Let's Talk About those Mario 35th anniversary rumours

Happy 35th birthday Mario jump-man Mario!

Update September 5th, 2020: All of what I'm about to talk about has now been confirmerd! 
The Mario 35th anniversary Direct this week and true to form for Nintendo, includes everything I talk about here and more. I suggest you check out that Direct, or better yet, the post I wrote about it for more information.

At the end of March, a report popped up on VGC that multiple sources had confirmed that Nintendo is planning to re-release multiple Mario games, both relatively new and old, for the Switch this year to celebrate the very first Mario game releasing 35 years ago. Nintendo was going to use its E3 presentation, before the event got cancelled, to reveal the games alongside an animated Mario movie and details on the Super Nintendo World theme park. This report was followed up a day later with more even more details. The games that were going to be remastered were Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and the original Super Mario Galaxy. Not only that, but Super Mario 3D World was going to get ported to the Switch as well and to top it all off, a brand new Paper Mario game. Even with all of these reports coming from a reliable news outlet, and some of the details having been confirmed but other in the last few weeks, it all still seems a bit unreal.

Perhaps it's just wishfull thinking?

Why would it feel unreal you might ask? Well, because Nintendo isn't known for doing this kind of stuff. During Mario 30th anniversary, Nintendo held different events across the year such as a concert and a bunch of special merchandise like Mario branded Hotweels and two special AMIIBO but when it came to the actual games Super Mario Maker was the only thing they released that year. Going from one game to at least five games is a big step, especially if you take Nintendo's previous behaviour towards their classics into account.

Yes, Nintendo has ported quite a few of their WII U games to the Switch and there have been quite a few Zelda remakes the last few years. But when it comes to Mario their really haven't been many remakes or re-releases. Super Mario 64 got a remake way back when the Nintendo DS first launched, but that's kind off it. Releasing three remasters of the same franchise in the same year? That's a far cry from what they've done in the past. Nintendo is known for being rather unpredictable, but still.

A 3D Mario collection

I'd like to change direction here a little and talk a bit more about the games in specific. The list of games 'confirmed' to get a remaster or port do make sense. The collection of 3D Mario games, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, are the most popular so it makes sense for Nintendo to pick these games for a re-release. Newer fans get the change to enjoy and experience these titles for the first time while an older or returning fan can re-experience them on better hardware.

What I'm wondering about with this collection specifically are two things: the price and the quality of the remasters. Nintendo is usually very straight forward with their remasters and remakes. Better graphics, some quality of life updates and some added content as a bit of a bonus all wrapped in a neat but full-priced package. With three remastered games releasing in the same collection, it makes me wonder how expensive the package will be and how much polish the games will have gotten. Will the graphics be redone completely or just slightly polished? Will there be some extra added content? And what will the price be? The normal 60 bucks or more?

It all depends on how long Nintendo has been working on the remaster and how ambitious they are with the titles. As it stands now, I'm fearing the collection will either be rather expensive or not as polished as many would like but we'll have to wait and see.

A port of Super Mario 3D World has been rumoured for quite a while, might 2020 be the year it finally happens?

A Paper Mario remake?

Something else I'd been wondering about: in a later report, it's mentioned that the Paper Mario game has a 'back to basics' approach. For those of you don't know, the original few Paper Mario games like the Thousand-Year Door were all strategy RPG's while the more recent games are more action-oriented. The last Paper Mario game, Color Splash, wasn't particularly well-received nor did it move a lot of copies of the shelves so them going back and use some of the older more successful games as the basis for a new entry makes senses. But just like with the collection, only time will tell if it meant going way back to the original few games or if some features of the 'new' style might still sneak their way in.

...........

If the rumours are true and Nintendo is planning on celebrating Mario 35th anniversary in a very big way, we're up for quite a treat. A collection of some of the best Mario games out there, together with a long-anticipated port and a new game in the Paper Mario series is all very exciting news for fans even if it does still seem a bit unlikely. The company isn't really known for doing these kinds of things and what shape the games will take exactly is a bit uncertain. However, Nintendo decides to celebrates its mascot big milestone will find out soon enough.