Nintendo’s Super Mario 40th Anniversary Ends Without a Defining Moment

As the 40th anniversary of Super Mario and Super Mario Bros. comes to an end, it's time to take a step back and think about what Nintendo really gave us.

The anniversary officially started in September 2025 and will probably end around April, when the next Super Mario Galaxy movie comes out. Recent news on Super Mario Bros. Wonder makes it evident that this is the end of Nintendo's plans for the milestone.

Nintendo has celebrated Mario anniversaries before, but the 40th anniversary had very high hopes.

Super Mario isn't just another franchise; it's the series that brought the video game industry back to life when it fell apart in the early days. Given the circumstances, it's fair to ask if this celebration really lived up to its potential or if it felt a little disappointing compared to earlier attempts.

Like with any Nintendo anniversary, a big part of the celebration was about products and limited-time offers. The 40th anniversary brought out new amiibo with Mario, Rosalina, and the Lumas. These were shown off at the same time as the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch2 presentation. Along with Rosalina's tale, a talking flower accessory linked to Wonder also made its first appearance.

The My Mario campaign was another promotion that was mostly aimed at younger people. Even while none of this stuff was really bad, a lot of it didn't seem like it was necessary for the celebration. Many fans missed these things because a lot of the merchandise was announced late in the anniversary window instead of being released all at once throughout the course of the year.

When it came to real games, the choices were good but maybe a little too safe. In October, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 came out as a bundle. These games are really great, but they are also ports of games that came out a long time ago. The controls and presentation were fine, but there were clear problems with the graphics. The $70 price tag aroused genuine worries, especially when compared to earlier compilations.

Mario Tennis Fever, which comes out on February 12, is the most thrilling brand-new game related to the holiday. The way it looks and the idea behind it are new, and it's the only release that really feels like a celebration instead of a memorial.

The Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch2 Edition and Meetup in Bella Bell Park added extra content like Rosalina as a playable character, new environments, training-style tasks, and more multiplayer options. More, though the game already included aid settings, a new Yoshi mode was added to make it easier. These new features are nice, but they might not be enough to make the $20 purchase worth it, especially because the Nintendo Switch2 online expansion does not include the new content.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is the last announced title for the anniversary. It will be out in spring 2026. From what we've seen so far, it looks like the game is mostly for kids. That doesn't necessarily make it less valuable, but it does make you wonder how relevant it is as a last release for Mario's 40th anniversary, especially because Mario isn't very present in the notion itself.

One of the most confusing things about the 40th anniversary is when it is. It was only three months before the celebration that a brand-new console came out, yet there was no big new 3D Mario game to anchor the event. The last full 3D Mario game came out in 2017; the lack of one is much more obvious.

From a business point of view, the anniversary would have been the best time to release or at least show off a new flagship 3D Mario game that was made just for the new technology. Instead, the party was mostly about ports, upgrades, and side entrants. It's fair that the releases are spaced out, but the fact that there isn't a new Mario game makes the whole event feel weirdly limited.

It's hard not to see how different the 40th and 35th anniversaries are. The 35th anniversary, which took place from late 2020 to early 2021, had more fun and memorable things to do. During that time, fans got Paper Mario: The Origami King, Super Mario Bros.35, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, and Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which included Super Mario64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy for $60. Bowser's Fury, which came with Super Mario 3D World, was an experimental open-style architecture that changed how a lot of people thought about future Mario games.

There were also hardware collectibles and creative crossovers that made the 35th anniversary celebration feel like a big, coherent event.

What makes this even more astounding is that it happened during a time when the world was much less open, but it still felt special and giving.

The 40th anniversary, on the other hand, feels softer and less bold. It feels more like a maintenance cycle than a real celebration of Mario's history because of the focus on re-releases, DLC-style expansions, and merchandise.

The impending Super Mario Galaxy movie might make the 40th anniversary better than any of the other ones for some enthusiasts. Games are still the most important part of the franchise for certain people, including us. Watching Mario on TV is not the same as playing a new Mario game, especially since the character's personality is so closely tied to interactive design.

In the end, this makes the appraisal of the 40th anniversary quite personal. Some folks will really like the movie tie-ins and more Wonder content. Some people will think that Nintendo wasted a rare chance to make the celebration genuinely memorable.

The 40th anniversary of Super Mario is not a disaster, and it does include some good stuff. It had good games, professional updates, and a lot of marketing materials. But when you compare it to the 35th anniversary, it seems less ambitious and less memorable.

The celebration finishes on a calmer note than most people thought it would, with no big surprise unveiling or final statement. It all depends on what you value most about a Mario anniversary, whether it is disappointing or totally fine. It just didn't live up to the high standards that the franchise and the period looked to be able to reach.