Mario

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Midnight Mario, Winners!

We started this contest with a much darker vision of life in New Donk City for Mario, but thanks to this week’s winner, we can end it on a much brighter one. The winner for this week is Ihsus who somehow managed the unthinkable, taking a beautiful meme and making it even better, somehow, by…

That Time Some Players Thought Luigi Was In Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 was a watershed moment for our favorite video game plumber. Mario made the leap into the third dimension and brought a colorful array of characters with him but a major ally was missing: his brother Luigi. Was he just hiding the whole time? Mario’s brother Luigi has always had his back ever…

If Super Mario Odyssey Had The Realism of Grand Theft Auto

Super Mario Odyssey’s trailer was only a couple minutes long, but it was enough to get everyone hung up on was Mario’s bizarre appearance in a fictionalized version of NYC. The immediate comparison was that Odyssey reminded people of GTA, so it was only a matter of time before mods mashed together the whimsy of…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Midnight Mario

It was great to finally get a real look at the Nintendo Switch and some of the things it’s capable of. But even if the future of Nintendo’s latest console remains uncertain, what I’m really worried about is Mario. I just have a feeling New Donk City is going to eat him alive. Not only…

The Next Big Mario Game Is Super Mario Odyssey

The next major, 3D entry in the Super Mario series is headed to the Nintendo Switch, with the announcement tonight of Super Mario Odyssey It…looks like a 3D Mario game, only the catch here is that Mario leaves the Mushroom Kingdom behind to spend some time in the real world. Nintendo also says it will…

OK, Bear With Me: What If Mario And Wario Are The Same Guy?

In Nintendo’s recently released mobile game Super Mario Run, the famous plumber leaps his way through a couple dozen levels on his way to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. Been there, done that. Yet perhaps there is a second, darker reading of this game? Maybe there’s an interpretation that shakes the accepted Mario lore to…

Tony Rosato, The Cartoon Voice Of Luigi, Dead At 62

Canadian actor and comedian Tony Rosato, who provided the voice for Luigi in the animated series The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, has died at the age of 62 of a suspected heart attack, the Toronto Sun reports Rosato, a veteran of Canada’s SCTV along with Night Heat and Relic…

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…