#To me he's like the Charles Martinet to Sonic

[uniiiquehecrt]

It bums me that the Sonic VAs got nothing for the Sonic movie. At least the Mario one gave Charles Martinet something to do even if they're side characters. Mike Pollock has been voicing Eggman since Shadow the Hedgehog and he got Jack. Same with Smith and Griffith. Could have at least had Knuckles dad be played by Dan Green or Travis Willingham or something (note I love Christopher Lloyd)

Oh trust me, my friend, I am right there with you. It gets worse with the addition of Tails. He is still voiced by his og actress, Colleen O'Shaughnessey. And let me tell you right now, the difference in talent and competency when you put Tails and Ben Schwartz into the same scene together is night and day. (Here's their literal first scene together to prove it.)

(And to anyone who thinks I'm giving Mr. Schwartz a hard time... i mean, fair enough. I am. But you can't tell me he has given ANYTHING to Sonic that he didn't already do in DuckTales (2017) as Dewey Duck, and as Jean-Ralphio Saperstein before the both of them in Parks &. Recreation, which is the entire point of why I viscerally dislike him as a voice actor very specifically. It'd be fine if he stayed in his lane, you know, as a comedian, but he didn't, so he's getting my full criticism. Especially where Sonic is concerned.)

Jason Griffith most likely would have been pleased to come back to Sonic. I mean he voice acted for the guy for seven years and is HIGHLY beloved by the Sonic fandom to this day. Especially for his work on SonicX. Roger Craig Smith is IMMENSELY talented and has been voicing Sonic for over ten years now, and is so good at his job that he is STILL voicing Sonic despite the franchise's setbacks and his own announcement of leaving the role. Because he's good at it and he's passionate about it. (I personally love RCS more than Jason. Not that Jason is bad by any means but RCS is underrated imo.)

I'm not as well versed in this, but there's ALSO the fact that Knuckles' voice actors didn't get hired to voice the echidna either. They hired Idris Elba, and some people were saying was going to be fantastic in the role, and you know what? In my opinion, he sucked. He absolutely bombed it. And I say that knowing how well he does on screen in an acting role because I have watched him play Heimdall for 10+ years. He HAS talent, but is NOT a voice actor. And he certainly is not a good fit for Knuckles the Echidna. He didn't even come anywhere close to emulating Knuckles' voice.

And then you get the argument of "oh but the voices don't have to be the same" — my sweet summer children... The joy of voice acting and animated characters is that it DOES all come down to the voice and the voice matches the character design. The voice is the ENTIRE SELLING POINT. You don't get the voice right, then the entire acting fails and no animation talent can save it. It sucks but it's true. (As someone who had to struggle to find a fitting voice for my thesis' film's main villain this is such a priority that people overlook. Good enough isn't good at all.)

Honestly though, the real kicker here is that the Sonic franchise should never have been a "live action" film at all. I loathe "live action remakes" of animated films no matter what they are. I especially hate CGI/live action fusions that make that the selling point when Roger Rabbit proved that it can be done much better with 2D/hand-drawn animation. (To a lesser extent: compare the og. Space Jam with the remake, or even Space Jam with the og Smurfs. The quality difference all these years past is not even comparable.)

Also, it's not even a "live action remake", because, spoiler alert, the characters are still animated and no amount of life-like special effects will change that.

Hollywood (and America as a whole) needs to quit disrespecting animation and calling it "for kids" when it is a medium. It always has been.

[multicolour-ink]

Thoughts on The Super Mario Bros Movie

Spoilers ahead

- - -

Positives

- The fact that Bowser's entire plan to get the Power Star was just so he could use it as a proposal gift to Peach is hilarious 🤣

- Jumpman!

Syrprised no one has mentioned this yet. No seriously this cameo made me smile so hard 😄 And yes it is Charles Martinet, and yes he is playing "Jumpman" in the background!

I just thought it was very sweet and YES while he doesn't look like game Mario, it was the best way they could've done it in, my opinion.

- The family was charming!

Honestly when I heard they had a whole family I got very worried that they would be taking up so much screen time.

It's like the issue I have with the humans in the Sonic movie's so far - they are not terrible, but I find it hard to care about them when they are not the main characters, and they go and high jack the movie.

But surprisingly, they aren't in it for too long! They are only at the beginning and end, and serve their purpose. In short, I am ok with them 👍🏻

- Bowser is perfect!

They got Bowser so right - honestly was a bit worried that he was just going to be a love struck clown throughout the whole thing...but when he gets mad or something doesn't go his way - he's terrifying! They really captured the fury of what a monster he is, both Jack Black and the animators 👏🏻

- OK now I know the other reason why they hired Jack Black! Bowser being a secret rocking music dude is not what I was expecting, and I love it 🤣👌🏻

- The fight scenes

DAMN! They did not hold back on these! The way the characters hit each other, the number of times Mario should've been dead with how hard he got smacked around. Dang it's brutal! And I love it!

Gotta mention the epic DK/Cat Mario, Rainbow Road 🌈, and Bowser/Luigi/Mario fights!!! So good 💗

- The Bros reunion

Need to mention it here, even though I already knew about it and gushed about it so many times there is literally nothing else I can say! It's a beautiful moment and even though it's quick I'm so glad they took the time to make that a moment ❤💚

- THE BROS FIGHTING TOGETHER

Kudos to the movie for never forgetting the true heart of the movie - the Bros' relationship. Luigi coming in to defend Mario, the Bros taking each other's hand, them running to the star together, Bowser being absolutely pummelled by them! It's so good!!! 💗💗💗 I could watch that all day!

- This movie actually made me like Donkey Kong but not Seth Rogan

- I like what they did with the Kong's being a whole kingdom and like a big family 💗

- DIDDY KONG GOT A LINE

- Toad is a funky dude. Please give him more in the sequel!

