A 40th anniversary built around Galaxy
Forty years after Mario’s first leap, Shigeru Miyamoto opened a one-hour Nintendo Direct with a simple promise: this anniversary won’t be small. The stream doubled as the first big roadmap since the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, and it set a clear tone—Mario is taking center stage through 2025 and 2026.
The headline was cinematic. Nintendo confirmed the animated sequel’s official title: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It hits theaters worldwide on April 3, 2026. The name alone points to where the franchise is headed—into the gravity-bending setting that fans know from the Galaxy games. After the first Mario film stormed the global box office last year, a Galaxy follow-up puts the spotlight on space, Rosalina, and the Lumas, and ties the film slate back to the games in a neat loop.
That loop tightens on October 2, 2025, when Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 land together on Nintendo Switch. These are not simple dumps of old code. Nintendo says the classics will ship with improved resolution, multiple control options, refreshed UI, and a surprise: new pages for Rosalina’s in-game storybook. The company isn’t saying exactly how those pages connect to the movie, but it’s hard to miss the timing. For anyone who missed Galaxy 2 the first time—or noticed its absence from the 2020 3D All-Stars release—this is a second chance and then some.
There’s a neat bonus for new hardware owners too. Switch 2 players get a free 4K update for the Galaxy collection. That puts both games in sharper focus while keeping the same art direction—clean, bright, and readable. It’s also a smart show of support for two console generations. Nintendo is keeping the base Switch in play while making sure Switch 2 buyers see a bump in fidelity without paying twice.
The Direct didn’t stop at ports. Super Mario Wonder is getting a new build in Spring 2026 called Super Mario Wonder: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. The key add-on is “Meetup in Bellabel Park,” a set of multiplayer-focused activities with both competitive and co-op elements. Wonder already proved that a two-dimensional Mario can still surprise. Putting a structured social mode front and center suggests Nintendo wants Wonder to have longer legs on the new system.
New adventures are coming too. Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a traditional side-scrolling platformer made for Switch 2 and slated for Spring 2026. No gimmicks were detailed beyond the title and the focus on Yoshi, but the pitch sounds like comfort food: colorful stages, gentle difficulty, and collectible-driven replay—the kind of game families play together, and speedrunners quietly master.
On the collectibles front, Nintendo announced a set of Super Mario Galaxy amiibo launching April 2, 2026, a day before the film. No functionality was outlined yet, but amiibo timing that close to a major movie usually means in-game bonuses or cosmetic tie-ins across a few titles. Also arriving: a physical Talking Flower inspired by Super Mario Wonder. It won’t be fully interactive, but it will blurt out lines from the game at intervals—the kind of oddball desk toy Nintendo fans tend to snap up.
Nintendo widened the celebration beyond home entertainment, too. The company is sponsoring the Kyoto Marathon 2026 and is rolling out a fresh look for Nintendo Museum tickets. Those touches aren’t content drops, but they show how Nintendo plans to keep the anniversary visible in daily life—events, museums, and merch all pointing back to Mario’s roots in Japan.
While the show leaned Mario, it wasn’t only Mario. Nintendo slipped in a handful of notable third-party and first-party updates: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Resident Evil Requiem, and Hades II all appeared. Details were kept tight, but the message was clear—2025 and 2026 won’t be quiet years for either console. Expect more reveals as publishers lock down their own dates and platform specifics.
Here are the key dates and drops at a glance:
- October 2, 2025: Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 on Nintendo Switch, with free 4K update for Switch 2 owners
- April 2, 2026: New Super Mario Galaxy amiibo figures
- April 3, 2026: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie worldwide release
- Spring 2026: Super Mario Wonder: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition with “Meetup in Bellabel Park” content
- Spring 2026: Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, a Switch 2 exclusive
Why Galaxy, and why now? Because it gives Nintendo a ready-made spine for a two-year celebration. The games are still widely loved, they offer visually rich worlds that scale nicely with higher resolutions, and they give the new film a lore base casual viewers can latch onto. Adding fresh storybook pages feels like a small thing, but it hints at narrative bridges—little winks that can span game and film without giving away plot.
