Mario Is Missing! Why Does Mario’s 40th Birthday Feel So [Fart Sound]

Mario is turning 40 years old this year, and it certainly looks like his parents forgot his birthday. After an anemic showing earlier this year, I was holding out hope that Nintendo would do something special to mark the occasion, and the most likely location certainly seemed to be the summer game reveal season. Now the summertime Nintendo Direct has come and gone, and the closest to a new Mario announcement was a Donkey Kong Bananza event to earn Mario-themed items. As a result, our hopes for any significant Mario announcement this year have evaporated like a puddle on the Isle Delfino. Nintendo has technically recognized the milestone anniversary. It has a dedicated Super Mario 40th page on its website outlining the ways that it's marking the occasion. Those, however, are less than inspiring. They include the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, along with a Switch re-release of Super Mario Galaxy 1+2, Mario Tennis Fever, and the update to Super Mario Bros. Wonder. As if grasping for something to note, it also points out that there's a new Yoshi game, and that you can buy a Talking Flower toy. Happy birthday, Mario! Look, I actually enjoyed a lot of those. The Mario Galaxy movie was critically panned but I did not hate it. I didn't exactly love it either. It was a perfectly cromulent Mario-Branded Entertainment Product (TM). The Mario Galaxy games are all-timers so it's nice to have them on Switch, even if we already had the first one. Mario Tennis Fever was a cool Mario sports game with a neat hook. And I liked Mario Wonder a lot. But in the context of a milestone birthday for one of the most recognizable video game icons of all time, it feels awfully thin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvUPDSDZg1k Ironically, this year also marks the 40th anniversary of the Zelda franchise, which Nintendo seems much more primed to recognize. The Nintendo Direct ended on the long-rumored reveal of a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake. That game is widely regarded as one of the best Zelda games of all time, and by coming this year, Nintendo appears to be recognizing the importance of its anniversary. I don't want to seem unreasonable here. I know that game development is long and difficult to predict, so even if there is a Mario game in production it may not be ready to release in time for the 40th anniversary. The team that made the stellar Super Mario Odyssey went on to work on Donkey Kong Bananza, so given the recency of that game, it's unlikely they're very far on the next big Mario game quite yet. It's possible Nintendo is avoiding tying a big new game release to the 40th birthday, since that could risk imbuing it with the weight of history. Despite those caveats and attempts to be generous, though, the cursory recognition of Mario's birthday is a letdown. This is one of the most recognizable characters in the world, and the one many gamers credit with drawing them into the medium. Mario is an icon, not only because of his longevity but because of his versatility. He's been a trailblazer across multiple different genres. It's not an understatement to say that the video game industry would be much different without him, and perhaps, would not even exist in the same form it does today. He deserves better than an okay-with-qualifications animated movie and a new remaster. Nintendo could still surprise us. We're only halfway through the year, and Nintendo has been known to make announcements very close to release. There's still hope that Mario will get the birthday party he deserves. If not, well, maybe in 10 years we can hope they do right by his 50th.