This could be a huge year for Mario on Nintendo Switch

By Eric Abent/March 30, 2020 1:18 pm EST

2020 is a big year for Mario, as the suspenders-wearing plumber is turning 35 years old. More specifically, the Mario game franchise is turning 35 years old, and Nintendo apparently has a big celebration planned. According to a new report, Nintendo will release a number of new and old Mario games for the Switch in 2020, in the process bringing the some of the series' most beloved games into the modern era.Video Games Chronicle first reported this news, with both Eurogamer and Gematsu corroborating the report after speaking to their own sources. VGC says that Nintendo "will reveal plans to re-release most of Super Mario's 35-year back catalogue this year, remastered for Nintendo Switch."

Gematsu and Eurogamer later confirmed that this slate of re-releases will include HD remasters of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. We could also see a "Deluxe" version of Super Mario 3D World, which was originally released for Wii U in 2013. Nintendo has given the Deluxe treatment to a number of games, including New Super Mario Bros. U and Mario Kart 8, both of which were Wii U titles brought forward to the Switch.

Nintendo's plans also apparently include "several new titles," but the only one named specifically is a new Paper Mario title. Whether or not this will be a return to form for Paper Mario or if it will continue to move away from the series' RPG roots à la Super Paper Mario or Paper Mario: Sticker Star remains to be seen.

According to VGC, Nintendo was originally planning to announce these re-releases and new games at E3 2020 this year, but with that event being cancelled, there's no telling when we might get confirmation (if confirmation is coming at all). It's likely Nintendo will still be hosting a Nintendo Direct around the time E3 2020 would have taken place, so hopefully we'll see these games get a full reveal then.

As always, take what you read here with a grain of salt, because nothing is confirmed until it comes from Nintendo. We'll let you know when we hear more, so stay tuned for that.