Charles Martinet, Voice of Mario, Lands Guinness World Record

Fans of video games might not recognize the name Charles Martinet, but you have heard his voice if you ever played a game with Mario in it, as Charles has been the voice of the character since back in the early 1990s. Now, Martinet has landed a Guinness Book of World Records achievement.

This record is for the most recorded video game voice-overs for a single character. He won the award after voicing Mario in the Super Mash Bros. Ultimate game that recently launched. With that game’s release, Martinet has voiced Mario in over 100 titles.

Mario isn’t the only character that Martinet has voiced in the Super Mario Bros. world. He is also the voice of Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, and the baby versions of Mario and Luigi.

[via Destructoid]

Super Mario Piranha Plant Puppet Doesn’t Shoot Plush Fireballs

If you ever played Super Mario Bros. back in the day, you will remember the sinking feeling of moving through a level only to find a giant fire piranha plant shooting fireballs and set to eat you. If you are a fan of the game and need a new collectible in your life, you can now get this awesome piranha plant puppet.

Rather than ramming your hand up an animal’s bum as you do with most puppets, when you stick your hand up this plant’s pot, you can open and close the month. It’s the perfect way to act out scenes from the Mushroom Kingdom with your Amiibo figurines.

The puppet measures 9-10″ in diameter and 11″ tall. The piranha plant extends 13″ outside the pipe making it 24″ in height at its longest point. You can order one now from ThinkGeek for $39.99, and you should have it in plenty of time for gifting to that Mario fan on your list.

Super Mario Bros. NES Cartridge Canteen


Power up yourself in stealthy geek style with the Super Mario Bros. Canteen. This flask looks like a vintage NES cartridge but actually holds tasty liquids of your choice. Sure, walking down the street drinking out of a game cartridge isn’t exactly the most secretive way of imbibing, but it’s definitely better than guzzling straight from the bottle. Plus it has a reusable straw, because that’s what refined people like you use.

This flask holds 5 ounces of delicious mushroom juice or whatever else Mario drinks (anyone know?). It has a rubber cap to keep you from spilling and fits in nicely to complete the top of the cartridge. Also includes a funnel to help you load up the cartridge without spilling. Wow that’s two ways that this flask is dedicated to keep you from spilling everywhere, I guess that really fits in with the theme of Mario being a plumber. Although Mario really doesn’t do much plumbing though, does he?

Super Mario Bros. NES Cartridge Canteen
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Mario Meets Léon The Professional

One of my favorite movies of all time is Léon: The Professional. Not only was it the big screen debut of Natalie Portman, but she played a complete badass in the film, which she starred in at age 12, but it was helmed by the wonderfully over-the-top French director Luc Besson. The film is packed with insane amounts of violence and destruction, as Portman’s character Mathilda becomes sidekick to hitman Jean Reno’s Léon.

On a completely unrelated note, I also love Super Mario Bros., which – on the surface – appears to have nothing in common with The Professional other than the large amount of killing that goes on – though in Nintendo’s case, the violence is against Koopas and Piranha Plants. Perhaps seeing those tentative parallels, the toy designers at Fools Paradise decided to combine the two.

The one issue with their stock version of the toys is that Mathilda has been give the blond hair and blue eyes of Princess Peach, so they went ahead fixed that with their “Director’s Cut,” bestowing her with a look much more screen accurate to Portman with her dark hair and brown eyes. The new look is much more serious, and better suits the feel of the film.

There’s also a blacked-out version of Boo, Bullet Bill, and that killer plant along for the ride. This set of custom vinyl figures is something I would thrilled to have in my collection, but sadly it appears the toys are already sold out.

[via Reddit]

Building a Super Mario Bros. Maze for a Rat

Do you have a pet rat? Do you want to build a maze for him or her to hang out in? If so, you might as well make a geeky one – something that will entertain you as much as it does your rat friend. A maze that looks like a level from Super Mario Bros. should do the trick.

Maker The Q built this colorful rat maze using just cardboard, hot glue, paint, and a sheet of clear acrylic for the front. It’s pretty awesome, but easy to make your own with a little skill and patience. His rat named Shelly figures out how to make it through to the end with no problems at all. There’s not even a single Goomba or Koopa. It can’t even collect any coins or use the warp pipes. Imagine how disappointing that is to a rat.

Designing a rat maze is like designing a video game – you don’t want to make it too easy for them. Include some Hammer Bros. to toss hammers at it. Some lava lakes. Spike pits are a nice touch too. Chain Chomps? You know it. You can’t go too easy on rodents. They want a challenge.

