Peter James Mann
It’s Tetris 99 ➗ 2.8286
Speedrunning is something I’ve been casually getting into over the last couple of years. Now and again, one pops up in my YouTube feed (most recently, Hades, which I do plan on getting when I gain the courage to attempt it) and I find myself enamored by the skill displayed on a majority of the ones I’ve seen. So, if one were to want to get into “the scene,” where would be a good place to start? It might be Super Mario Bros 35 on the Nintendo Switch.
It’s a simple concept: take the breakneck pace of Tetris 99, include the attacking mechanic against other players, add a number that isn’t as arbitrary as 99 that ties in with the anniversary of Nintendo’s poster child, and you’ve got it. You start out with no levels other than 1-1, but as you progress through the game, you get more stages you can to start on, and that loop continues. The more coins you get each match add up and you can use them to start with power ups right from the beginning of the level, up to a super star.
There’s special events, just like Tetris 99, but instead of themes for your board, you get access to later levels in the game with special starting parameters. The current event running now until February 8th starts you in worlds 5 and 6 with a Super Mushroom and 20 coins to buy power ups. These power ups give you a little extra oomf against all the extra enemies.
And there are a ton of enemies. Because if you bounce on a Goomba or Koopa Troopa, they get sent to whoever you’re attacking, filling up the next “bar” on the level progression tracker at the bottom of your screen. It’s a double edged sword for both players. The attacker slows you down and gets a ton of chances for you to get knocked out of the game. However, every enemy you attack, you gain one to four seconds back in time on your clock and they get sent right over to someone else (possibly the attacker themselves). If you don’t get overwhelmed, waves of enemies become exactly what you need to get from single digits to a comfortable lead in time.
Having that extra time can be great on tricker platforming sections of the game as well. It’s amazing how much easier I remember these games being back when I was younger. Either I lost all of my skills over the years, or I was genuinely terrible. I think it’s both, to be honest. But no matter how hard I fell, or how quickly, it’s so addicting to just hit rematch and keep going.
Graphically, well, it’s NES Super Mario Bros. It’s 8-bit, low-res, and really little color variation. But there’s still a certain cartoonish charm about the enemies and Mario that still hold up. It feels like I’m jumping back in time to be a kid again and just play with that really cool new toy. The little bleeps and bloops of the soundtrack just get stuck in my head. It’s just a great feeling to have.
So if you have a chance to pick this up, check it out! It’s great to play either in a quick, casual session or a longer chunk, the game is still fun to play, and the multiplayer mechanics give it a fun little twist that I didn’t know I’d like in Mario. If you have it, let us know what you thought down in the comments.
See you soon!
