In just the span of one week, Super Mario Maker 2 has ended Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled’s brief stay at the top of the UK Charts, as Nintendo’s newest exclusive debuts at number one.
The Nintendo Switch-exclusive title is currently Nintendo’s biggest launch of the year, rocketing past the rerelease of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. The launch sales should come as no surprise, either, as everyone knows that Mario sells, no matter which game he is in – even something as quirky as a game creation title.
Coinciding with the arrival of Super Mario Maker 2 on the Nintendo Switch is a very significant and noticeable marketing push for the console, which is evident in the number of Switch titles rising up the charts. From number eight, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe zips past its competitors to a fifth place finish. Likewise, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reenters the top 10 by moving one place up. Finally, we see The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild move up by half its previous number, from number 22 to number 11.
In a surprising, yet somewhat very saddening turn of events, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night enters the top 10 to land a ninth place finish. This was, however, fueled entirely by the fact that the Igavania title saw its Nintendo Switch release a week ago. The Switch release is widely considered to be the worst release out of all the platforms, and I would advise anyone to hold off on buying the title for the Switch until fixes are made to its massive list of technical problems. However, the game is actually really good on the other platforms, so if you're a big fan of Metroidvanias and want something straight from one of the genre's founding fathers, check it out.
While Crash may have had to make way for Mario taking the top spot with his newest game, the Bandicoot’s racing title didn’t do that bad either – Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled only drop one spot down to second place, though there was a 48 percent drop in sales week-on-week.
The Yakuza spinoff title Judgment also did pretty well, debuting at the fourth spot. It’s also the newest exclusive IP for the PlayStation 4.
Big Ben’s Lovecraftian action-horror investigative title The Sinking City debuted just outside the top ten with a 12th place finish, while the newest iteration of Car Mechanic Simulator debuted at number 23.
