Friday, March 10, 2023

Discontinued Free Battle Royal Platform Game Review: Super Mario Bros. 35


It's the tenth of March, and that means it's Mario Day. Today I decided to do something less expected and look at a fun Super Mario game that is still playable only thanks to the hard work of fans. 

Super Mario Bros. 35 was a version of Super Mario Bros. by Arika that was released in 2020 for the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Super Mario series. It was an online game that pit up to thirty-five players against each other. Players would play through the levels of Super Mario Bros. until they died. After that, the game would continue until only one player was left standing.

Along with a leaderboard, the game also kept track of enemies encountered and the levels played. The latter would allow the player to enter a match that started with the level selected.

The levels look, sound, and play just as they did in the halcyon year of 1985. The control is just as tight as it was then, allowing for the precise running and jumping that is needed for this battle royale. The music, graphics, and sound effects are just as they were back then as well, giving the game an authentic retro feel that is all the rage right now.

Like Tetris 99 or Pac-Man 99, which were both also developed by Arika, the game worked as well as it did because it was a classic game that was built to be picked up and played without the need for instruction. This way players new to the game on which it was based would be able to play it just as easily as seasoned players.

Super Mario Bros. 35 is sadly no longer available as of April 1, 2021, since Nintendo only intended to keep it going during Nintendo's thirty-five-year anniversary of Super Mario in 2020. Thankfully, fans have stepped in as they often do and created a server to bring this game back alive once again. It is good that they did, as this fun, free little game is worth playing as long as you have to means to do so.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

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