When news broke that theSuper Mario Odysseyteam was developingDonkey Kong Bananza, there waspalpable disappointment. Now that we’ve all had a chance to play the game,it’s clear that it’s a Game of the Year contender. However, there was a point when people were upset that the team was working on aDonkey Konggame, rather than a new mainline 3DSuper Mariotitle.
Given the wait, you can kind of understand their disappointment. As of earlier this year, we’re now in the longest gap we’ve ever had between mainline 3D Super Mario games, with the wait between Odyssey and whatever is next surpassing the gap between Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Odyssey.
Where Is The Next 3D Super Mario Game?
The wait between Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario Odyssey felt like an eternity. Nintendo skipped theWii U, making us wait 2,715 days between the two games. That’s more than seven years and a whole console generation. Unfortunately, though, our current wait is longer than that, with no end in sight.
As of Jun 26, 2025, the wait between 3D Super Mario games is 2,837 days, more than 100 days longer than the wait between Galaxy 2 and Odyssey, and that number is likely to get far, far bigger.
The record was broken on Jun 26, 2025, and the wait will surpass that eight-year mark this October. We’ve had no indication that Nintendo is going to release a new title in the series any time soon, either.
2,218 days
1,931 days
934 days
2,715 days
Unknown (Today’s date, June 16, 2025)
2,837 days
Of course,Super Mario 3D Worldwas released on the Wii U; however, itsstatus as a mainline 3D Mario gameis one of life’s great questions. If you include that, and the re-release, which featuredBowser’s Fury, as a mainline 3D Super Mario game, the wait is a lot more palatable. I, however, personally don’t, and with it inevitably passing 3,000 days, I’m not sure how much longer my patience can take it.
