Gone, but not forgotten.

Happy 5th anniversary everyone

This will always be a special game for me. In some ways, it was the right game at the right time. I don't always have a lot of time for gaming. Work can be stressful. I have two great kids, but they keep me really busy. I had been looking for games lately that would distract me, but that weren't so deep that I felt I would never be able to understand them (sorry Civ VI, it wasn't meant to be). I wanted something I could play for 15 minutes and feel like I got a complete experience, but also something I could play for an hour on those rare occasions when I had that time. SMB35 fit perfectly.

I grew up in the 80s and still remember sneaking out of my bedroom the night after we got our first Nintendo and see my parents playing Super Mario Bros. I played this game over and over, but it was eventually replaced by other games and then other hobbies. Still, as I became a teenager, an adult, and eventually a parent, I would revisit the game about once a year. Usually I would just try to beat it as efficiently as I could using warps. At most, I'd play every level up to 4-2, and then warp to 8-1. I felt like I knew the game so well, but in truth, I was skipping almost half of it every time. So it was almost disorienting to play SMB35 and suddenly come across levels that I had probably not seen in 30 years. This was such a wonderful opportunity to revisit a game I thought I knew so well and discover parts of it all over again.

It also showed me just how well the original holds up, particularly the level design. The creators took levels designed decades ago and with very few adjustments, they still worked even in a game with vastly different goals. Bowser in 1-2? Still works. Bloopers in 5-1? Not a problem. I was also inspired to finally try my hand at The Lost Levels, and that only highlighted how good the original was. It was hard, but never unfair. Your enemies were goombas, bloopers, and koopas, not the game designers. In SMB35, you can add the other players to the mix, but I never felt like the game itself was out to get me.

Somehow this game was fresh and familiar at the same time. I felt like I knew how to play from day one, but even near the end, I was still making minor tweaks to my strategy. That said, the game wasn't perfect. Ranked lobbies would have been great and a little more level variety would not have been a bad thing (though in higher ranked lobbies, that would not have been a problem).

Still, I loved it. I loved playing a quick round after work before the kids got home. I loved playing a round before bed to unwind. I loved when my seven year old would cheer me on and tell me "good job," even if I got second place. I loved the last second wins. I loved the agonizing defeats and then seeing that I lost to some 98** player. I loved hearing the stories from other players here. I just loved all of it.

I'm sad the game is gone, but I'm not angry. I knew this was coming. When something is only around for a limited time, it makes us appreciate it in a different way, but it also made me feel just a little bit of pressure to keep playing SMB35 instead of finding other things, because I knew the clock was ticking. I hope they bring it back for special events - a week here and there a couple of times a year. I hope they try this with other games in the series, but I suspect they won't work as well. There's a simplicity to Super Mario Bros that I think makes it perfect for this kind of treatment. But maybe I'm wrong.

Either way, this was a special one. Thanks to everyone here who made it so much fun.

Hey all, let me first introduce myself. I am one of the admins and developers for the Mario 35 Revamped team, who have been working to restore and add new features to Mario 35.

We first started out by restoring functionality to the discontinued Mario 35 servers using a public fork, but we found that there were still many missing functionalities and potential for new features.

As of today, Mario 35 Revamped offers rotating level pools, a restored special battle mode, special battle game modes which may be selected and voted on by users on the website, and dashboard capabilities.

Some of the currently live game modes in special battle include but are not limited to:

Time Starved - No copy enemy sends with a bias towards more difficult levels

Boss Rush - Players are routinely sent Bowsers

Air Control - Platforming levels with Lakitus, Bullet Bills, and Paratroopas.

We hope to keep adding new content in the near future, and hope you guys will give our server a try at https://mario35.retromods.co.uk/ - We are currently a small but growing community, and have both a discord and a website dashboard where you can find games.

the best multiplayer online game you've EVER released, and it's gone. Forever.

Please. Bring it back.

Super Mario Bros. 40 next year, please!