Super Mario Bros. Wonder had a sport-style commentary running alongside the action and the more we think about it, the more we’re sad it didn’t make it into the final game.
As revealed in the game’s final Ask the Developer interview (spotted by Eurogamer), the Wonder team spent six months developing and actually implementing a live commentary.
And not just any commentary, either. There was a default newscaster-style option but there were also alternatives, such as a “Tsundere” option. Players could have had the game angrily berating them every inch of the way.
Does that sound a little silly? Absolutely, but Mario games have never been particularly grounded and they’re all the better for it. This is a game where you can turn into an elephant, for crying out loud.
Related: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Is a Wonderful Mess [Preview]
Besides which, Rage 2 absolutely proved that commentaries work. Sure, Bethesda’s shooter had its issues, but we’ll forever remember kicking bottom while Danny Dyer yelled his approval. And it’s got us thinking about the other directions Super Mario Bros. Wonder could have gone.
How about a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 commentary track, for example? Maybe even get a couple of WWE commentators in? “As God is my witness, Mario is broken in half!” Hey, it could work.
About half the team was in favour and many of them were switching to the Tsundere commentary while playing. However, as developer Takashi Tezuka explains in the interview, it would have been too much work to implement throughout the full game.
“Still, it would’ve been a shame to shut down the whole experiment. So we brought in an additional team member to dedicate themselves to this feature full-time,” he added.
The commentary feature eventually evolved into the game’s Talking Flowers. These speak to the player when they approach but there’s no God’s-eye-view running commentary.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder releases on Oct. 20, but you can still get its various pre-order bonuses.