- I like the fact the end credits was so open. Yes I am aware some are upset that Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, and even Rosalina did not appear. But I think that it's a good thing. It shows that Nintendo and Universal did not want to hype up too much, just in case of the possibility of a sequel never happening (you can't really tell with Hollywood sometimes...) and it just means they got time to work on it.

This is the issue I had with Tails being introduced at the end of the Sonic Movie. They hyped him up so much, only for the writers to have to try and write in a sloppy reason in Sonic Movie 2 for why he is there.

It's clear this movie was a MARIO movie. Not hyping up too much for a cinematic universe or trying to get to the sequel - and I appreciate that immensely.

- The fact that Foreman Spike and Peach (two characters who have been in the same franchise but have never interacted due to the time and console releases their intro games took place in) suddenly sharing the same space in a movie??? That is surreal to me.

Negatives

Technically these aren't so much negatives - just nit picks and little annoyances I found that they could've done better - and also talk about some complaints other people have mentioned.

- The pacing

Yes everyone has talked about this - and they aren't wrong about it...but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Yes some scenes did seem to be on fast forward, just so the writers could get to the parts they really wanted to do...but when you also look at it from the perspective of urgency that the Mushroom Kingdom is under, some of it does make sense.

But still, the movie does tend to move at too fast a pace sometimes. But it is a fun rush. I can't really find a middle ground with it...

- Slow mo

No seriously did Zach Snyder take over at some point? There were too many pointless slow mo scenes for my liking.

- The pop songs

Not as bad as I thought they were going to be - but I still can't stand pop songs on Mario and I especially hate 80s songs!

In fact, what bothered me the most was the weird opera song they kept playing during their scuffle with the dog. Not only is it obnoxious, but it's playing so loud over the sounds and voices that you can't process anything effectively. It's weird and should've just been left out of the scene.

- Cranky's voice

Literally the only voice in the movie I felt did not fit the character at all. He should've sounded more old and grumpy.

- The fact it went by so fast!!! It was such a rush it went so quick. I wanted to stay in the MK forever 😭

- Luigi being absent

Honestly, yes we needed more of the Bros, but it was inevitable that Luigi wasn't going to have more screen time. Yes it is sad a prison breakout did not happen, but with all the footage they revealed up until release, it became more clear to me thst this wasn't going to happen. There just wasn't going to be time. I'm not upset about it, but we definitely need more in the sequel.

[waggtoon]

That was a whole lot of fun. I had an absolute blast watching the Mario movie.

Further thoughts:

*Chris Pratt's Mario didn't bug me as much as I thought it would. He does an okay job. *Kid Icarus cameo! Yay! *I wish Luigi was in this movie more, he spends most of it captured in a cage and while he does help out in the end it felt like he should have had more screen time. *Movie Peach feels like a mix of Super Show Peach and Nintendo Power Comic Peach and I am all for it. *I absolutely love the rivalry between Mario and Donkey Kong in this movie, every time they butt heads is super entertaining. *This movie's Toad is the absolute best version of the character to date. *As expected, Jack Black absolutely steals the show as Bowser. *I was very pleased by the choice to have Charles Martinet play Mario's Dad (I didn't even realize it was him until the credits). *The score. The score! *Chef's kiss* Sure one could argue it's tugging at my old nostalgia bone, but it does so in the absolute best way without feeling too distracting. I can't wait to buy the soundtrack. *The ending battle might be one of the best scenes in any Illumination film. *Perhaps we've just been spoiled by the Sonic movies, but I couldn't help but find the final post-credits cliffhanger scene a tad underwhelming.

Overall the Mario movie does have it's flaws and I can see why critics didn't like it but dang it it's a whole lot of fun. I had the biggest smile on my face the whole way through and in the end that's what's most important, especially when it comes to a franchise like Mario.

One more note:

Peaches peaches, peaches peaches peaches...

That is all.

[crusherthedoctor]

Hi crusher I wanted to ask what are your unpopular opinions on the Mario franchise?

I think some people can be too hard on Mario himself. Yeah, he may be very straightforward as a character when compared to several of his castmates, including Luigi, but the sheer volume of demonization he's received over the years makes me feel sorry for him. I like him just fine no matter how simple he is, and I'll always admire the passion Charles Martinet has for him (as well as Luigi, Wario and Waluigi).

Similarly, I think Peach gets too much flack as well. Yeah, it's a shame that most of her roles involve little more than being kidnapped, but that's not her fault, and I think she's a good character when she's allowed to do things. While I'm alright with how she's been portrayed in the upcoming movie so far (mostly; see further below for more details), I was completely unsurprised when everyone reacted to her role as if she had never done anything in her life beyond getting kidnapped before that point. You can always spot the fakers from a mile away; just ask the so-called fans who reacted to the Sonic 2 trailers with "Knuckles is a bad guy??? Why is he working for Eggman???"

I'm indifferent to the Koopalings. Always have been. Don't hate them, but never cared about them either.

Super Mario Land 2 is well liked by all accounts, but I think it might be an unconventional opinion to say it's up there with Super Mario World as my favourite of the 2D Marios. I just really like how unique it is for 2D Mario standards, especially in light of how bland and unoriginal the New Super Mario Bros. games were. Plus, it introduced Wario, who is always epic.

DKC3 is my second favourite in the trilogy after DKC2. DKC3 has admittedly been getting more love in recent years, which I'm really happy to see, but I liked it even when everyone else considered it the weak link of the trilogy. I get why some elements might put some players off, but I think it's just as fun as the first two, and has its own enticing atmosphere.

