Every nerdy fandom has their own made up fan holiday. Star Wars fans have May the Fourth. Jurassic Park fans have July Sixth Park. And Super Mario fans have March 10th aka MAR10 Day. Gather around your Nintendo with some pals and play some games featuring the mascot of video games as a medium. That’s not all though. Retailers have also hopped in on the fun of the holiday and have dropped the price of a handful for games to celebrate. You can also save some cash on Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and Mario Party Superstars.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The 2D side-scrolling Super Mario games have had an interesting trajectory. It was the staple of the franchise, with noticeable improvements and art style upgrades with each iteration, until the Nintendo 64 paved the way for an era of 3D Mario. Eventually on the Nintendo DS, New Super Mario Bros. released to revitalize the 2D games which then got sequels on the Wii and Wii U, but those didn’t really innovate much in regards to art direction and then we got no new entries for over a decade.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder dropped last year bringing back 2D Mario once again with a much welcomed stylistic overhaul. This cartoonish, almost painted look is an astonishing jump from Super Mario Bros. Wii U Deluxe. Also, the game is just as fun as you’d hope a 2D Mario game to be. Hop in with up to three of your friends collecting Wonder Flowers which have surprising, game-changing effects like pipes coming alive or enemies breaking out into song. It’s a treat from start to finish, and right now it’s $10 off at just $50.
See Super Mario Bros Wonder at Amazon
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Back in the Nintendo Switch’s first year, one of the biggest surprises was Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. This tactics strategy game has Mario and friends’ dimension invaded by the Rabbids of the Rayman games. No one was expecting a crossover from Nintendo of this caliber and even fewer no one’s thought it would be any good. Turns out it rips. It’s so good they greenlit a sequel that is also super good.
This is a funny one. You see, Mario games hardly ever drop in price. However, Ubisoft games almost always drop in price. So what happens when a Mario game developed by Ubisoft drops in price? Well it turns out, Ubisoft wins. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope bis down to just $20 for MAR10 Day —down from its launch price of $60.
See Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope at Amazon
Mario Party Superstars
Three different Mario Party games came out during the Nintendo Switch generation. The series had been in a strange place, not properly utilized arguably since the GameCube. But now it’s back and better then ever.
All three entries are the Switch are great in their own right, but I tend to favor the second one released—Mario Party Superstars. This one brings back five classic boards from the Nintendo 64 era of games which I am particularly fond for plus it’s got 100 of the best minigames across the entire series brought together in one collection. It’s also the one entry of the three Switch Mario Party that doesn’t use motion controls which means you can play with a Pro Controller. Right now, Mario Party Superstars is down $9, bringing the price to just $51.
