Super Mario 3D All-Stars is leaving the Nintendo eShop on March 31, but you'll still be able to get it digitally using download codes sold at retailers – while supplies last.
As VGC reports, Nintendo Japan recently confirmed that retail download codes will still work even after Super Mario 3D All-Stars is pulled. You might be thinking of those little plastic cards with a scratch-off code you punch into the eShop, but this is more relevant to the digital download codes sold through online stores.
Amazon US, for instance, is sold out of direct physical copies of Super Mario 3D All-Stars, though third-party sellers are still stocking it. However, it still has digital download codes available directly. This illustrates the big upside to this news: even after retailers run out of physical copies – which will no longer be restocked after March 31 – they'll also have a supply of digital codes to burn through. This should delay the inevitable spike in scalping on the game, and it will give everyone more time to buy the game digitally.
The bad news is that this also boils down to limited supplies. Nintendo hasn't announced plans to sell the games included in the 3D collection in any other form, so once the codes are all gone as well, you'll have to hunt for a used physical copy of the game or pray for some sort of rerun. If there's any silver lining to be found, it's that you'll always be able to redownload the game once you buy it.
