The Nintendo Switch’s worst game trend? Games with expiration dates

Nintendo celebrated Super Mario Bros.’ 35th anniversary with appropriate levels of enthusiasm. The company released a collection of 3D Super Mario games from multiple console generations, new hardware in the form of a Game & Watch handheld that played the original Super Mario Bros., and even a battle royale version of the 8-bit NES classic.

But in one of the stranger moves Nintendo made in commemorating Mario’s 35th birthday, it released the products for a limited time, effectively putting expiration dates on the celebration of Super Mario Bros.

You can no longer play Super Mario Bros. 35, the 35-player take on the classic platformer, and you can no longer purchase Super Mario 3D All-Stars at retail or from Nintendo’s own eShop. If you want to purchase the All-Stars collection that includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, you’ll pay well above retail prices for the privilege. Complete copies of Super Mario 3D All-Stars go for $80 to $100 (or more) on eBay.

Nintendo’s justification for the decision to limit how long Super Mario Bros. 35 and Super Mario 3D All-Stars stuck around wasn’t very convincing. Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser told Polygon at the time, “There are various ways that we’re celebrating Mario’s 35th. And with some of these titles, we felt it was an opportunity to release them for a limited period of time.”

Bowser continued, “They’ve done very, very well. Super Mario 3D All-Stars has sold over 2.6 million units in the U.S. alone. And so clearly, consumers have been able to jump in and enjoy that. And it’s not a strategy that we’re going to be using widely, but it’s one we thought was very unique for the actual anniversary.”

I will say it worked on me. I still have a sealed copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars that I purchased as soon as it was released.

Granted, Super Mario 3D All-Stars was a lackluster collection of two great games (and Super Mario Sunshine), and Super Mario Bros. 35 has superior battle royale peers in Tetris 99 and F-Zero 99, but the games’ manufactured scarcity was a lousy precedent to set — and one that we hope doesn’t continue on Switch 2.

Considering the staggering number of games that become unplayable over time, either because of cancellations of live-service games, studios folding, or rights changing hands, it’s distressing that Nintendo would intentionally make the availability and preservation of games in its most marquee of franchises so limited. Those decisions are, hopefully, an anomaly.

Here’s the potential good news: Super Mario Bros.’ 40th birthday happens later in 2025, the same year that Nintendo is launching a new console. Maybe we’ll get new, better collections — show some respect on Super Mario Galaxy 2, please — and a chance to return to Super Mario Bros. 35, only now against even more players.