Super Mario Bros. 35

I was pleasantly surprised to find a fair amount of replay value and challenge baked into the experience here. Not only do you level up through playing matches, but there are also daily challenges and special game modes that change over time. Still, as much fun as it is to play against other players, there’s only so much this can do to make things feel fresh. You’ll soon be a bit sick of seeing the same levels and wish that there were more Mario titles, or even more classic Nintendo games.

Super Mario Bros. 35 is extremely addictive to keep playing over and over, trying to get that top spot no matter how long it takes. Matches can last a good amount of time with the final remaining group of players, so it becomes a strategy match of trying to send threatening enemies to everyone else, hoping they slip up. There are so many creative concepts here and it’s nice to see such wild ideas for the battle royale genre popping up this year that make things silly in the best kind of way. It’s a crying shame this title won’t be around forever, but as a free title for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, it’s a fantastically fun time all the same. Anyone looking for a crazy new challenging way to play the original Super Mario Bros should give Super Mario Bros. 35 a try and jump into the fray.

Super Mario Bros. 35 is a flawed game in some ways while offering something new and unique and a whole lot of fun in others.

Delivering precisely what is advertised, Super Mario Bros. 35 delivers on familiar 2D platforming with an all-new competitive twist. Playing against 34 other Marios at once is a wonderful type of mayhem, as is facing off against hordes of enemies. However, early course repetition and late-game lulls slightly temper this Mushroom Kingdom celebration of Mario's 35 years.

Super Mario Bros. 35 is stressful, strategic, and quite a bit of fun, but its repetitive nature makes it feel a little less super after a while.

Hopefully Nintendo has a change of heart like they did with Jump Rope Challenge and updates the game to address some of its shortcomings: because it has even more potential than a temporary flight of fancy.

Lifting the Tetris 99 template wholesale, Super Mario Bros. 35 is a fun and accessible spin on the battle royale, but it's one that's hampered by a lack of clarity over its multiplayer mechanics. Its fresh new player base also leads to endless trips through 1-1 and gruelling marathons instead of tense battles to be the last Mario standing.

Super Mario Bros. doesn’t suit the battle royale formula as well as Tetris, but this is still a fun novelty that neatly demonstrates the ageless virtues of the original game.

The fun of the platform is obviously intact, Mario remains Mario, but we quickly realize that the concept is not without flaws. The levels repeat and going through the classic 1-1 in a loop due to the capricious random selection and the weird progression is a little tense.

It still remains fun on some level, because Super Mario Bros. is fun, and battle royale games are fun. But some poorly thought out decisions lead to this hobbled from reaching the potential that a Mario battle royale game might otherwise be able to achieve.