During this week’sNintendo Direct, the Big N showed off a few seconds of the next mainlineMariogame,Super Mario Bros. Wonder. But it showed off significantlymorefootage of old Mario spin-offs that are about to get new life on theSwitch. If the Switch is truly winding down in time for Nintendo’s next system to launch in 2024, it’s spending its twilight year looking back to the past and off the beaten path.
The show closed with the heaviest hitter of all.Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Doorhas long been regarded as the best game in the arts and crafts-inspired RPG series, and was frequently invoked when Paper Mario: The Origami King launched on Switch back in 2020. That game drew unfavorable comparisons due to its lack of RPG systems, so the series’ biggest fans should be happy to have the GOAT newly remade for modern hardware. I played TTYD as a kid but, in classic Andrew fashion, didn’t finish it, so I’ll definitely be picking it up on Switch to right that wrong.
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Thousand-Year Door might be the most exciting Mario-related announcement, but the return of Mario vs. Donkey Kong was by far the most surprising. The GBA original always looked really cool to me as a kid, and the presence of toylike mini-Marios gave it a Christmas vibe, in my brain at least. I never played any of the puzzle-platformers in this series and, frankly, never expected to. I thought I had missed my window. But I’ll gladly give it a look on Switch.
Luigi’s Mansion 2coming to Switch means that the full spooky subseries will all be available in one place starting next year. This is another series that I’ve never given a real shot. I got Luigi’s Mansion 3 on Switch for Christmas a few years ago, but didn’t have time to finish it before I needed to get back into games for work. So, it has sadly languished on its cartridge, waiting for my return. The release of 2 might be a good enough excuse to give the whole series a go.
And, though it wasn’t news, it was exciting to get another glimpse of the remadeSuper Mario RPG. I hadn’t realized before now that the remake is adding Paper Mario-style timed button prompts that can reduce incoming damage or increase the hurt Mario and co. deal out. I really enjoyed this aspect of the combat in Sea of Stars, so I’m excited to see it added to Mario RPG.
We aren’t even getting into WarioWare: Move It! Or Princess Peach: Showtime!, the entirely new Mario spin-offs that were on display during the Direct or all the Mario spin-offs available via Nintendo Switch Online. The bottom line is that, unless Nintendo brings back the Virtual Console, this is the best possible time to play Mario games that aren’t main Mario games. If you love Mario but hate jumping, you are about to be eating really good.
