32-Year Old Mario Game Finally Makes Worldwide Debut On Nintendo Classics

By Elijah Gonzalez  |  October 9, 2025 | 2:00pm
Video Games News nintendo switch classics
32-Year Old Mario Game Finally Makes Worldwide Debut On Nintendo Classics

Yesterday Nintendo announced that it had added three additional SNES games to Nintendo Classics (its library of old games included in Nintendo Switch Online’s $20 a year subscription tier), and among this trio is a 32-year-old Mario game never released outside of Japan: Mario & Wario.

Originally released on the Super Famicom in 1993, it’s a puzzle game that required the Super Famicom Mouse accessory to play. Despite having a Japan-only release, the game is entirely in English, which, when combined with the Switch 2’s pseudo-mouse support, is probably why Nintendo decided to finally put it out worldwide.

To quote the game’s description from the Nintendo store, “Wario has dropped a buck on poor Mario’s head, and now he can’t see! So it’s up to you to lead Mario safely to Luigi. Use the forest fairy’s magic wand to create platforms, change the direction Mario walks, and defeat enemies. You can clear a total of 100 screens full of unique challenges using simple controls—just move the mouse to move the fairy and click the left button once to perform actions.”

The description also notes you need a compatible mouse to play the game, with the Switch 2’s Joy-Con 2 controllers being listed as an option. Honestly, the game looks kind of interesting, and between its clean sprite work, novel premise, and baseline absurdity of Mario stumbling through levels with an eggshell on his head, it seems kind of neat.

Beyond Mario & Wario, the latest Nintendo Classics update also includes the 2D platformer BUBSY in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (which has one too many puns in the title) and Fatal Fury: Special, an updated version of the beloved fighting game Fatal Fury 2.

Nintendo has been methodically adding games to its emulation service for over seven years now, starting with only NES games before adding SNES and Game Boy titles that were included as part of Nintendo Switch Online. Then the company created an additional subscription tier with the “Expansion Pack,” which includes a library of N64, Sega Genesis, GBA, and Virtual Boy games. On top of this, the Switch 2 also has a GameCube library for Expansion Pack subscribers.

While I will personally never forgive Nintendo for discontinuing the Wii’s Virtual Console, which let you buy classic games directly instead of having you subscribe to another service you’ll forget is charging your credit card, at least they’re still regularly updating their library with some funky games. Maybe add some TurboGrafx games next, like the Virtual Console did back in the day?

 
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