Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is bringing the co-op party to Switch in 2021

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The Cat Mario returns

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is coming to Switch next year, and it's adding in online multiplayer and what looks like a big new infusion of stages.

Nintendo unveiled the new version of the Wii U classic in a surprise Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct, which also revealed the impending release of the catalog-collating Super Mario 3D All Stars. While Nintendo is keeping the specifics of what new game content Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury will add secret, the trailer for the game ends with a teaser for a new world set on a stormy beach, studded with mysterious monuments to Cat Mario.

Nintendo has confirmed that the new version will enable online co-op multiplayer, which was sorely missing from the 2013 original. This means you and up to three friends should be able to scramble around stages toward roughly the same goal both over Nintendo Switch Online and in person when the new game arrives on February 12, 2021.

The original Super Mario 3D World made use of some Wii U exclusive features such as the touchpad and microphone to let you manipulate parts of the stage, so I'll be curious to see how the Switch version addresses those aspects of the game. Mostly I'm just excited to play again, because Super Mario 3D World is still one of my all-time favorite Mario games, constantly packed with surprises and fun.

Nintendo also confirmed that it's putting out two new very plush-looking Amiibo for the game, Cat Mario and Cat Peach.

It's not Super Mario 3D World's fault that it came out on a console barely anybody bought. Now its re-emergence on Switch will finally be a chance to show the (3D) world what it can do.

Find more to play in our guide to the best Nintendo Switch games. 

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.