Today is March 10, and for fans of video games and calendar-based puns, that means it’s time to celebrate gaming’s favorite plumber, golfer, race car driver, doctor, boxing referee, and typing instructor: Mario.
Nintendo has declared this date “Mario Day” for the past few years (March 10 = Mar10 = Mario), but today
the company is once again paying homage to its most famous character by launching a number of discounts on games featuring the little guy.
The deals include $20 off the following Mario titles for the Nintendo Switch:
Besides that, Nintendo is offering a bundle that includes a Switch console and one of those five games for $330. That’s roughly a $30 discount.
Some of these games are a couple of years old and have been discounted sporadically in recent months, so this isn’t the absolute cheapest they’ve been, but each one still typically retails in the $55-60 range. For the console bundle, it’s worth noting that Nintendo is selling a separate
Switch package that comes paired with a $35 credit to its eShop digital store. That’s likely a better value.
Nintendo says the deals will be available until March 16 at various retailers, including Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, and others. Perhaps unfortunately, the sales here only apply to the digital copies of each game, not physical cartridges. That makes them harder to lose, but means they’ll eat up more of the Switch’s paltry 32GB of internal storage. It also makes them harder to share or resell. But a sale’s a sale.
As for whether these games are worth buying, you can check out our reviews of Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Tennis Aces, and New Super Mario Bros. U (the 2012 Wii U game that Deluxe ports to the Switch). They’re all positive.
I have not played
Deluxe, but here’s my quick take on the others:
Odyssey, a 3D platformer, and
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a kart racer, are the most universally palatable of the bunch. Both are widely loved, very popular, and near the top of their respective genres. If you own those already,
Super Mario Party brings a number of genuine quality of life improvements to the
Mario Party format, but it’s best viewed as a digital board game: you need to have friends and family nearby to enjoy it, and you probably don’t want to play it
too often.
Mario Tennis Aces, meanwhile, is the most niche title here: it was
kind of a mess at launch, but it has become sufficiently balanced after several updates. Against an equal opponent, it’s pulse-pounding. But it’s a competitive online game, which isn’t for everyone, and its community seems to have dwindled as newer games like
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have hit the market.
As we’ve noted before, the deals come at a time when Nintendo seems particularly eager to boost Switch sales. While the console has generally been a smashing success, the company recently had to lower sales targets as the device’s momentum has cooled, relatively speaking. Either way, this looks like a solid opportunity for newer Switch owners grab a good game at a discount.
Note: Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.
