March 31, 2021 has been called the day that Mario died. It was on that day that Nintendo decided to pull Super Mario 3D All-Stars from sale in both physical stores and the eShop and shut down the Super Mario Bros. 35 battle royale. However, it seems GameStop and some other retailers are not following along, as Super Mario 3D All-Stars still seems to be readily available for purchase from multiple stores.
A quick visit to GameStop's page for Super Mario 3D All-Stars shows that the game is still available to buy brand new, with option for it to be delivered next week. This is counter to many other retailers that no longer have any kind of listing for Super Mario 3D All-Stars on their online stores. It should be noted that GameStop had previously said that it would sell the game while supplies last, though based on the panic online, it's safe to say that many Super Mario fans weren't aware of this. However, GameStop is not the only retailer that still has Super Mario 3D All-Stars listed for sale.
After discovering that GameStop is still selling Super Mario 3D All-Stars, we took a look at some other retailers. Walmart also still has the game listed and at $10 lower than the usual asking price. It seems that the reports of Mario's death have been greatly exaggerated, though it's unclear how much longer retailers like GameStop and Walmart will be selling new copies of the game.
Since March 31 was the day that Super Mario 3D All-Stars was supposed to be pulled from sale, prices for the game on sites like eBay have skyrocketed. Super Mario 3D All-Stars scalpers have been attempting to sell the game from anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a staggering $25,000. But with the game still readily available in brand new condition from places like GameStop and Walmart, there really is no reason for anyone to pay for the incredibly overpriced secondhand copies from scalpers.
While it's nice that Super Mario 3D All-Stars is still available after March 31, some fans may still be upset that Nintendo decided to pull this stunt to begin with. Nintendo says that it made Super Mario 3D All-Stars only available for a limited time because the game is meant to celebrate Super Mario's 35th anniversary, but it seems pretty obvious that this was done to create a sense of urgency and get as many people to buy the collection as possible within the shortest amount of time.
In the meantime, here's hoping that Nintendo itself eventually makes these games more easily accessible to fans, especially Super Mario Sunshine, which was a pure GameCube exclusive until Super Mario 3D All-Stars released on the Switch.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
