Nintendo recap: Advance Wars indefinitely delayed due to 'recent world events' the week of Mario Day celebrations

Welcome everyone to this week's Nintendo recap! Thursday was Mario Day and as such, several companies decided to celebrate by putting Mario games on sale and announcing new products. In more serious news, Advance Wars 1+2 has been delayed indefinitely due to its focus on political conflicts that hit too close to home with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Nintendo Switch Online app has been updated with a new look and new features, and Monster Hunter Rise currently has a free trial available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. There's even more to discuss so let's dive on in.

Mario Day discounts and Super Nintendo World opening in 2023

March 10, or Mar10, is known as Mario Day among Nintendo fans. To celebrate our favorite plumber, Nintendo and various retailers like Best Buy and Amazon are holding sales on all Mario games on Switch, many of which knock the prices for most of these games down from $60 to about $41 or less. This also includes titles that focus on other Mushroom Kingdom characters like Yoshi's Crafted World, Luigi's Mansion 3, and more. You'll definitely want to check out what's on offer if you haven't already.

As part of the Mario Day celebrations, Universal Studios Hollywood announced that the Super Nintendo World section of its theme park will be opening in 2023. This will include shops, rides, merch, and food with Nintendo themes. A Super Nintendo World has already been open in Japan for about two years now, but this will be the very first one to open in the U.S. The Hollywood location was announced back in 2016 but its opening was delayed a few times due to the pandemic, so it's nice to hear that it's finally going to be openinig. I personally cannot wait to check it out and get me some fun Nintendo-themed collectibles and clothing.

Princess Peach LEGO set leaks ahead of Mario Day

As part of the Mario Day celebrations, Nintendo and LEGO are once again releasing new LEGO Mario sets, only this time they focus on the one and only Princess Peach. Interestingly enough, it seems the Princess Peach LEGO set leaked a day ahead of time since an annoucement for it showed up on the LEGO Instagram account on Wednesday and was taken down shortly thereafter, only to appear again on Thursday.

As with the Mario and Luigi starter kits, the Princess Peach figure is sold in her own starter kit, but there are additional sets for sale as well. It looks like one of the coolest Mario sets yet, coming complete with Toadette, Bowser, and some of the Koopa King's minions. I especially love that there's a Goomba jumping out of a cake. If you're a LEGO fan, these are definitely some sets to keep your eye on.

F-Zero X now playable on Switch

Nintendo's slow-drip approach to adding additional N64 titles to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack continues with F-Zero X, which landed on the service this last Friday. This is a cult clasic racing game that many people adore. The premise is that you're participating in futuristic races where the vehicles are moving extremely fast, running at hundreds of miles per hour.

Unfortunately, these days many people are only really aware of the racing series' protagonist, Captain Falcon, thanks to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. That's not surprising given that it's been 18 years since we had a new F-Zero game despite fans still holding out hope for one. At any rate, F-Zero X is a fun multiplayer experience that you can share with friends locally or online, so check it out if you haven't already.

Nintendo Switch Online app gets an update

As seen on Nintendo's support page, the Nintendo Switch Online app got a significant update on March 6. These changes include:

• The app's overall design has been updated.
• You can now see which of your friends are online.
• You can change your online-status settings.
• You can view your friend code.
• Other minor changes have also been implemented.

I don't know about you, but I haven't used the Nintendo Switch Online app in a few months — not since Animal Crossing: New Horizons abilities were added to it. That seems to be the consensus for most people I've talked to, so I'd be curious to know just how many people are actually using this app.

Monster Hunter Digital Event and free Rise trial for NSO members

Capcom has announced that there will be a 20-minute Monster Hunter Digital Event on March 15 at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. PT that will talk about the Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak DLC. Apparently we'll be getting information on the DLC's gameplay, new monsters, and more. As part of the hype leading up to Sunbreak's release, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will be able to check out Monster Hunter Rise in a free trial from March 11-17. If you have access to the service, make sure to take advantage of this.

Monster Hunter has been a huge franchise in Japan for a long time, but it's been gaining more attention in the West in recent years with the latest game, Monster Hunter Rise, being a big success on Nintendo Switch and PC. The main idea is that you take down powerful monsters on your own, or preferably with friends online, and can use the parts you gather to create better armor and weapons for yourself or your cat or dog who accompany you in battle. There are also 13 different weapons to master, each with complex mechanics, so each player can bring different skills and abilities to the table to help the others out. If you haven't checked this games out yet, you really ought to.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp delayed indefinitely

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a remake of Game Boy Advance war games that was slated to come to Nintendo Switch on April 8, 2022. However, this week Nintendo released a statement saying that the game would be delayed indefinitely "in light of recent world events." This undeniably relates to Russia invading Ukraine.

For some better context as to why this decision was made, the original games open with a group called Blue Moon, who are depicted very much like the USSR, invading a nearby people. That's a little too close to home right now. As such, delaying these games indefinitely is a very good decision for Nintendo to make. There's no telling how long the conflict in Ukraine will continue for so don't expect this game to release any time soon.

It's truly saddening to see what the people of Ukraine are going through right now. If you're looking for ways to contribute to their aid, Ukrainian video game studios have shared ways to help the people of Ukraine. People are in need of medical assistance, food, and other necessities, so give if you can.

That's all folks

That's it for this week's Nintendo recap. I'm currently deep in the middle of my first Triangle Strategy playthrough and can't wait to play this game again to see what other endings I unlock. Regardless of what you're playing this weekend, I hope it's fun and relaxing.

Until next time.

- Rebecca Spear