It’s Mario Day! Since the internet is the way it is, Nintendo’s iconic plumber has adopted March 10 — or MAR10 — as a day to celebrate his legacy. It’s a good excuse for the company to hold sales on a few games that don’t go on sale very often. One truth about Nintendo games is they rarely ever drop in price, so games that were released at $60 years ago still cost $60 today. When there is an opportunity to grab one on sale, then you should take it.
There might not be a better time to get some Mario games on sale than right now, but while some of us would love to drop more than $100 on every game listed, we also know that isn’t a viable option for everyone. That’s why we took a look at what’s on sale today and broke down what we think are the best games at the best price.
Luigi’s Mansion 3, $39.99
Usually a $60 game, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is down to $39.99 right now on the eShop. Already got it? Then you can get the multiplayer pack on sale for $6.99, down from $9.99. This is one of those cases where a great Nintendo game that has been out since 2019 is still being sold at full price, and there’s no reason to believe that’ll drop any time soon. That’s why people who have yet to buy Luigi’s Mansion 3 or its multiplayer pack might want to look into this sale.
Luigi’s Mansion 3 is maybe the best game in the entire franchise. It has a variety of really fun levels and it does a great job of not feeling like it’s just another version of the previous two games. The best feature is easily the co-op Gooigi feature. Players can add in a companion on their adventure called Gooigi, but unlike Luigi, he is far more durable. This makes Luigi’s Mansion 3 one of the best games to play with a sibling, significant other, friend, child, or really anyone. Playing games with other people is fun and Luigi’s Mansion 3 is one of the best at giving the chance to do that.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, $39.99
Another $60 title dropped down to $39.99, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury came out in early 2021. It still having a $60 price tag isn’t that surprising, but this is still a great opportunity to get one of the best games of 2021. Everyone already knows how good Super Mario 3D World is, since that’s a port of a Wii U game, but the real surprise was the Bowser’s Fury add-on.
Bowser’s Fury took the concept of Mario Odyssey, a game where Mario is able to keep exploring after obtaining a collectible, and expanded on it. Instead of exploring a variety of worlds, Mario instead has his entire adventure in the same general world, one that is smaller but incredibly dense with lots of variety across 12 different islands. There’s still a snow level, a cloud area, and a lot of water, but nothing ever stops Mario’s momentum. He just keeps going. It was so fun that many fans said they want the next mainline Mario game to be something very similar. Until then, this is the best we got and right now it’s on sale.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, $9.99
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is maybe the best deal on the entire eShop. This game is usually $60, but it’s dropped all the way down to $9.99. That’s an absolute steal for a game that was one of the biggest surprises of 2017. When everyone saw that Ubisoft and Nintendo had partnered to let Mario and the Rabbids go on an adventure together, there was a little bit of concern. Then, everyone saw it was an XCOM clone and became confused.
Turns out the folks behind the game knew what they were doing, because Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is one of the best games on the Switch. It’s a fun take on the XCOM formula of combat, because all of the characters can do things that only someone in the Mario or Rabbids universe could possibly attempt. The levels have some surprising difficulty in the late game and the sight of Mario with a plasma gun is funny. This is a steal at $9.99.