The remasters also answer a practical question. Galaxy’s original design relied on pointer controls and motion input. That’s trickier on modern setups, especially in handheld mode. Nintendo’s promise of “multiple control options” suggests they’ve taken lessons from the 3D All-Stars version of Galaxy and built out a cleaner, more flexible scheme—ideally one that works well whether you’re docked, handheld, or playing on a Switch 2 display with different ergonomics.
For Wonder, the new edition telegraphs a longer tail. “Meetup in Bellabel Park” sounds like a social hub that mixes quick matches, short co-op challenges, and maybe rotating events. It also gives Nintendo a clear way to showcase the Switch 2’s online features without splitting the community—existing Wonder players on base Switch keep their version, while Switch 2 owners get a spotlight edition with added content and likely stronger performance.
Yoshi’s new adventure, meanwhile, fills a gap. With Mario grabbing the headlines and Donkey Kong rumors always swirling, a Yoshi side-scroller brings back the lighter tone and collect-a-thon charm. Keeping it exclusive to Switch 2 gives the new hardware a family-friendly tentpole for Spring 2026—something you can market alongside the Mario film’s home release window.
Amiibo are the quiet backbone of Nintendo’s long-term plans. They keep characters on shelves between game launches and make for natural crossovers with software. When amiibo sets arrive near big media beats, they tend to unlock themed cosmetics, in-game items, or album-style galleries. Even if Nintendo didn’t detail features today, the April 2 timing all but guarantees some software touchpoints once the movie lands.
On the third-party front, the tease was brief but telling. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave signals that Intelligent Systems’ tactics series remains a pillar for Nintendo’s lineup. Resident Evil Requiem suggests Capcom’s survival horror pipeline is staying active on Nintendo hardware. And Hades II being in the montage shows that acclaimed indies are still core to the platform’s identity. Put together, it reads like an all-lanes-open message to developers: support both systems through 2025, then layer in Switch 2 enhancements when ready.
One of the bigger takeaways is structural. Nintendo is making cross-gen feel normal without muddying the waters. Galaxy 1+2 are playable on the base Switch, but Switch 2 owners get a free fidelity bump. Wonder exists on both, but the Switch 2 Edition carries new content to showcase the hardware. The brand-new Yoshi game sits as a clear exclusive to justify the upgrade. It’s a balancing act—keeping a massive Switch install base happy while giving early adopters a reason to jump in—and this Direct showed the blueprint.
There’s also the cultural angle. Nintendo’s sponsorship of the Kyoto Marathon and the refresh for Nintendo Museum tickets are small moves with big symbolism. They pull Mario out of the living room and into public spaces during a milestone year. For a company that built its business on family-friendly routine—weekend play, school holidays, shared couch sessions—those touchpoints matter.
If you’re planning your calendar, the stack is tidy: replay the Galaxy classics this October, circle early April 2026 for the movie and amiibo, and keep Spring 2026 open for Wonder’s Switch 2 Edition and Yoshi’s new quest. Expect more Directs to fill in the gaps for Fire Emblem, Resident Evil Requiem, and Hades II, plus any surprise one-more-thing announcements Nintendo loves to tuck into the spring cycle.
Not every detail is locked yet—pricing, special editions, and the exact features of the new amiibo and the Talking Flower are still to come. But with a movie date set, hardware-aware remasters on the way, and a steady drip of first- and third-party games, Nintendo’s 40th year of Mario has a clear arc. It starts with Galaxy, spans both consoles, and carries through to a spring where Wonder evolves and Yoshi takes the stage.
What the lineup means for Switch and Switch 2 owners
For base Switch players, nothing is walled off this year. Galaxy 1+2 are fully supported, and the broader slate shows plenty of ongoing investment. For Switch 2 owners, the wins are sharper visuals on legacy hits, a headline new Yoshi exclusive, and a Wonder edition built to emphasize multiplayer and performance. It’s a carrot, not a stick, and that’s usually how Nintendo grows a new platform without burning the old one.
The bigger picture is momentum. A film tied to a pair of beloved classics creates a marketing flywheel, while a spring run of new content keeps people engaged after the movie hype fades. If Nintendo keeps threading that needle—alternating between nostalgia and new ideas—Mario’s fifth decade starts with confidence and a full release calendar.