I'm not a fan of Super Paper Mario, and that includes the story and villains (aside from Dimentio, he's good). For me, it's to Mario what Twinsanity is to Crash: that one game that's honestly pretty flawed in a lot of areas, yet everyone claims is the best of all time while somehow also claiming it to be underrated at the same time.

Conversely, I do like Origami King. This isn't too unpopular an opinion, since I know it does have a lot more fans than Sticker Star and Colour Splash, but naturally it's still a very divisive game. Make no mistake, I would love to see a return to the 64/TTYD formula, but I really do enjoy Origami King in its own right.

Grodus is one of my favourite villains in the series. He's not hated per say, but he tends to get overshadowed by other Mario baddies, including the Shadow Queen from the same game he comes from. And yeah, I know he doesn't get to do a lot compared to others, doesn't have the most colorful personality, and ends up falling into the SA1/Unleashed Eggman trap. But I do think he's underrated, since I enjoy his no-nonsense approach, and he has a pretty badass design. I guess it just annoys me that a lot of fans don't even bother to acknowledge him because they're too busy wanking over the Shadow Queen. As a side-note: for a long time, I always said he was my all-time favourite Mario villain. But in recent years, I realised that as much as I continue to like him, I can't really justify him as my #1 when comparing him "objectively" to the overall showing of other Mario villains, since as mentioned, he didn't get to do an awful lot. He's still up there for me without question, but if I had to say which Mario villain is my true #1 on account of what they actually get to do, that's tied between Fawful and K. Rool. Those two are thankfully beloved, so no need to consider liking them an unpopular opinion. :P

I love Superstar Saga, and I like Cackletta as a villain, but I'm not so keen on the Bowletta twist, as I feel it traded Cackletta's uniqueness in favor of Bowser With Tits. Not to mention it was a rather humiliating moment for Bowser himself.

I like Super Mario RPG, but I prefer Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi in pretty much every way that matters. And while I don't have a problem with the character, I don't quite understand the immense popularity of Geno compared to other RPG-exclusive characters who achieved similar popularity. Like Fawful... or Vivian. <3

I don't have an issue with Bowser being the villain of an RPG as long as they don't pull a Sticker Star with him. The original Paper Mario and Dream Team were able to keep him in-character and did interesting stuff with him, therefore I have no problem with his status in those games.

I'm not losing sleep over its absence, but I'd like to see the Double Dash two-per-kart gimmick make a return in a later Mario Kart, as I think it was a lot of fun. (Double Dash was also my first MK, so y'know...)

Galaxy is a great game that deserves its praise and legacy, but I wouldn't put it in my personal Mario top ten. Not because I have any real issues with it, I just prefer other Mario games is all. With 3D Mario specifically, I prefer the exploration of 64, Odyssey, and yes, even Sunshine despite its numerous flaws and other... interesting qualities. ("MARIO, HOW DARE YOU DISTURB MY FAMILY VACATION")

I'm currently very mixed on the upcoming movie, and not just because it's-a me, Chris Prattio. On one hand, Illumination are certainly putting more effort into it compared to their other movies although I suspect that's because Nintendo is holding them at gunpoint, the little Easter Eggs are nice and clever, the world as presented looks interesting, and Jack Black as Bowser is gonna steal the show. On the other hand - Jack Bowser aside - it's still not really exciting me all that much, I sense that half of the praise it's received is born purely out of dunking on the Sonic movies for not being animated (or, let's face it, because it's Sonic), and even putting Chris Pratt as Mario aside, I'm not feeling some of the other actors. Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong goes without saying because DK did not deserve that fate, but I'm not vibing with Peach's voice either. I know they probably didn't want to emulate her usual squeaky voice, which is understandable, but why not something akin to her 64 voice?

Not to say there aren't any mainline Mario tracks that I love (Dire, Dire Docks fans rise up), but I've noticed that most of my favourite Mario soundtracks as an overall package tend to come from the spinoffs. Particularly from the DKCs, the RPGs, and the Mario Karts.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show is about as good of a Mario show as SatAM was a Sonic show (read: not very), but I'm less hostile to the former because the Mario universe's earliest years were much more primitive in setup compared to Sonic's earliest, so the Super Show's creative liberties are slightly easier to forgive by comparison... and it's fun to point and laugh at. (Who the fuck would willingly live in a place called Crime Land?)

Bowser's current voice in the games is fine, but I'll always have a soft spot for his N64-era dinosaur roars. I just like the way they sound. :>

[ney-thank-you]

mario movie was a very movie.

🍄⭐️🍄⭐️🍄⭐️🍄⭐️🍄⭐️🍄⭐️🍄⭐️🍄⭐️🍄

there i said it. i know ill be murdered for such a hot take 😔

but seriously

⚠️spoiler warning⚠️

it was definitely a fun kids flick, it felt very "illumination-y" with some of the character designs (*cough cough* every human besides mario family and Charles martinet character *cough cough*) but i wont count that against the film. its a nit pick and i will admit that.

in fact most of my criticism are nitpicks.

- it felt rushed at times, scenes were back-to-back that felt like they needed SOMETHING, anything there to make them transition smoother

-luigi was painfully absent from a lot of the film. DK was underutilized, too

-while we're at it, why didn't Toad's character get to do anything else with his frying pan? was it really only a gag? i was waiting for him to use it again after the first time.

- that blue star thing was more annoying in its brief screen time than all three of the Gargoyles from disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

- Bowser.... oh Bowser..... i wanted to like him in this... Jack Black did a phenomenal job... but there was something slightly off about him that vibes with me wrong I guess...

-Chris Pratt sounded great as mario, actually, he and Charlie Day were the best parts of the movie IMHO.

-Peach, while she wasn't annoying, she lacked any depth... and speaking of,

- Honestly the stakes in the movie were in fact very high, but....it never actually felt like it..? Mushroom Kingdom was at risk of being taken over by The Big Bad^TM and yet. it didn't ever feel like there was danger?