[via Laughing Squid]

The Best Mario Game Ever

With all of the various Super Mario Bros. and related games out there, game fans have lots of choices for their favorite Mario game. But what if you could combine them all into a single game? That’s exactly what video maker 4096 decided to do, mashing up levels from numerous Mario games into a giant connected game level.

The tricky video features some of the Italian plumber’s many appearances, along with his progenitor, Jumpman, who first turned up in the arcade in Donkey Kong, then made his official debut in Mario Bros. 

Check out the all-too-short video clip below:

Nintendo, you really need to make this into a game so we can play thorough a single endless level comprised of every Mario game ever. I’d pay good money to play that.

Jelly Super Mario Brothers: A Bad Trip in the Mushroom Kingdom

If you’ve ever wondered what playing Super Mario Bros. is like when high on drugs, look no further. This video of Jelly Mario Bros. shows you firsthand. It’s basically the first level of the 8-bit Nintendo classic, reprogrammed by Twitter user @schteppe with elastic physics. It’s all jelly-like and trippy and weird.

You can play an early alpha version of the first level here if you want. I hope more levels are coming soon, because this is way cheaper – and less hazardous than taking hallucinogens. There’s something oddly mesmerizing about it. Good luck to anyone trying to do a speedrun on World 1-1. See you in about 5 hours. What, you think you can beat the record? I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly.

So what happens when someone who is actually stoned or drunk tries to play a game that is also stoned and drunk? I want to know. Someone make that YouTube video, and share it with us, please. Honestly this kind of gameplay should have been in the original game, but only for like 30 seconds after each time Mario eats a mushroom.

[via Hedonista via Geekologie]

Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia Finally Coming to the US

True Nintendo fans in the US have a special treat coming. Out of all of the things that the company did to mark the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., there was one item that you couldn’t usually get your hands on unless you lived in Japan – The Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia. But now finally, it’s coming to the West.


Dark Horse Publishing has announced that the official guide to Mario’s universe will be available in a standard edition in the US on October 23rd for $40. Amazon listings also suggest that there will be releases in the UK and Europe, but that is not official just yet.

This 256-page book is full of information and artwork for 17 games in the Super Mario Bros. series. You also get character info, developer interviews, and other stuff. We can’t expect this book to be up to date, so chances are you won’t find Super Mario Odyssey or Super Mario Run unless there’s an addendum that the publisher is going to add. The book will focus on the core Mario games, so that also means that spinoffs like Paper Mario won’t be included. Still, it’s going to be a fun book for any longtime Nintendo fan.

[via Engadget via Kotaku]

Super Mario Cat Bros.

Nintendo recently revealed that it’s giving Hollywood another chance to get Super Mario right with a full-length animated feature from Illumination Entertainment. It’s gotta be better than that first movie right? The bar is definitely set very low. But if you ask me, there’s only one way to go for a Super Mario movie. Cats! Duh! Something like this new fan film that captures the fun of the original Super Mario Bros. game and adds a kitty. Specifically, it stars a cat as Mario.

There’s no creature better suited to climbing, jumping, wedging itself into pipes, and getting hard to reach coins. Super Mario Cat Bros. was directed by Russian filmmaker Mike “Mr.TVCow” Tivikoff; who co-stars in the video as Luigi. Luigi is a human, so not sure how they are brothers. Luigi quickly follows Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach. The pair face all of the usual obstacles of the Mushroom Kingdom.

It is the cutest thing ever to see a cat performing all of the jumps, entering warp pipes, throwing fireballs and more. This is a very well done video and now I want to see more of their adventures.

[via Nerdist]

Super Mario Bros. Turtle and Boo Mugs: 1up with Caffeine

Coffee and video games don’t generally mix. After all, reaching down from your controller in the middle of a game to grab a sip usually results in a nasty mouth burn or hot coffee spilled all over the place. Best to stick with something cold and in a can while playing. But in between gaming sessions, a cup of joe is a nice way to recaffeinate before the next round. These Super Mario Bros. themed mugs are a great way to enjoy your coffee break.

Choose from either a Koopa Troopa shell or a Boo vampire ghost ceramic mug, each of which holds an ample 22 oz. of your favorite hot beverage. Both mugs are officially licensed by Nintendo, and are officially awesome gifts for Super Mario fans.

So put on your overalls and warp pipe your way over to ThinkGeek now to grab these mugs before they’re gone. They’re just $14.99 each.

[via GeekAlerts]