Update: VGC editor in chief Andy Robinson has tweeted: "I wasn't going to name any specific titles, but since Eurogamer has gone ahead I can also confirm Galaxy, 3D World and other 3D Marios are coming." Which doesn't confirm Mario 64, but, it also sort of does, right? Eurogamer also adds in its report that 3D World will be a deluxe edition with all-new levels.
Another Update: Andy's now confirming that Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 64 are headed for Switch. Be still, my heart. For one of the two, at least. But also: if Nintendo's not saying this is happening, let's not get too ahead of ourselves.
Original Story: In what can only be described as Exciting News, Actually, reports have emerged that Nintendo is planning a Super Mario remastering feast as part of the mascot's 35th anniversary - the original Super Mario Bros. having debuted in Japan in September 1985. I was five years old. I was happy, then.
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Where was I... Ah, Super Mario. Or more pertinently, a host of Super Mario games. VGC reports today that sources close to Nintendo have been making wholly believable whispers about the mainline Super Mario series' anniversary being marked by a slew of Switch-destined remasters.
And you know the caliber of classics we're talking about here, right? Super Mario Galaxy, and its sequel. Super Mario 3D World. Super Mario 64. That one on the GameCube that some of us don't like to talk about. You know the one. Check out our ranking of all the mainline Super Mario games here, and argue with us another time.
Because right now, it's all about this news. VGC cites "multiple sources" as it claims that "most of" the Super Mario back catalogue will be released, remastered, in 2020, for the Nintendo Switch. Additionally, all-new Mario games are forthcoming, including a new entry in the Paper Mario series.
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Complementing the news of the games will be an update on the in-development Mario movie - an animated feature, being produced by Universal Pictures - and further details on the Super Nintendo World theme parks, one of which is in Japan, and the other the USA.
But! Before you all race away to tell your nearest and dearest this great news, remember please that while VGC is a site of great repute, until Nintendo themselves confirm anything, we just don't know. Given how worked up some fans of all things Mario get when there hasn't been a Nintendo Direct for a while (although, we did just have one, just last week), it's advisable to keep your hype on the down-low.
Reaching out for comment from Nintendo, on these rumours, VGC was told by a representative that the company - Nintendo, that is - "does not comment on rumour and speculation". (I'd give them a shout too, since we're probably speaking to the same person, but I'd only get the same answer.) But given that June's E3 has been cancelled, it could well be that we see the first confirmed details of this 35th anniversary activity in the summertime, around the time that E3 was supposed to happen.
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A Super Mario-themed Nintendo Direct in a few months' time? You can feel it in your F.L.U.D.D., can't you? Personally, I'd love to see Super Mario 64 get a properly sanctioned remaster, but not a remake, please - I want those blocks to stay blocky, if you get me.
But if we're talking remakes, if Link's Awakening can receive a frankly fantastic one, why not another Game Boy banger in the shape of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins? So, very, up for it.
Featured Image Credit: NintendoTopics: Switch, Super Mario, Mario, Nintendo