-Mario's bizarro character "arc" if you can call it that. it starts with him, like Captain America, being like "i could do this all day" taking on the bully and being there for Luigi. i get it, ok. but there was never really a time when that was LEGITIMATELY challenge (save for the end, which is when he overcomes the challenge again) like, it felt like the obstacles for Mario's goal (save Luigi) felt manufactured at best and nonexistent at worst.

-Peach never got a good reason to trust Mario or spend all that time training him. I will put an addition to this post on what things i would change to fix these minor gripes*

- I did love all the little details and references, part of me wished it was taking place in the 80's instead of modern day, but thats again a personal stylistic choice.

- It looked very nice, The look of everything simultaneously seemed soft and sleek but also textured and real, idk it was a nice blend of "cartoony video-game world" and "life-like rendering"

- The whole wedding thing, while funny, (I freaking screeched at that first piano scene) fell short most of the time, and there wasn't enough juxtaposing Bowsers "evil bad guy vibe" with the "soft, i just wanna get married uwu" like he mostly felt like a dork who was lost in the script and almost fell in the just generic bland kids movie bad guy (something i personally think The Sonic Movie barely avoided with Dr. Robotnik)

-i have so much more to say but i think i will leave it at that. or i will make a yt video. who knows!

[my-km-me]

The Game Awards rankings from Most to Least Deserved

Game of the Year

Baldur's Gate 3

Honorary Mention #1: Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Honorary Mention #2: Remnant 2

Honorary Mention #3: Lies of P

Marvel's Spider-Man 2/The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Both are equally fantastic. Even if I prefer the above, I would be perfectly cool with either of them winning.)

Alan Wake 2

Super Mario Bros. Wonder (This game is good but be serious.)

Resident Evil 4 REmake (RE4 is an excellent game and this remake is no different. However, there's not enough distinction to warrant it hogging a spot this list. It already got its praise and attention when it came out. Let other games have their chance.)

Best Action/Adventure

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (As much as I love me some Venom Spider-Man 2, there's no other game that embodies both Action AND Adventure than Zelda.)

Alan Wake 2

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Best Action

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (Though it was snubbed from GOTY, hopefully it gets its flowers here.)

Remnant 2 (ditto)

Hi-Fi Rush (While I personally wouldn't put it as my GOTY, I think it deserves it more than Mario and RE4.)

Ghostrunner 2

Dead Island 2

Best Adaptation

Castlevania: Nocturne is my favorite out of these choices right now. That said, depending on the writing in future episodes, that could soon change.

Honorary Mention: Five Nights at Freddy's movie (Makes 0 sense for the snub. We all know y'all gonna give it to TLOU anyway. It's not like our votes matter.)

The Last of Us show (Outside fnaf, probably most deserving ngl)

Super Mario Bros. Movie (very fun movie)

Gran Turismo movie (amazing visuals)

Twisted Metal show

Best Family Game

Super Mario Bros. Wonder (My gripes with it being GOTY nominee aside, it's still a great game.)

Pikmin 4 (great)

Sonic Superstars

Best Fighting

Street Fighter 6 (sweeps)

Mortal Kombat 1

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

Best Mobile

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Didn't play the rest, but I do like Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Best Performance

Honorary Mention: Tony Todd was robbed. He's absolutely the best Venom voice actor. He would be my favorite performer of the year.

(Incidentally, can we have Robert Englund as Carnage?)

The rest on this list are all equally great. Don't have a preference.

GOTY aside, Charles Martinet should host this particular award.

Best RPG

Baldur's Gate 3

Lies of P

Honorary Mention: Hogwarts Legacy (If you, along with the gaming media, are perfectly fine/tolerant with Zionists, racially insensitive games ((or sell their products off of racist imagery)), millions of games with white protagonists killing black/brown people ad nauseum, games that exploit heavy misogyny ((bonus points if they casually use rape or domestic violence)), etc. being nominated; you should have no issue with this game.)

Final Fantasy XVI

Sea of Stars

Starfield

Most Anticipated

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Hades 2

Star Wars Outlaws

Tekken 8

Best Sim/Strategy

Pikmin 4 (only great game)

Fire Emblem Engage

Cities: Skyline 2

Company of Heroes 3

Advance 1+2

[maplewoodstreet]

Super Mario Bros. Wonder First Impressions

I'm fairly far into the game and I have some opinions (⁠・⁠o⁠・⁠)

Kevin Afghani as Mario and Luigi

On the bright side of things, people online seem to be receiving the new VA for Mario fairly well! His name is Kevin Afghani. I want to give my opinion on his Mario and Luigi, but first I want to address the harassment he has received since it's more important than the work itself.

Kevin has his pronouns in his Twitter bio. I don't know if he has ever publicly expressed leftist/left-leaning views or queerness or solidarity beyond the simple act of letting people know how to address himself, but that was more than enough to spark hate from right-wingers!

They spout the usual:

"They're putting politics in my game" despite the game being largely apolitical. The only politics here I can see are the existence of highly watered down kings and princesses and dictators, which are par for the course in Mario and children's fantasy in general. I think they mean that they're upset people with political opinions are making the games, but "people with political opinions" describes virtually every person (yes, even centrists, too). Widdle it down more and it's clear what they want is for leftist and queer people to at best hide their politics even outside of work or at worst not make video games. I wonder if it goes even deeper than that...

"Charles Martinet was better!" despite Charles Martinet being more vocally leftist or at least liberal than Kevin (to my knowledge and as of writing this). Either they simply weren't aware of this or they don't care and are using selective outrage to fit their goal of harassing Kevin.

With that said, I don't want to contribute to that harassment and I hope that simplifying expressing my opinion online doesn't add to it.

