The game featured the classic platforming of Super Mario Bros., with the addition of 35 players competing in real-time in a battle royale format.

The game featured power-ups that could be obtained by spending collected coins on an "item roulette" and a timer that was extended by defeating enemies and completing levels.

[16] In limited-time "Special Battle" events, players could compete in a fixed list of courses and conditions that had a different theme every week.

[14] Super Mario Bros. 35 was developed by Arika, starting before the release of the company's previous game, Tetris 99, in February 2019.

[25] Some players were accused of hacking to obtain 99,999 coins in a single round to gain an easy supply of power-ups, allowing them to top the leaderboards.

According to the president of Nintendo of America, Doug Bowser, the 35th-anniversary products were discontinued due to the 35th anniversary being a celebration that was intended to be unique.

He considered the concept successful, mentioning how Super Mario 3D All-Stars sold over 2 million copies in the time frame.

[32] Kotaku's Ethan Gach appreciated the concept, calling the late-game a "true gauntlet of death",[35] but felt that the "novelty doesn't last long".

[31][37] Button observed that the repetition creates a lack of pacing and little intensity, but that Special Battle was a good competitive alternative.

[15] Other minor complaints come from the final moments of rounds, where gameplay regularly results in two players going through levels under a test of endurance of the standard platforming.

Shacknews's Ozzie Mejia stated that the final two players would "find themselves in a deadlock after playing the same levels over and over", but appreciated how the in-game timer would speed up to fit the moment.

[33] While critics believed the game had a complex strategy, reviewers found cases where the overwhelming difficulty could be cleared by simply using a fire flower or an invincibility star.

[2] Ars Technica's Kyle Orland believed the fire flower was overpowered, and made getting through large groups of enemies too easy.