Nintendo's decision to limit 3D All-Stars' sales didn't stop the game from becoming a huge success.
Nintendo only gave fans six months to rush out and buy Super Mario 3D All-Stars before delisting it digitally and ending its physical run. But the move appears to have paid off from a sales perspective.
According to data from research firm CESA, Super Mario 3D All-Stars has shipped 9.07 million units since its launch in September 2020.
Update on Nintendo's Switch million sellers from CESA 2022• As of December 31, 2021• Shipment data (from Nintendo)
• Published by Nintendo onlyhttps://t.co/EiXBJFtjPZ pic.twitter.com/idEPDoUjyb— Pierre485 (@pierre485_) August 29, 2022
After months of rumors, Super Mario 3D All-Stars was announced in Nintendo's Super Mario 35th Anniversary Nintendo Direct. The game includes HD ports of N64's Super Mario 64, GameCube's Super Mario Sunshine, and Wii's Super Mario Galaxy. Interestingly, the game received a limited physical run, with Nintendo saying the game would only be available until March 31, 2021.
Fans found Nintendo's decision to discontinue the game so bizarre that they dubbed March 31, 2021, “The Day Mario Dies”. The event became so infamous that our article on the subject was IGN's most-read news article in 2021. However, as March 31 came and went, the digital version of the game was delisted, with physical copies remaining on store shelves for months after the fact.
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In our analysis of the game, we said the game misses the mark, saying, “the overall lack of bells and whistles make Super Mario 3D All Stars a bit of a disappointment”.
Elsewhere in the new numbers from CESA, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening crossed the 6 million mark, Pikmin 3 Deluxe has sold over 2 million copies, and Bayonetta 2 became a 1 million seller ahead of its sequel later this year.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, Lifewire, and more. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant, where he's probably pleading for an F-Zero revival.