As many Pokemon aficionados know all too well, 2016 marks the franchise's 20 year anniversary. In honor of the series' big birthday, The Pokemon Company and Nintendo have been spoiling fans of the series rotten with the promise of new content and nostalgia-inducing merchandise. Now it seems that some of the Big N's other properties are getting in on the fun, with Super Mario Maker doing so by offering players the chance to disguise the game's pudgy plumber as one of the original three starter Pokemon.

That's right, the house of Mario has announced that Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur will all be added to the game absolutely free-of-charge. All gamers have to do to lock down the trio is triumph in the newly released "I Choose You!" Event Course, and they'll then be able to use them in maps that they make in Super Mario Maker for themselves or others. It's a rather cool event for Pokemon fans, and one that plenty of those that own the title will set aside a little bit of time to do.

Those hoping to catch a glimpse of Mario's newest duds in action can do so in the trailer below:

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As an interesting note, those that want the Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle costumes will apparently have to complete the aforementioned Event Course three times. This isn't a challenging task by any means, but it seems like a slightly tedious endeavor for gamers that want to start putting together a Pokemon-themed level as soon as humanly possible. Thankfully, there are already six Pocket Monsters that can be found within the game (Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Charizard, Mewtwo, Lucario, and Greninja), so there's a solid base in which to create a side-scrolling version of the Kanto region.

On top of this update, many Trainers are getting anxious to dive into the original trio of games on the Nintendo 3DS. The Game Boy classics Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow are all being re-released on the 3D-enabled handheld device, and they'll likely be a smash hit through Nintendo's eShop thanks to support from longtime fans of the series. Meanwhile, the Wii U is getting ready to receive the hotly anticipated fighting game Pokken Tournament, which should also give gamers a much needed high definition dose of monster battlin'.

What do you think of the latest costumes added to Super Mario Maker? Which other Pokemon would you like to see added into the mix? Get at us in the comments.