Nintendo Switch Online subscribers get three classic Mario games today

936     0
Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can play three new Mario games on the Game Boy – Nintendo Switch Online app today (Image: Nintendo)
Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can play three new Mario games on the Game Boy – Nintendo Switch Online app today (Image: Nintendo)

To celebrate Mario day (which is March 10 every year, because Mar 10 looks like Mario) Nintendo has released three classic Mario games onto Nintendo Switch Online.

Nintendo Switch Online subscribers are in for a treat today, as three classic Super Mario games are arriving on the Game Boy – Nintendo Switch Online app in celebration of Mario day over the weekend. The Game Boy classic Dr. Mario arrives alongside the Game Boy Color duo of Mario Tennis and Mario Golf. Nintendo confirmed these games alongside news about a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and the release date reveals for the remakes of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (May 23, 2024) and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (June 27, 2024) in a special video released on the Nintendo YouTube account for Mario day.

Dr. Mario is pretty cut-and-dried, it's Dr Mario but on the Game Boy, but considering the superior NES version is also on Nintendo Switch Online (and Dr. Mario 64 is available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers) its appearance on here is pretty much only for novelty's sake. You'd be forgiven for thinking Mario Tennis and Mario Golf are a similar situation, but the Game Boy Color versions of those games aren't simply worse ports of their N64 counterparts;, Camelot decided to make the handheld versions into RPG's in which you play as a created character in the world, and play Golf / Tennis with Mario and the gang. Which set the stage for Camelot to make it's own RPG series Golden Sun later down the line (which arrived on Nintendo Switch Online back in January).

Shockingly, the game most people think of when you say 'Mario' and 'Game Boy' – the original Super Mario Land – is still absent from the Game Boy – Nintendo Switch Online app's lineup over a year after launch, despite its (far better) sequel being on there since the service launched back in 2023.

Nintendo Switch Online March 2024 games

The following is the full list of games included in the new Nintendo Switch Online update, and what app they're available on. All three games are available to play on the service now.

Nintendo Switch 2 release set for next year as Zelda ushers in the end of Switch eiqrtiqzhihkinvNintendo Switch 2 release set for next year as Zelda ushers in the end of Switch

To play these games you only need to have access to the basic Nintendo Switch Online subscription, as the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription is only necessary to use the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, and Sega Mega Drive apps. Although Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack can obviously still play the games in the NES, SNES, and Game Boy apps.

Scott McCrae

Mario Golf, Super Mario, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Online

Read more similar news:

10.02.2023, 16:22 • More
Nintendo Switch 2 isn't needed while players still buy 'new and classic' games
13.02.2023, 18:22 • More
Looks like that leaked Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch OLED may be real
20.02.2023, 09:18 • More
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet update skips over when classic pokemon are coming
22.02.2023, 16:34 • More
Pokemon Presents February 2023: start time, where to watch and what to expect
24.02.2023, 17:23 • More
Nintendo Switch 2 console may have just been confirmed by the CMA
27.02.2023, 18:22 • More
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC whisks players away from Paldea later this Winter
04.01.2023, 12:00 • More
No, the ‘leaked’ Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom OLED Switch isn't real
05.01.2023, 08:00 • More
PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch – comparing which costs the least to run
10.01.2023, 16:35 • More
Nintendo Switch still outsells the PS5 and Series X even without FIFA
12.01.2023, 13:02 • More
I'm tossing out my Joy-Cons for this GameCube inspired controller