I don't like his Mario. His staccato noises, grunts, and such? Great! His speaking lines? Not so great. If the goal was to recreate Charles Martinet's (which sounds like the goal in practice), there are a million Mario impressionists and voice actors out there in the world--many bad, but many good! I know a few incredible ones. But of all of them they ended up choosing Kevin and it's just not hitting the same. Could it be because of directing? Him just being new? Nintendo just preferring Afghani's new take on Mario over Charles'? I don't know; Nintendo tends to not publicly talk about these things.

I'm sure at some point someone will put together a Martinet VA replacement hack. There's decades of voice clips to choose from, so it's totally possible for those who prefer Charles to customize the game to their liking.

It does make me wonder if things were reversed. If Kevin Afghani was the original VA and Charles Martinet took over, would I say the same thing? Maybe the change is perfectly fine and I simply have to adjust.

Also! I want to point out that Kevin has a remarkably small filmography for playing such a high-profile character. Good on Nintendo for giving the role to an underdog. (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

Game

They don't scratch the same itch that Super Mario Bros., Lost Levels, 2, 3, and World do. It’s a similar feeling to how Odyssey didn't scratch the same itch as 64 or Sunshine or Sonic Superstars not scratching the same itch as the Genesis games, despite it all being "returns to form".

The game's really easy. I've seen an article titled something like Is Mario Wonder the Dark Souls of Mario??????? and, uh, no it isn't (and it's insincere to play it up like it could be to farm clicks). I understand it's modern Mario and modern Mario is pretty chill difficulty wise, but the discourse around Wonder's hard difficulty made me wonder if it was true. Even the 5-star difficulty levels are pretty easy. Or maybe I'm just so seasoned with Mario games that the only thing that could challenge me anymore is a (very easy) kaizo ROM hack. I’m not trying to humble brag, I've just been playing these games since I was a wee lad, so I have lots of experience (⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠³⁠˘⁠)

Also Castle Bowser sparks a fear of Pickle Rick and, like, “vore fetish” in me, I dunno. I can't help but think there’s someone out there jerking off to Castle Bowser. Thanks, NINTENDO!

Powerups and Badges

Super Mushroom - yup

Fire Flower - based as usual

Starman - mostly relegated to a gimmick where you run thru a distinct section of the level with a bunch of enemies in a row instead of a neat little surprise to help thru the level

Bubble Flower - eh, it's ok! As a weapon, it's mostly useless except for spiked enemies, but it has its uses for creating platforms to bounce from

Elephant Fruit - wasn't a fan at the reveal, not a fan now. It's pretty much just normal Mario, but you can press Y to melee attack. Also Elephant Peach scares me.

Drill Mushroom - Very neat! Drilling underground or into the ceiling opens up level designs in moderately interesting ways. I also like that the drill hat protects you from spiked enemies attacking from above.

Wonder Flower - Sometimes neat, sometimes eh! They can spark some life to the level and some of them are pretty fun!

And now the badges. They're neat! I like ’em :) Not all of them are super useful, but some are! They spice things up a bit.

Direction

The game is a lot more creative! The level art is nice, not perfectly new and exciting imo, but it is a moderately nice breath of fresh air compared to the New series. I love the new enemy designs! They're so cute! (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠❤ The only one I don't like are the Whomp-like enemies. I cannot make heads or tails of what it is.

Despite the game generally being more creative, the new inhabitants of the Flower Kingdom, the Poplins, have the same problem as modern Paper Mario where some Poplins have distinct personalities, but their designs are the same as every other generic Poplin. There's a kungfu Poplin named Master Poplin and he looks the exact same as the rest of them except I think he has a permanent >:) face. Wonderful 😵‍💫

The sound design is a little odd and some decisions I'm not thrilled about. I don't like the jump SFX and I really do not like the warp pipe SFX. It just sounds muffled and it didn't need to be muffled. I think the idea was that it's the classic sound, but it's coming from inside the pipe so it's all reverb-y and muffled? I dunno. Don't like it. Bad game!!!!! (⁠╯⁠°⁠□⁠°⁠）⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

Online Review Scores

EVERY game reviewer outlet is giving Mario Wonder 10/10s. The game is not a 10/10. It's fun! It's a bit humdrum, but it's fun! If you're thinking about getting it, it won't be revolutionary, but it will be a good time, especially with friends ｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡

[jimintomystery]

Hot-t-t Mario Movie Takes

I liked the movie a lot.

The usual bunch of weirdos are obsessing about the movie's Rotten Tomatoes score. Look, the move is not good because the audience score is 96%, and the reviewers are not miserable out-of-touch elitists because the Tomatometer is only 52%. If you don't give a crap about Super Mario, and you've watched every other kid's movie ever because it's your job, then you're going to notice the story is pretty generic. I've been a Mario fan since like 1988, so I'm just impressed that his hat is on-model. Your mileage may vary.

Likewise, you've got the other weirdos trying to declare every movie a dismal failure because it's too "woke" or too snarky. I occasionally try to imagine what these knuckleheads were hoping for, but I generally end up with "Zack Snyder's Sonic SatAM." Boy, that's a scary thought.

It astounds me that people are complaining that Princess Peach is too badass in this movie, as if she wasn't a playable character 35 years ago. The whole idea of the damsel in distress (and her loyal retainer) from the first game stepping up to join the action in Super Mario Bros. 2 is probably what sucked me into this franchise in the first place. Anyway, Peach is perfect in the movie, 15/10, no notes.

The voice acting is fine. Chris Pratt as the default hero guy was a joke before he even landed the lead role here, but he works as a plucky everyman, and that's what Mario's supposed to be. Mario is from Brooklyn, not Italy, so he doesn't have a thick Italian accent. I get that many fans grew up on the video games with Charles Martinet voicing Mario in quick soundbites. But I'm from before that, when Mario sounded like whatever voice you gave him in your head. In my head, Mario sounded more like Pratt's take, so I'm good with it.

