Issue #50: Long Live King Koopa + Addition Addiction – January/February 2021

Mario didn’t start out Super.

He was just a carpenter. Later, a plumber. Really just a regular tradesman who just so happened to once rescue his girlfriend from an ape who climbed a construction site — that was heroic, sure, but nothing that the word “Super” would reasonably describe.

It wasn’t until Mario was opposed by a truly sinister villain (not just a goofy gorilla) that he was able to rise above the constraints of his normal self and achieve Super status. Mario would have never become Super Mario . . . if not for Bowser.

Our celebration of the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. continues in this 50th NF issue, and we’re shifting the spotlight away from the hero of the series in order to give due praise and appreciation to the foe whose refusal to lose has been the driving force behind that three-and-a-half decade success. King Bowser Koopa is still as dedicated to dastardly deeds today as he first was all the way back in 1985. Even though his schemes have always ended up thwarted in the end!

Perhaps the crushing weight of all those defeats has finally begun to break Bowser’s back, and that’s why he’s now angrier than ever? “Bowser’s Fury” is kicking off the 2021 software schedule for Nintendo, and in the pages ahead we’ll endeavor to divine just what form his rage is going to take this time.

What’s more, we’re celebrating Bowser with a full feature looking at all the most important aspects of his curmudgeonly character: “Long Live King Koopa.” Then, taking a cue from the “+” in the middle of “Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury,” we’re also looking at Nintendo’s ongoing trend of adding extra content to re-released games in a secondary feature called “Addition Addiction.”

Beyond that, the news, previews and reviews you’ve come to expect, our 2020 Game of the Year Awards, a fresh crop of comics and much, much more!

Mario was spurred on to become Super by facing an enemy who was stronger than he’d ever encountered before. As you read about Bowser in the pages ahead, consider how you yourself have become stronger after overcoming the hardships in your own life! (Even video game bad guys can teach us about ourselves!)