Nintendo has offered clarification on the various degrees of controller support found in its newly announced Super Mario 3D All-Stars trilogy, noting, among other things, that it’ll be possible to replicate Super Mario Galaxy’s pointer functionality via the Switch’s touchscreen.
Of the three games included in the trilogy – Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy – it was the latter that had raised the most questions, given the somewhat dizzying permutations of controller options, play modes, and models available for Switch.
The original Super Mario Galaxy on Wii, you see, featured motion control support for Mario’s spin attack, alongside Wii Remote pointer functionality, enabling players to shift a cursor around the screen and sweep up Star Bits while simultaneously controlling Mario – a feature that didn’t appear immediately replicable in Switch’s handheld mode or on Switch Lite.
Super Mario 3D All Stars Nintendo Switch Watch on YouTube
Now, however, Nintendo has clarified (in response to a query from Polygon) that Super Mario Galaxy on the standard Switch will utilise Joy-Con motion controls to replicate pointer functionality in TV and tabletop modes, while handheld mode makes use of the touch-screen.