My one quibble is that I wish Luigi hadn't spent so much of the movie as a prisoner, and I wish some of the Mario & Donkey Kong moments had been Mario & Luigi moments. But I'm not sure how you'd get there without totally restructuring the plot, and Luigi does get his moments to shine, so I get why they went the way they did. Luigi was one of the characters I most dreaded them screwing up, but they managed to make him timid without making him totally craven, so I approve.

[thebuttsmcgee]

GOD Sonic And Tails R is so entertaining and so so sooo great! I've already listened to it before but man I can't get enough of it! All the VAs are so talented and each one really makes me focus on listening intently. And the story of it is something so simple yet hasnt been explored by the actual franchise and is looking to be a fun time! And man, I really dont wanna discredit all the other VAs, especially since each one I do respect and appreciate what they've done for the Sonic franchise as a whole (Mr. Mike Pollock being Eggman longer than anyone else has been any other character, Ms. Emi Jones doing a fantastic performance as Tails and being a big part of the Sonic fanbase for a long time, And Mr. David Humphrey for being one of the best VAs in all of the Sonic series!) But man..Mr. Ryan Drummond. The Man himself still gots it. He is my favorite voice of Sonic and I can never get enough of hearing him as the blue blur. I'd say more but what else can I say? He was amazing and still is as Sonic the Hedgehog! I'm really looking forward to friday's episode!

[emdotcom]

The Mario movie thing is so funny to me. Here, look at this:

Sonic movies (1, 2, & w/ 3 on the way) come out, does INCREDIBLE in box office, decimates Marvel films, who previously had a stranglehold

Nintendo sees this, wants a piece of that pie, buckles down to make a Mario movie Incorrect order of events, as pointed out here! Mario movie announced before the public knew about Sonic movie.

(Potentially because the previous Mario movie was so out there, did poorly, & was disliked by fans & then promptly forgotten,) they pair with Illumination, a studio that is largely known for making very sterile films

Btw, is it just me that finds it weird that there is no mention from Nintendo or online of the previous movie, in all this? Maybe I'm the only one who remembers this film idk

They announce casting. Everyone immediately boos because they cast Chris Pratt as Mario.

Immediate outrage, as Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario for DECADES, was not cast in his claim to fame roll

There is a (unsourced) rumor that a test screening for the film was met with disappointment, making Nintendo unhappy

Slightly corroborating this, Nintendo buys Dynamo Pictures, to make Nintendo Pictures, with the intent to make future movies in-house

Anticipation for the movie likens it to other sterile animated movies of the last 10 years, like the Minions movies

Trailer comes out.

People continue to boo Chris Pratt, a bad cast for a beloved character who is putting 0 effort into his voice, in comparison to all other VAs putting in 110%

Chris Pratt goes to bed "depressed," at seeing the response I was incorrect, that is an older article, about when he was thanking his wife for providing a healthy child, to which people drew immediate parallels to his ex-wife's son, who has many health complications & needed many surgeries.

But with your help, we can make him being depressed after media backlash reality!

Lol, &, may I say, lmao.

[curetapwater]

FUCK I thought that Mario cast was a joke screenshot, it's REAL???? FUCCKKKKK

[luckycharming]

I don't give a fuck if I sound like a hater-ass-bitch because this is my childhood memories and joy on the line. You mean to tell me Nintendo couldn't have found someone else to voice Mario??? Like, who in their right mind looks at Chris Pratt and goes, "You'd be an amazing Mario?" I mean, clearly Nintendo did, but still. Out of all the white men on this pissy ass planet, they couldn't find anyone better than his weirdo ass?

And I'm not even trying to be hateful so much as critical. When I watched that trailer and heard his voice coming out of Mario's mouth, I deadass CRINGED. I was so genuinely perturbed that I had to switch that shit off and play one of my many Mario games to remind myself what he's supposed to sound like. Was Charles Martinet not available? Is he too old or what, because I'd rather hear him do his thing then the least attractive and least memorable Chris butcher such an iconic video game character.

Nintendo, I know y'all must've have seen how much bank Sega and Sonic were making off their movies, but sweetie, y'all aren't them, and that's okay! I've never heard anyone say they'd love to see a Mario movie. Hell, as much as I love Mario, that's not something I'd ever want because y'all refuse to give my bby depth and personality, something my other bby Sonic has in spades.

[thejasondogman]

Opinions on The Super Mario Bros. Movie teaser

     Ok so, I never spoke publibly anything regarding this movie is gonna be a thing, nor keep super tuned with every news regarding it, but I had my doubts ever since a heard Nintendo confirmed they are collabing with Illumination do an animated Mario movie. I’m a big fan animation since I was a kid. So even tho I only fully watched 6 of the 12 movies Illumination currently as I’m speaking has realised, I have over the years formed my opinions about the studio itself and have heard others opinions about their movies. And mine is not different from everyone else. I don’t find none of their movies bad but they do feel very..... hit or miss. They always do a very good job on the visuals and animation but the writing and jokes always fell unappealing. So outside from Despicable Me 1, which is the only movie from them I like a lot, I find most of their movies very uninteresting.

     As for the Super Mario series, it’s tied with Donkey Kong as my favorite video game franchise of all time. It was (and still is) a big part of my life as a gamer. So at the time I found out Nintendo was producing another attemp of a Mario movie after years in collab with Illumination I got a little worried. But of course, I and everyone else would only be sure to get to our conclusions once a trailer was launched. And yesterday was finally the day.

     So now time to give a few of my opinions: 

Character Designs and Visuals

     Honestly, I feel the same with every character. They feel weird due to some design choices and a few details on proportions in comperison to their original designs.

