Mario Nintendo Switch Games Now Available for 85 to 90% Off on eShop
Mario Nintendo Switch games are now available for 85 to 90% off. There are no Nintendo Switch 2 versions of the games in quesiton, but each game is playable on the newer Nintendo console via backward compatibility with the older Nintendo console. As you may know, Nintendo never, ever discounts its games anywhere close to this much. So, how can games in its flagship IP be this cheap? Well, because it’s not the developer or publisher of the games.
The Mario Nintendo Switch games and the substantial discounts for them come courtesy not of Nintendo, but of Ubisoft, which has only ever made two Mario games, and it is giving both away for $5.99. These two games, for those out of the loop, are Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, two of some of the best strategy games on the Nintendo Switch. Consquently, also two of some of the best strategy games that can currently be played on Nintendo Switch.
$12 for Two Great Mario Games
For those unfamiliar with these two titles, the timeline begins in 2017, the launch year of the Nintendo Switch, when Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was released. At the time, and still, Nintendo was very protective of the Mario IP, which made it letting Ubisoft develop a game for it, let alone a crossover game with the Rabbids IP, very surprising. It paid off, though. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle was quietly one of the best Nintendo Switch launch-year games, as evidenced by its 85 on Metacritic, its nomination for Best Family Game at The Game Awards, and its win for Best Strategy/Sim Game at the same show. It sold well too, hence the sequel.
The sequel is Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, which was released in 2022. It earned the same Metacritic score, the same nominations, and the same award. It was a very consistent sequel, though our official review for it argues it’s actually the superior of the two games.
Fittingly, both games are exactly 21 to 22 hours long, on average, to mainline. Add side content, and both fall somewhere in the 30 to 35-hour range. However you play them, you’re getting close to or over 50 hours of Mario turn-based tactical strategy RPG action for $12. To this end, there isn’t currently much better value on the Nintendo eShop from a high-quality content-per-dollar ratio. That said, these eShop discounts are only live until October 8.
Of course, both games hold up in 2026. In fact, if a third game were ever made, which looks unlikely at this point, it would be indistinguishable from the first two games from a graphics and presentation point of view. Perhaps, it would be a little sharper with the extra power of the Nintendo Switch 2, but like most Mario games, these two are aging very well.