Switch 2 should have been Mario’s easiest layup in years, especially after Nintendo’s latest Direct had fans waiting for the most famous mascot in gaming to finally take the spotlight again. Instead, the Direct came and went without the announcement of a new standalone 3D Mario game nor any indication that one even exists, leaving the Switch 2 with a strange distinction no Nintendo console wants attached to it. Specifically, Mario is now more than eight and a half years removed from his last original 3D platforming adventure, making it an all-time record drought for the iconic plumber.
Super Mario Odyssey launched on October 27, 2017, and it still stands as the last full, standalone 3D Mario game Nintendo has released. Of course, Bowser’s Fury deserves to be acknowledged, since it arrived in 2021 and experimented with a more open-ended structure, but it was packaged with Super Mario 3D World and was never built or sold as a full standalone successor. It was also incredibly short, which makes counting it as the end of the drought feel more like a loophole than a fair reading of Mario‘s current situation, where he seems to be avoiding the Switch 2 for the time being.
After Ocarina of Time and Star Fox, Switch 2’s Next N64 Remake Feels Obvious
After Ocarina of Time and Star Fox, Switch 2 already has the perfect opening to give another classic N64 title the remake it deserves.
Mario Has Never Gone This Long Between Full 3D Games
The frustrating part about Mario‘s current absence on Switch 2 is that long waits between 3D entries aren’t anything new, but this one is clearly different. Nintendo has never treated 3D Mario as an annualized franchise, but that’s actually a good thing, as it has helped each new entry feel like a major event worth the wait. Even so, the gap after Odyssey has now stretched well beyond every major wait the series has seen since Super Mario 64.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
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Every Drought Between Major 3D Mario Games
- Super Mario 64 to Super Mario Sunshine: 5 years, 10 months, 28 days
- Super Mario Sunshine to Super Mario Galaxy: 5 years, 2 months, 17 days
- Super Mario Galaxy to Super Mario Galaxy 2: 2 years, 6 months, 11 days
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 to Super Mario 3D Land: 1 year, 5 months, 21 days
- Super Mario 3D Land to Super Mario 3D World: 2 years, 9 days
- Super Mario 3D World to Super Mario Odyssey: 3 years, 11 months, 5 days
- Super Mario Odyssey to Today: 8 years, 7+ months
Considering the wait between Super Mario Odyssey and the next 3D Mario game is now quickly approaching 9 years, once the next entry does finally arrive, it’s likely that drought will have doubled some of the longest release gaps in the franchise’s history. The previous longest stretch came between Super Mario 64—the original 3D Mario game—and Super Mario Sunshine, which makes sense in light of the size of the leap from the Nintendo 64 to GameCube era. But Odyssey has now been waiting almost three years longer than that, with no confirmed successor on the Switch 2 calendar.
Bowser’s Fury Complicates Things, But It Still Doesn’t Count
The Bowser’s Fury debate is the only real complication, and even then, it doesn’t do enough to erase the record. Bowser’s Fury was exciting because it felt like a glimpse at where 3D Mario might go next, with one connected playspace and a more experimental approach to structure. However, it was still an add-on paired with an enhanced Wii U port, which means it functioned more like a proof of concept than Mario‘s next flagship adventure.
The gap after Odyssey has now stretched well beyond every major wait the series has seen since Super Mario 64.
Historically, 3D Mario games have been defining launches for Nintendo hardware. Super Mario 64 introduced players to the Nintendo 64 and its capabilities, Super Mario Galaxy became the Wii’s great creative showpiece, and Super Mario Odyssey gave the original Nintendo Switch one of its most important early exclusives. The Switch 2 having Mario Kart World is great and all, but a racing game cannot fully replace the sense of discovery that comes from a new 3D Mario built around new hardware.
Fans Aren’t Happy With 3D Mario’s Absence on the Switch 2
The longer the wait gets, the more fans are starting to talk about the missing 3D Mario as one of Switch 2’s strangest and most defining absences. One Reddit post by user West-Exam-4136 pointed out that October 2026 would mark nine years since Odyssey and asked whether Nintendo would show a new Mario game this year or save it for Odyssey‘s 10th anniversary. The same post summed up the impatience bluntly by saying 10 years is “way too long.”
Other comments show how the gap is beginning to influence people’s feelings about the Switch 2 itself. In the same post, user GOAt_tWO3 said Odyssey was the game that made them want a Switch in the first place, which is exactly the kind of statement that explains why the absence feels so obvious now. User OilMeUpStewart also wrote that Donkey Kong Bananza looked great, but it wasn’t enough to make them buy a Switch 2, while a new Mario game would make them “pull the trigger.”
There are also more forgiving voices, though, and they’re worth acknowledging because this is, after all, Nintendo. Some fans are still willing to assume a new 3D Mario is coming eventually, with user AttleesTears arguing on a Reddit post by user ChiTownDog that the problem is not the lack of good games but the fact that Switch 2’s launch library and release schedule don’t feel equal to what people expect from a brand-new Nintendo console. And that’s the heart of the issue, really, since the frustration isn’t necessarily about Nintendo having nothing to play but about Nintendo having no full 3D Mario when its new system feels ready-made for one.
Zelda Keeps Getting Games, Mario Does Not
The comparison to the original Switch makes Switch 2’s situation even harder to ignore. In 2017, the first Switch launched with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and then received Super Mario Odyssey less than eight months later. That first year gave Nintendo fan a new full 3D Mario and a new Zelda game, which instantly made the Switch feel like a full-on generational reset rather than a simple but much-needed hardware upgrade.
Since then, Zelda has continued to receive the kind of treatment Mario fans are still waiting for. Tears of the Kingdom arrived in 2023 as a massive sequel to Breath of the Wild, Echoes of Wisdom launched just a year later, and now the Ocarina of Time remake is on the way to Switch 2 in 2026. Zelda has had a new open-world entry, enhanced Switch 2 attention, a brand-new installment featuring a new lead protagonist, and now a remake of one of the most beloved games ever made, all while 3D Mario is still living off Odyssey‘s legacy.
The frustration isn’t necessarily about Nintendo having nothing to play but about Nintendo having no full 3D Mario when its new system feels ready-made for one.
None of this means Nintendo has just completely ignored Mario as a whole, though. Super Mario Bros. Wonder gave 2D Mario a major creative win, Mario Kart World has already given Switch 2 a great multiplayer game, and the Mario brand in general is still healthier than almost any franchise in gaming. The problem is that none of those things answer the specific question fans have been asking since Odyssey, which revolves around the next 3D Mario game.
So, Switch 2 has now broken the wrong kind of Mario record because Nintendo allowed the wait to outgrow every historical comparison. The company may eventually reveal a 3D Mario game that makes the silence feel justified, and history suggests Nintendo is more than capable of turning patience into payoff. Until that reveal happens, though, Mario‘s most important Switch 2 achievement is, unfortunately, the longest drought his 3D series has ever seen.
