Super Mario Bros. 35

Super Mario Bros. 35
Developer: Arika Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Nintendo Switch Released internationally: October 1, 2020 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused music. This game has revisional differences.

This game is defunct. Do note the game no longer works at all without modifications. This is most likely due to the game's servers being shut down. As a result, further official developments with the game are unlikely to happen.

Super Mario Bros. 35 was a multiplayer Battle Royale released to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros., with the "35" referring to the fact that each match had a maximum of 35 players (see also Tetris 99).

The game used the levels of the original title with a few twists, the biggest being that defeated enemies were sent to other players (denoted by being in grayscale), which could - and very often did - lead to some crazy scenarios (Bowsers in non-castle levels! Hammer Bros. underwater! Two dozen Lakitus on-screen at once, all throwing Spinies!). To help combat this, players could pay 20 coins (collected by playing the levels and placing well in matches; no microtransactions here!) to use a Mario Kart-esque item roulette that would give a Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Starman, or an automatic POW Block. Coins could also be spent before a match to start Mario off in Super, Fire, or invincible form.

Unfortunately, looming over all the fun and chaos from the start was an inexplicable built-in six-month lifespan, with the game only being playable through March 31, 2021. While the only official explanation ever given is that the game was part of the 35th-Anniversary celebrations, eyebrows were raised further when Pac-Man 99 was released a week after SMB35 was shut down.

Unused Music

While SMB35 removed the intro sequences for the underground and underwater levels, the music used in those portions was still present in the files, along with a "hurry up" version (which in SMB35 would be used once there were 5 players remaining).

Notably, the unused music is stored in sound.fspj (a file used for mainly sound effects) rather than being an audio stream alongside the other background music, and the file names suggest they would have been used when a match was about to start.

Standard ([20] WAV_20_GUESS_SE_GAME_START)	Hurry-Up ([21] WAV_20_GUESS_SE_GAME_START_HURRY)

Revisional Differences

Bowser's Fire Position Bug

In the initial release, Bowsers that were sent by opponents had a weird behavior when they shot their fire at you: their fire always went to the center of the level height, rather than the height they spawned their fire on.

This was fixed in v1.0.1.

Koopa Troopa's Shell Sound

Initially, if a kicked Koopa shell got stuck between solid blocks with only 1 tile to move in, the shell's "bump" sound played on every frame the shell hit a solid block - and since it got stuck between two solid blocks, the sound played constantly.

v1.0.2 fixed this by adding a delay for when the Koopa shell bump sound could play again.

Level Differences

For whatever reason, several levels in SMB35 had slight differences from their counterparts in the original game.

World 2-2

Super Mario Bros. 35	Super Mario Bros.

This group of three coins near the start of the level is one block higher than they are in the original game.

World 4-2

Super Mario Bros. 35	Super Mario Bros.

In the secret room with the Warp Zone to Worlds 6, 7, and 8, the small cloud next to the first mushroom platform is missing.

World 5-2

Super Mario Bros. 35	Super Mario Bros.

Around the midpoint of the level is a platform with three Buzzy Beetles. The pit to the right of it is one block wider in the original game.

World 6-1

Super Mario Bros. 35 (pre-v1.0.2)	Super Mario Bros.

In the middle of the level is a set of stairs that has a hidden 1-Up Mushroom. SMB35 originally had the stairs one block too short, which also resulted in the hidden block being lower. This was corrected in v1.0.2.

World 7-2

Super Mario Bros. 35	Super Mario Bros.

As with World 2-2 (which 7-2 is a clone of), these three coins near the start of the level are one block higher than in the original game.

World 8-1

Super Mario Bros. 35	Super Mario Bros.

The pair of clouds right before the first pipe has a two-block-wide gap between them. The original game has a one-block-wide gap, which is also the case for the other cloud pairs in SMB1 and SMB35.

Internal Project Name

The build path suggests that kuku was the game's internal name. In Japanese, this can be read as "99", similar to Tetris 99 and later Pac-Man 99 and F-Zero 99. Was the original concept for this game Super Mario Bros. 99?