – archived by Resetera – suggest the Mario 35 Ninji speedrun was at one point due to start on April 14, 2020 and run for one week.

Nintendo significantly scaled back its marketing of game announcements in 2020, partly due to complications around remote working.

Prior to the Mario 35 Direct, the platform holder only had one announced title with a confirmed release date: October’s Pikmin 3 Deluxe, which was announced via press release and not its usual Direct model.

In addition to 3D All-Stars, Nintendo announced several additional Mario games for Switch this week. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is an updated version of 2013’s Wii U platformer, including yet to be revealed additional content.

Online battle game Super Mario Bros. 35. sees 35 players compete to be the last Mario standing, while Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit allows players to race a real physical kart.

Upgraded versions of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 are also available via Super Mario All-Stars on Nintendo Switch Online today, while Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. is an upcoming collectable device featuring classic Mario games.

Further Reading

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Super Mario 3D All-Stars has finally been revealed for Nintendo Switch

Mario Switch remasters will celebrate Mario’s 35th anniversary in September