Super Mario Bros. 35 - Review, Mario in battle royale sauce

Super Mario Bros. 35 - Review, Mario in battle royale sauce

There have been many releases that Nintendo has planned to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its most famous icon. We had Super Mario 3D All Stars, which arrived last September 18, and in the future the very special Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury will also arrive on Switch. A few days ago it was the turn of Super Mario Bros. 35, a free title for owners of the online subscription on the hybrid console that has been able to make people talk about it since its first presentation. Developed by Arika, already creator of the excellent Tetris 99, it is the original union between the first, historical, Super Mario Bros. for NES and the battle royale genre. A combination that, as already happened for the famous tile-matching of 1984, turned out to be an idea as crazy as it was absolutely winning.



Super Mario Bros. for 35 players

Although the idea of ​​combining platform and battle royale may seem strange, once you start playing and completing a few games, you immediately understand how Nintendo and Arika have managed well to harmonize the experience. The basic gameplay of the first Super Mario Bros., immortal and still enjoyable today, as well as always fast and accessible, it blends well with the "strategy" given by the battle royale nature. The player is in fact called to continue in the levels trying to hinder the opponents by sending the defeated enemies along their way, but at the same time it will be necessary to keep an eye on two other very important elements.


Super Mario Bros. 35 - Review, Mario in battle royale sauce

The first of these is the time. To increase the time available and avoid defeat, the player must defeat as many enemies as possible. However, in this case it is not just a question of quantity, but also your own ability. For example, defeating enemies with fireballs is simple and is therefore useful in case you want to put your opponents in difficulty. At the same time, however, each enemy defeated in this way allows you to get just one more second, a particularly risky detail considering that time will speed up once there are few players left. To accumulate as many seconds as possible it is therefore necessary, or in any case recommended, to defeat the enemies by subsequently jumping on each of them, so that the time obtained increases with each elimination.


In addition to the skill, however, it is also useful knowledge of the base game and its secrets. Here, in fact, the second element we were talking about comes into play, namely the monete. The latter are used to spin a "wheel of objects" and thus obtain a random power-up such as a fire flower, a super mushroom or a star. Taking advantage of the wheel can often save your life in particularly difficult moments, and for this reason it is important to immediately stock up on many coins. However, most of them are found in bonus rooms and secrets, and for this reason the knowledge of the title is immediately an effective weapon. The request for both skill and knowledge could discourage less experienced players and favor the connoisseurs of the title too much, however this is a problem that can partly be solved by the training mode. Through the latter it is possible to play each unlocked level without any pressure, in order to better understand how to face it and discover the secrets it hides.


Super Mario Bros. 35 - Review, Mario in battle royale sauce

Accumulating points at the end of each game will advance us in rank, in a progression system which, however, is currently very limited. Increasing your level only allows you to get new icons to show during the games, a fairly small reward to motivate and push you to play. Another flaw is found in the absence of modes dedicated to the game even between friends. In fact, it is not possible to invite some friends to your game, which would certainly have been appreciated. Ultimately it is a product that in the experience it proposes works, entertains and involves, although the continuous repetition of the levels may be repetitive for some players. Instead, something more could have been done about the progression structure and the general offer it proposes, which is still good for a free title which, we remind you, will only be available until next March 31, 2021.


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