Summary
- The Legend of Santa closely resembles Super Mario Bros. 3, a benchmark platforming game.
- Nintendo allowed the game's similarities to slide despite potential copyright concerns.
- The Legend of Santa offers unique features like changing Santa's sprite and multiplayer mode, potentially appealing to fans.
An upcoming Switch game called The Legend of Santa shares a striking resemblance to Super Mario Bros. 3. The game has been out on Steam since November 2023, and will come out on the Nintendo Switch on October 28, 2024. Interestingly enough, Nintendo did not seem to mind that the game looks to have followed in the footsteps of Super Mario Bros. 3.
Admittedly, it's not such a bad idea to closely mimic any of the Mario games, let alone Super Mario Bros. 3. Many fans consider Super Mario Bros. 3 to be the benchmark for platforming games, with some even claiming that it's the best Mario game to ever come out. Though it might be a risky move to pull off, The Legend of Santa releasing on Switch already has a release date, so Nintendo may have let the similarities slide.
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The Legend of Santa is a platformer by Plow Games, in the style of early Mario titles. The visuals are very familiar, looking akin to a recolored and reskinned Super Mario Bros. 3, with the titular Santa replacing Mario. Players will be able to play as Santa throughout a set of Christmas-themed stages where he can stomp on enemies, punch blocks, and shoot power-ups. Steam's review scores are largely positive, which could mean good things for the title. With many fans longing for more 2D Mario games, The Legend of Santa might just scratch that itch.
Should Nintendo be Worried About The Legend of Santa?
With how strict Nintendo can get regarding copyright claims, its very surprising that The Legend of Santa passed the company's quality control. While it may not be infringing on characters and settings that Nintendo owns, many fans have already noticed how familiar the graphical assets of the game seem. That's why some fans are concerned if this would cause problems down the line.
Granted, there are a few things that The Legend of Santa does differently. It seems Santa's sprite graphic changes depending on the location. The game also offers multiplayer options for up to four players. The levels aren't totally restricted to an outdoor winter wonderland either, with some looking to take place in caves. There might be just enough differences that Nintendo probably considered the similarities surface-level. In this case, the Mario formula has had historical success for Nintendo, and a Christmas twist could do wonders. There are only a few Christmas-themed games which come to mind, and even fewer on the Nintendo Switch. The Legend of Santa could be a good addition for not only fans of Mario, but also for people who want to celebrate the holiday season.
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console launched in 2017, capable of being played in handheld mode or docked to a television. The Switch Lite, a handheld-only model, followed in 2019, with an OLED refresh coming in 2021.
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