There once was a time where Super Mario sports games were a huge deal. Long-time Nintendo fans might remember some major crossovers with Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series lining up with the real-world Olympics. The Mushroom Kingdom has a reputation for competitive sports on its own, though, tackling everything from soccer to tennis to baseball. One more Mario Sports series that's done well for itself is Mario Golf, but that particular franchise hasn't been back in a while. Thankfully, Switch owners now know that Mario Golf: Super Rush is on the way. It looks like Mario is ready to get back on the course.
Mario Golf: Super Rush is coming out in an interesting context, though. There's not a ton of multiplayer Mario spinoffs on the Switch, but perhaps the most famous of them all is Super Mario Party. This new installation was pretty warmly praised for new ideas; for instance, each playable character has their own special die that they can roll instead of the normal d6, adding new layers of strategy. However, for some reason, Super Mario Party launched without online multiplayer. Nintendo just fixed this in a surprise patch, and that patch says a lot about Nintendo's attitude toward online multiplayer right now. Super Mario Party's overdue update might be a good sign for Mario Golf: Super Rush's online multiplayer.
Super Mario Party's Multiplayer
Super Mario Party's local multiplayer at launch was just fine. Offering a wide breadth of gamemodes and characters to choose from, Super Mario Party seemed like a worthy next step for Nintendo's long-lived party game series. That's what made the omission of an online multiplayer mode so glaring. At this point, there's really no excuse for a game like Super Mario Party not to use online multiplayer. Nintendo Switch Online specifically exists to connect fans of Nintendo games, and Nintendo still pushes it pretty hard. If Nintendo is going to have a paid online multiplayer subscription, it only seems natural that Nintendo encourages players to get it with online multiplayer in Super Mario Party. That's what it did for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Although it took a couple years, Nintendo seems to have finally realized the importance of doubling down on online play. Games of Super Mario Party's kind need online play, especially over the last year. Super Mario Party definitely could've seen a second wave of sales if Nintendo had added online multiplayer at the start of the COVID pandemic, rather than a year into it. Even so, the new update adding multiplayer to Super Mario Party so much later should be taken as a change in Nintendo's perspective. It wouldn't go through the effort of making this patch if it didn't think online multiplayer was important now. That reflects positively on Nintendo's next big multiplayer Mario game: Mario Golf: Super Rush.
Mario Golf's Big Return
A good thing about Mario Golf: Super Rush is that Nintendo has already confirmed online play for this new sports game. Although Nintendo hasn't talked about the game a whole lot since it was announced, Nintendo has been very clear that Mario Golf: Super Rush's 4-player is available both locally and online. That's a big deal. At this point, there's no way a Mario Sports game could compete with other sports games without online multiplayer. If Nintendo wants to bring this franchise back, it has to get its money's worth out of Nintendo Switch Online and support online matchmaking across all future games.
Updating Super Mario Party when Mario Golf: Super Rush already has online play confirmed could indicate more than just a dedication to including online play, though. If Nintendo thinks that Super Mario Party really needed that patch, then it's more likely that that's part of a broader focus on Nintendo Switch Online, rather than a seemingly random update to one game. Mario Golf: Super Rush might get a lot of support for online multiplayer that fans can't even imagine just yet. Super Rush's experience might look a little bit more like Smash Ultimate's support. Nintendo could decide to roll out regular multiplayer events much like Smash Ultimate's many themed tournaments.
Super Mario Party's late update might also suggest Nintendo has been keeping an eye on the game all this time. Long-term attention could be really good for Mario Golf: Super Rush, even if the game doesn't get patches constantly. Just keeping an eye on the game and maybe releasing a significant update every few months might be enough to give Super Rush some longevity. At the very least, it's a sign that Nintendo is listening to fans. Super Mario Party lovers wanted nothing more than to see an online mode added. Although it took a long time, Nintendo got there. Hopefully in Super Rush's case, Nintendo will act more quickly on the hopes of players. After all, Nintendo has as much to gain on doing that as fans do.
The Switch's Growing Library
Mario Golf: Super Rush seems to be part of a great new wave of Nintendo games coming to Switch. 2020 was a hard year for Nintendo, devoid of Nintendo Directs to spread knowledge about its games, but it's hitting 2021 hard. Pokemon has some great things on the way, as does The Legend of Zelda, and now there's new projects like Game Builder Garage coming to Switch too. Super Rush is playing its part by potentially breathing new life into Mario Sports games in the same way that Super Mario Party intended to reassess the Mario Party series.
Hopefully Nintendo is thinking about Super Mario Party's peer differently. If the recent midnight update means Nintendo has realized the importance of supporting online play for all of its multiplayer games, then maybe Mario Golf: Super Rush will get treated a little better than Super Mario Party did. It sounds like there'll be an emphasis on online play at the outset, and that'll be a big boon to the game. Nintendo games and Mario games specifically have always had a reputation for good cheer and bringing people together. Giving games the online multiplayer they deserve is the right way for Nintendo to embody that reputation in the modern age.
Mario Golf: Super Rush releases for Nintendo Switch on June 25.