March 10 or Mario Day (Mar10 Day) has come once again with several new announcements from Nintendo to commemorate the occasion. Here’s a rundown of everything revealed in case you missed it.
Super Mario Bros. Related Movie Confirmed
Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo and Chris Meledandri of Illumination Studios confirmed that they are currently collaborating to create a sequel to the 2023 Super Mario Bros. animated movie. Mr. Meledandri has stated that Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelnic will reprise their roles as directors alongside the artists from Illumination Studios Paris. He also stated that they are currently in the process of storyboarding and set design, with animation due to begin soon though no firm dates were given.
The original movie was a massive financial success becoming both the highest-grossing film by Illumination and the highest-grossing film based on a video game of all time. Due to this high profitability and how its ending left plenty of room for a sequel for sequels and spin-offs, it comes as no surprise that this would occur with rumors and speculation about a possible follow-up to the original film starting almost immediately after its release. Given the mixed critical reception of the original hopefully, this will also provide an opportunity to improve on that film’s shortcomings.
Mario Series Remasters Release Dates Confirmed
Two upcoming remasters of classic games in the Mario series have had their release dates announced. The first is the remaster of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door which has been slated for a release on May 23, 2024. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is a beloved classic of the GameCube library which has unfortunately been stuck on that console for about 20 years. It was therefore with great excitement that fans greeted the announcement of an upcoming remaster.
The second title to have its release date announced was Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD which is set to release on June 26, 2024. The original Luigi’s Mansion 2 (called Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon in North America) was released for the 3DS in 2013 to much fanfare and critical acclaim.
New Game Boy Nintendo Switch Online Games Announced
Nintendo continues its trickle of classic game releases for the Nintendo Switch Online service, this time 3 new Game Boy Games in the Mario series have been announced for release on March 12, 2024. The first of these is the original Game Boy version of Dr. Mario; a puzzle game released in 1990. This game has already previously appeared on Nintendo Switch Online as part of the services NES lineup with the only real difference between these two versions being the Game Boy’s lack of color. This release is not entirely without value given the fact that the Game Boy version greatly outsold the NES version and as a result, many people have far greater nostalgia for playing Dr. Mario on the Game Boy. The real meat and potatoes of this set of releases are Mario Tennis and Mario Golf for the Game Boy Color. Originally released in 2000 and 1999 respectively one could be forgiven for thinking that these were merely cut-down ports of the Nintendo 64 games of the same names, but the truth is that these are two completely original games specifically designed to take advantage of the strengths of the GBC. Unlike their console counterparts, these portable Mario sports games are primarily centered around their surprisingly extensive RPG-esque single-player campaigns. Mario Tennis and Mario Golf on the Game Boy Color are widely regarded as classics and it is good to have them in such an easily accessible form.
