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Games are no longer silent. At least most of the big budget ones. There are potentially many reasons for this, but it’s mostly worthless. Not sure what I’m talking about? Look no further than this Unreal Engine 5 fan rendering of what a gritty Mario game could look like, which is going viral again thanks to a pitch-perfect set of new voiceovers.
It’s actually split into two videos. The first was shared on Instagram earlier this month by voice actor and cosplayer Ryanstewartvo. It features Mario navigating a dark, linear jungle environment at night with question blocks, Goombas, and green warp pipes. “A mushroom… I’ll have to take a look at that,” he says to no one in particular. He follows it up with other cringe-inducing dialogue, like “A coin… this might be helpful” and “maybe I should go this way.”
It’s a perfect representation of the kind of handheld presentation that has become all too common in some AAA games.
The Ryanstewartvo voice quotes are actually taken from the comments section of the original fan render video uploaded to YouTube back in 2022 by Funkyzeit Games. That too was intended as a joke, but featured no voice acting. It simply used ultra-violent animation to convey the gritty seriousness, another unfortunate tactic of many modern blockbusters. Still, viewers could practically hear the Joss-Whedon-esque MCU chatter waiting to fill the silence.
“This is a satire,” Funkyzeit Games wrote at the time. “It’s clearly an over-the-top alternate version of Mario that shouldn’t lecture you on what Mario gaming should be. I understand that the ‘remake of
The new voice actors add a new layer of parody that pushes the whole thing over the edge. The first dub was so popular that Ryanstewartvo eventually uploaded a second one together with colleague voice actor Ariel Hack plays the role of Princess Peach, who talks to Mario via a communication signal.
“A monarch’s work is never done,” she jokes. “But we can talk about it more later. Bowser’s Castle should be a little further away.” Mario replies, “I thought I smelled something burning…” Peach interrupts him. “Focus, M. Bowser has the Power Stars, and you know what that means,” she continues. It’s perfect in every way, even when she hints at giving him upgrades if he brings back enough red coins.
This is all part of the backlash against yellow paint and talkative NPC companions. They can both serve important functions, but their ubiquity has become so great that players often feel like they are just band-aids for hard-to-solve design challenges. Instead of implementing better solutions, whether due to budget constraints, time constraints, or other production constraints, the games saddle fans with absurd video game-isms that break immersion or make the experience more tedious.
That said, I would definitely play the full version of this Mario fan game.