     But despite that, they're WAAAY far from being bad designs or being on the same level of "ugly Sonic". In fact, I actually liked the designs and I'm starting to get used to them. I like a lot how they are so expressive and faithful to the original designs. Especially Bowser. He’s still my favorite design.

(Also, Bowser's design reminded me a lot of his design in SSB4 and SSBU)

The Writing

     Can’t say too much because not much of the writing has been show but some of the dialogue and jokes gave me the same vibes from the other Illumination movies’ writing. Just hit or miss. But really, there’s only been 4 jokes on the teaser so, I’m not gonna judge it fast.

The Voice Acting

      Now for the aspect everyone was more worried about (myself included). The voice acting. I liked Bowser’s voice. Didn’t love it, nor I think if Nintendo attempted to make him speak fully sentences again in the games I would choose this voice, but at least fits the character. I’m kinda mixed with Toad’s voice. It’s not bad but I don’t think it really fits the character. And now the most controversial one, Mario.... I don’t like it at all. Like, I was already aware that he wouldn’t have his italian accent but like, no offense to Chris Patt, it doesn’t feel like he even tried to replicate that jolly tone Mario is known for. And it just makes me find even more stupid and sad that they didn’t put Charles Martinet in the role despite still being in the cast. Anyway, as for the rest of the characters I just felt it was mostly ok honestly. Kamek’s voice fits with him, very surprised the penguins appeared in the trailer and how they sound and even tho Luigi didn’t speak full sentences in that last scene he sounded a little like the original voice. So yeah, overall I found the voice acting very avarege. Definitly my least favorite aspect of the trailer.

     I really want to say this too. I also watched the trailer dubbed in my home language (brazlilan portuguese) and I gotta say, the voice acting there was so better for me. They don’t sound 100% excatly like the voices from the games, but it fit the characters more than the US voices. They also feel more alive, expressive and the way they talk in certain scenes match more with how they are reacting in the animation. The guy who voiced Mario even did the italian accent.

I really hope they don't change the voices when the movie releases and I'm happy to know some people from other countries also liked the brazilian dub voice.

Conclusion

     I think they should have showed more stuff in the trailer and I still have my worries regarding the orginal voice acting and the overall writing, But despite these, I actually think the movie looks promising. I’m very excited to see more of it. How the other characters will look like, which other characters will appear, the fanserve, who will voice who else in the brazilian dub, etc. As I’m writing this, it’s been one day since the trailer dropped and it still feels SO surreal this movie is actually a thing. I haven’t decide yet if I’ll watch it at the theaters or via streaming (pirated or not) but I really hope I'm gonna enjoy this movie when it releases.

[valleyfthdolls]

Here’s my take on the Mario movie

- Fuck Chris Pratt and his shitty fucking Mario voice and fuck Illumination and Nintendo for giving the role to him- I’ve never heard someone play Mario THAT badly- and fuck everyone in charge of casting for just giving Charles Martinet a cameo when he deserved center stage

- Peach shouldn’t be a Strong Female Character. It’s great to see her stepping up as a political leader in a time of danger and potential war and destruction for her kingdom, good for her, and good on them for making her an actual princess (queen?) and leader of a kingdom and not just a pathetic woman who needs a big strong man to save her. But she also shouldn’t be the token girlboss. She’s a princess and she should maintain a “royal” presence and ideally her soft-spoken voice and kind personality. The solution to “all girl characters are prissy damsels in distress” shouldn’t be “all female characters are Strong Independent Women Who Don’t Need A Man.”

- None of the jokes were funny

- Why don’t the fucking toads sound like toads. They’re sucking all the whimsy out of Mario.

- Except Jack Black. Jack Black is slaying as Bowser.

- The proportions of the character models look AWFUL in most of the shots. Why do they look like that? The game models look fine. Couldn’t they make them look the same at least?

- It feels like they’re pulling an inverse Sonic movie with Mario and Luigi being from a different world. It could be interesting but I’m not yet sure what that accomplishes.

- Bowser is gonna be the highlight of the movie

- If they wanna make the characters’ voices less exaggerated what they’re doing now is not the way to go about it. Have Mario and Luigi use actual Italian accents and shit instead of whatever that is. Make the toads still sound gravelly and froggy, but a bit easier on the ears. Give Peach a softer and less “serious woman character” voice. Don’t settle for zero effort generic bullshit.

- I really hope Peach doesn’t start and end this movie as a serious untouchable girlboss for the #feminism. I want her to be an actual character. Female characters need actual personalities and so many movie studios just switched from one cookie cutter to the next when criticized for the misogyny in their depictions of women. I want her to be the Peach we know, who looks after her kingdom in times of doubt until she’s abducted (see the toads with spears in Galaxy), who has a taste for beauty and femininity, who can fare on her own as a leader but of course needs help when she’s fucking kidnapped, who loves her kingdom and her people and loves Mario for protecting it, even if she’s not romantically interested in him, who invites him over for cake and vacations because the care he shows her and her kingdom means that much to her. Peach is the kind of person who would find a spider in her room, gently scoop it up and take it outside, chatting with it all the while and asking it “what are you doing in here? Do you need to get back outside?” She’s not a generic progressive movie female, she’s a sweet woman who wants herself, her kingdom, and her loved ones to thrive.

- If Peach does get kidnapped I think she and Mario should form a plan to get her out together, not a typical face-off but a secret rescue mission, which ends up going wrong leading to Mario needing to face Bowser.

- If Bowser x Luigi isn’t canon I’m rioting that dumb fucking scene from that trailer for this shitty movie made me ship them and if it’s all for naught I’m killing a bitch

[turquoise-peach]

My thoughts on the Mario movie/trailer so far:

- Alright first off, I’m HELLA excited. I cried tears of joy watching the trailer. I’ve been wanting a Mario movie for over 10 years, and it’s finally happening. That’s practically my whole childhood!

