Animal Crossing, Smash Bros., Splatoon Getting Mario-Themed Events For 35th Anniversary
Mario's anniversary cannot be contained in Mario games, as the plumber is going to make fun cameos in a bunch of Nintendo's other popular games.
Nintendo surprise-released another Nintendo Direct this morning, packed with tons of announcements about Mario's 35th anniversary. The headliner announcement was Super Mario 3D All-Stars, but you'll be able to celebrate the plucky plumber through a bunch of Nintendo's other games as well.
As detailed in the Direct, special events and merch will be available in several games throughout the celebration period, which lasts through March 31, 2021. You'll also be able to redeem points for a Mario pin set through MyNintendo (while supplies last), and some special Mario merch will be available through the Nintendo World store in New York City, including keychains and t-shirts based on the Splatfest below.
The first in-game event kicks off next week in Mario Kart Tour, with the inclusion of Mario and Donkey Kong Jr. as they appeared in the original Mario Kart for Super NES. Sometime later this year, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will hold a special themed tournament. Then in January, Splatoon 2 will host a Splatfest that pits two iconic power-ups against each other: Super Mushroom vs Super Star. Finally, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be adding Mario-themed furniture sometime during the celebration, but the presentation didn't detail when.
The slew of Mario announcements also included the battle royale game Super Mario Bros. 35, a Switch port of the Wii U game Super Mario 3D World, and Game & Watch callback, and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, which lets you race physical karts through real home courses.
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