Nintendo's newest entry to its ever expanding library, Super Mario Bros. 35, is a competitive twist on the familiar platforming premise. Players must jump, stomp, and sprint their way through classic Super Mario Bros. levels while fighting to be the last Mario standing in Super Mario Bros. 35, out now on Nintendo Switch.
While the first impression might to be simply race to the end of the level, players will quickly find out that being the fastest to the flagpole isn't enough to achieve victory in Super Mario Bros. 35. Beating a level will instead move the player to another level, where the only way to win is to knock out fellow players by sending enemies to opponents' screens.
Enemies like the classic Goomba aren't the only obstacle in Super Mario Bros. 35. Players must be conscious about their respective time limit as well because if the timer reaches zero, it's game over. Thankfully, there are methods to raising the time limit which comes in perfect conjunction with this game's main mechanic of defeating enemies and sending them to other players.
Not only will each successful enemy defeat send that minion to an opponent, but it will raise the player's constantly decreasing time limit a bit as well. The method player's use to defeat enemies is important as well. A Fire Flower will add less time than jumping on an enemy, for example, and jumping on multiple enemies in a row without touching the ground will result in an even bigger boost of time. As stated before, defeated enemies will be sent to other player's, so killing multiple baddies in a row is a surefire way to both benefit the player while hurting their opponents in this Mario spin-off.
Sending enemies to other players isn't as simple as that, however. Players also have the option of targeting which opponent they want to attack, similarly to Tetris 99. By flicking the right control stick, players can choose to attack a random opponent, the player with the lowest time, the player with the most coins, or players who are currently attacking them. Newcomers might find it easier to start with a random victim, while seasoned players will quickly find that choosing an opponent will result in knocking out top players.
One final note is the use of coins. Coins, a Mario staple, can be collected to summon a random item, either a Mushroom, Fire Flower, Star, or POW Block, which all work exactly as they do in standard Mario games. Not only that, but the more coins a players has, the more vicious the enemies they summon will be. Collect enough coins, and players might even be able to send Bowser himself to an opponents screen.
Super Mario Bros. 35 is available now for a limited time on the Nintendo Switch.