Super Mario Bros Wonder Voice Actor Praises The “Dream Year” He’s Had

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a strange blend. On one hand, it’s a good excuse to revisit Digital Trends’ 2020 Game of the Year selection. On the other, it’s a bizarre package filled with tone-deaf bonus modes that water down the base game’s own message on cyclical violence. Considering that it’s not as much of a “remaster” as its title implies, I wouldn’t blame most players for skipping it.

The original Super Mario RPG, released for Super Nintendo in 1996, felt like it was meant to be your first RPG. In an era when Final Fantasy tried its best to tell mature stories within the medium's limitations and Dragon Quest demanded hours and hours of your time, Mario’s adventure felt much brighter and more manageable. Familiar characters, a lighthearted story, a reasonable length, and timed button-pressing during combat made it stand out against the competition. Revisiting the game more than 25 years later in this new remade shape shows the original formula did not need much tweaking to deliver an engaging and enjoyable journey. Super Mario RPG is not entirely innocent of the sins of video games past, but old fans will relish the chance to see the game in a new light, and I’m confident newcomers will find something to love.

I've been playing a ton of Super Mario Bros. Wonder over the last couple of weeks (in addition to the hands-on I had as a part of our current cover story), and the review embargo has officially lifted. However, due to restrictive embargo guidelines that don't allow us to discuss large portions of the game, we have opted to hold our final review until the game is available for purchase. With that said, I did want to share some brief thoughts within the confines of the embargo.

As a series that has been around for nearly four decades, Super Mario Bros. should have shown signs of slowing down years ago. But continuous thoughtful reinvention has helped the franchise remain a genre leader. Super Mario Bros. Wonder represents the next step of evolution, delivering the tight, tried-and-true gameplay in the context of the most creative 2D entry in nearly 30 years.

Famitsu has released its combined two-week sales data for hardware and physical software sales in Japan for the period from December 18 to December 31, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder has taken the top spot in the final charts for the year. The 2D platformer sold over 221,000 units over the course of the two-week period, and is followed in second place by Konami’s Momotaro Dentetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru!, which sold over 192,000 units.

Because we’re in a “waiting period” for Nintendo to hurry up and announce its next system, we’re going to be hearing all sorts of rumors and speculation about any and all video games that may be coming to the system at launch and close to it. This speculation has already affected The Big N as their stock prices have risen in anticipation of all that’s coming. But we’re talking about all this today because of a rumor concerning the follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey. Most agree it will likely be the launch title for the Switch successor, and one “insider” says it’s way bigger than you think.

Warner Bros. Games has announced that the Harry Potter action-RPG Hogwarts Legacy sold over 22 million copies by the end of 2023, with roughly 2 million of those sales over the December festive period. «But it’s not just the units sold that I’m so proud of, it’s just that it delighted the fans so much,» Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad told Variety.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… a return to work, and some grey sky to look at wistfully. It’s Friday the 5th, so if you’ve not taken your Christmas decorations down, you have to do it today but if you’ve been well prepared like me, you’ll have all that extra time for playing games.

We’re back to our regularly scheduled open faucet of eShop games: if you have any eShop cash left over, you might have something to spend it on! In addition to two more Arcade Archives games (Mystic Warriors and Solitary Fighter), a few other classics return like Clue, as well as oddball picks like The Spy Who Shot Me.

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It’s hard to believe that Super Mario Bros Wonder came out several months ago. The title was one of the last “big games” to be released in 2024, and it made quite an impact when it was released. That was largely due to the power of the “Wonder Effect,” which blew everyone away, thanks to the creativity of the Nintendo team in making these “modified levels” as fun as possible. The team even noted that they “took their time” developing the title to have a fresh feel and be something gamers couldn’t help but keep playing.