Mario

Japan’s new Super Mario Happy Meal toys look awesome. They went on sale last Friday. Please come to the West. UPDATE: Oh hey, looks like they go on sale in the UK this week!

Super Mario Adventure: The Kotaku Review

This is a Mario game, but it’s not a Mario video game. It’s a ball puzzle/game/thing I got for my kid for Christmas, and we haven’t been able to stop playing it since. We spotted it on Amazon trawling for Mario merch (kid is nuts for Nintendo stuff), and figured that because the box was…

Super Mario 3D World Hack Is Totally Normal, Don’t Worry About It

Yep. That’s good ol’ Mario, alright. Our favorite plumber would never kill us in our sleep. CosmoCortney decided to stretch Mario’s joints apart with a hack, and the result is this monstrosity: It’s like Skinny Mario all over again, dear god. Every aspect of this is terrifying: Somehow, the happy-go-lucky music only makes it better/worse.

First Glimpse At What A Super Mario Theme Park Could Look Like

In 2020, before the Tokyo Olympics, Universal Studios Japan will open its Mario-themed amusement area to the public. Today, Nintendo provides our first glimpse at what we might get. As Kotaku previously reported, this is not a standalone theme park, but a world in USJ—namely, Super Nintendo World. This was first revealed in May 2015, and…

Super Mario Run demos will be playable at Apple Stores starting this Thursday, said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé on The Tonight Show. Super Mario Run will be released on December 15.

Shigeru Miyamoto Performing The Super Mario Theme With The Roots

Miyamoto doesn’t only make video games. He plays guitar as well as the banjo. On The Tonight Show, he played the Super Mario theme with the Roots. In the clip below, you can also hear him play some bluegrass and some ragtime.

Hacker Discovers A New Super Mario 64 Coin That Is Impossible To Collect

Some time ago, the “Impossible Coin” was discovered in Super Mario 64. It took 18 years to finally collect. Mario 64 guru Scott “pannenkoek2012″ Buchanan recently discovered a new, unobtainable coin in Tiny Huge Island Scott managed to collect the first impossible coin on the same level in 2014 and recently achieved memetic status with…

Pikachu Plushies Dressed Up As Mario And Luigi

Want. Badly. At Pokémon Centers in Japan, limited edition Pikachu-meets-Super Mario goodies are going on sale October 29. Have look! The following items are limited to the Pokémon Center Kyoto and the online shop. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond.…

New 3D Mario Game Coming To Nintendo Switch

A new 3D Mario game is coming to the Nintendo Switch, announced today. The Switch will be released in early 2017. It’s not a side-scroller, but a 3D game along the lines of Super Mario Galaxy. The graphics look great:

NX Mario Is Creeping Everyone Out

This morning, Nintendo will unveil the NX. To let the world know this, Nintendo tweeted out the announcement with a photo of Mario that sure is unsettling. And now for the Creepy Mario memes: So creepy!

Super Mario Hot Wheels, Ranked

Last month Nintendo and Mattel teamed up to create the first ever Super Mario character cars. Each is a wheeled work of art, but with eight different vehicles at $.97 a pop, snagging the whole set might be tough. Don’t worry. We’re here to help. We’ve created the definitive ranking of Super Mario Hot Wheels…

Speedrunners Finally Pull Off The ‘Holy Grail’ Of Mario 64 Glitches

Since it came out 20 years ago, Super Mario 64 has been cracked open, turned inside-out, and put back together in all sorts of weird configurations, but people keep figuring out new ways to warp its candy colored reality. The latest is being billed as the biggest speedrun breakthrough since 2007. A crew of speedrunners…

Sega Takes Shot At Nintendo, Encourages Fans To Keep Making Sonic Stuff

It’s been a pretty good time for fan games. We’ve had a full scale remake of Metroid 2 and an amazingtribute to Sonic the Hedgehog. Only one of these games has been taken down by corporate forces. Last week, the Game Grumps played Green Hill Paradise Act 2. Sega noticed. And gave a big thumbs…

Doesn’t sound like Nintendo thinks Mario is a good VR fit. Shigeru Miyamoto recently told USA Today, “I would agree that adapting Mario to new platforms is a key to keeping him relevant. But we want families to play together, and virtual reality doesn’t really fit well there. We also like people playing for a…

Nintendo Announces Super Mario Run For iOS [UPDATE: Android Later]

Mario is officially coming to the iPhone. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto made a surprise appearance at today’s Apple conference to announce Super Mario Run, an iOS runner with graphics from New Super Mario Bros. It’ll be free to download with a set purchase price, and Nintendo says it’s “coming soon” to the App Store. It’ll be…

Website Says Nintendo Threat Forced Them To Pull Hundreds Of Fan Games [UPDATE]

In a mass filing under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Nintendo has apparently flagged over 550 titles for takedown. Focusing on the site Game Jolt, a notice said to come from Nintendo listed a total of 562 titles for removal from the site. The majority of these titles were fan made tributes or independent…

Mario Sports Superstars Is All The Mario Sports

Mario’s starred in a lot of sports games over the years—soccer, baseball, tennis and golf. Mario Sports Superstars for the 3DS combines all four and adds some horse racing to the mix when it launches in spring 2017. According to the Nintendo Direct, these are five full games, playable both offline and online with friends…

Super Paper Mario Is A Role-Playing Game About Nintendo

Super Paper Mario has the typical hallmarks of a 2D Mario platformer—stomp on enemies, jump over pits, and avoid obstacles—but failing carries minuscule stakes. If you fall into a pit, you only lose a single health point. The enemies are weak, by and large, and powerups and Shroom Shakes are plentiful. That it’s nearly impossible…

No Mario’s Sky Offers Infinite Goombas to Stomp

Made for Ludum Dare 36, No Mario’s Sky is the Last Mario You Will Ever Need™. Okay, that may be an exaggeration but it is full of mushrooms, coins, goombas, rocket ships, and more! No Mario’s Sky was made in 72 hours by ASMB, a team of four designers. You can play on Windows, OS/X,…

The Tokyo Olympics Could Be The Geekiest Olympics Yet

As reported earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared at the 2016 Rio Olympics’ closing ceremony as Mario. But that wasn’t the only Japanese pop culture cameo. Other iconic characters from gaming and anime popped up in a Tokyo Olympics promotional clip shown during this year’s closing ceremony, Such as Pac-Man. Captain Tsubasa from the…