- Who are the penguins? Are they the same ones from SM64? Is this illumination trying to corrupt the idea of Mario by adding their own dumb characters? Also why does that king penguin have such a deep voice?

- The character design is creepily realistic. I don’t necessarily mind, but I was expecting it to be like Mario’s current Nintendo design and animation. It’s still cool nonetheless and not nearly as bad as the original sonic design for the sonic movie.

- Mario and Luigi sound VERY different from their game selves, which we’ve known for quite some time. In the brief second I could hear Luigi, I was like “excuse me do I know you?” And I love Chris Pratt, but as Mario? He doesn’t even attempt an Italian accent. It makes it hard to recognize that these are the same characters I grew up with. I really wish they would have had Charles Martinet as Mario and Luigi, but unfortunately they’re relying on celebrity recognition to attract their audiences. I’m not giving up hope yet. Maybe I’ll watch the movie and find that the voices are actually fitting.

- Bowser sounds different too, but the voice fits. It’s obviously not the voice from the growls and roars you hear in modern Mario games, but it’s a cool interpretation of the character. It seems a little high pitched for Bowser, but hearing him say “OPEN THE GAAAATES” made me squeal like a fan girl. It kind of seems like an upgraded version of Bowser’s voice in Super Mario Sunshine.

- Everything is just so different in some ways that it doesn’t feel like the Mario Bros I know. And it’s not going to be. It’s basically any old illumination movie, just with Mario characters and scenery as the inspiration. Idk if that made sense. Does anyone else think it’s straying too far from the Mario Bros we know and love?

- Perhaps I’m being too harsh. This all makes it seem like I’m not excited for it, which is FAR from the truth. Even though it’s probably not what I’m expecting, I think it will be amazing in its own unique way and I can’t wait for it! 6 months from today!!

[kolons-reaper]

Alright. I have VERY little room to talk here as somebody with a Tumblr Audience of like… two people, but bear with me, okay? Because I just can’t stop genuinely fuming over the casting choice(s) in the Mario Movie.

I know it’s the “Topic of the Day(tm)” but I wanted to give my thoughts as somebody with a deep and profound passion for the art of voice acting. They STOLE Mario away from a truly talented man (Charles Martinet I’m so sorry sweetie) and replaced him with CHR*S PR*TT of all people? Anyone with a brain/eyes/common sense can see that this wasn’t because “He’D mAkE a GrEaT mArIo!!!” It’s because he’s the haha funny Marvel dude who basic white teenage boys freak out over no matter how racist and homophobic he continues to be. (Not even to mention that one time he and Jennifer Lawrence blatantly tarnished indigenous Hawaiian land because they thought it was funny??? I guess???)

This isn’t even the FIRST disrespectful blow against veteran voice actors THIS YEAR, either!! Remember the Space Jam 2 trailer? How Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck were both played by “Themselves” but Lola Bunny was SPECIFICALLY Voiced “By Zendaya?” That’s just disrespectful to those old voice actors, man. Nobody should be discredited so thoroughly just so that some execs can put butts in seats.

It’s just a giant domino effect leading all the way back to when Disney put Robin Williams’ name in all the marketing material for Aladdin despite his openly telling them NOT to do exactly that. It’s the same reason today as it was 29 years ago; Profit, Popularity, and PUTTING BUTTS IN SEATS.

I had high hopes for this movie (can you believe it?) because after the Sonic Movie did it so right I was really hopeful that Nintendo/Illumination would put the same love into the Mario Movie but… nope! And Chris Pratt as Mario really says that to me. I couldn’t personally give less of a shit about the rest of the cast, (I have problems with Luigi, for the same reasons I said earlier, but I do think that Jack Black as Bowser is a very inspired and smart choice. I also kinda love Seth Rogan DK? No idea why, it’s just SO BAD that it 360’s around to hilarious.) but casting somebody as the voice of MARIO is a big deal, Y’know? Why not just let the guy who’s been doing it for 26 YEARS do it? Oh right, because he wasn’t Marvel McProtagonist character in ShitFart of the Generic White Dude 69. (Can you tell I don’t like Marvel and how it’s ruined the voice acting industry yet?)

Long story short, Charles Martinet is a genuinely FANTASTIC voice actor who deserves more than just a few “Surprise Cameos” in a movie that he logically should’ve been the star of. In the wise words of somebody else I just saw make a great post about this EXACT topic:

“I hope that you’re looking forward to watching Chris Pratt play Chris Pratt in Blue Overalls, because he’s just going to do the same exact performance that he’s BEEN doing since he started acting. When you want to cast Chris Pratt, it’s not because he’s talented or interesting, it’s because you need a famous white dude with an identical sense of humor to all the other basic white dudes he’s played. He doesn’t ‘Play’ characters. He gets typecast as himself every. Single. TIME.”

I’m genuinely furious about this and will never forgive the casting director for this slight against the voice acting industry. I guess in a few years there won’t be any genuine vocal talent left, just a whole bunch of bland, disinteresting, famous people.

Let’s just hope that Chris “Homophobic Republican Christian” Pratt won’t go strutting around like the world’s most egotistical pigeon and try asserting that Mario “Doesn’t like you if you aren’t straight” or that FUCKJNG

MARIO

Of all characters Is some kind of “Christian Icon” or something like that. Because if that ended up happening I’m gonna go and team up with Charles Martinet and literally beat the living snot out of that Homophobic Prick until he shuts his mouth

I’m so sorry about this I just needed to vent because holy SHIT ILLUMINATION WHAT WERE YOU FUCKING THINKING I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HA