Super Mario RPG Has Weirdly Removed A Bruce Lee Reference
18.11.2023 - 15:26
/ thegamer.com
/ Bruce Lee
Super Mario RPG has, for whatever reason, removed a reference to Bruce Lee that Mallow used to make in the Forest Maze before taking on Bowyer.
For the most part, Super Mario RPG's remake is surprisingly faithful to the original Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, keeping in a ton of easter eggs and references that debuted in the game nearly three decades ago. There are a few examples of things being changed around, like Mario no longer making a peace sign at the end of the battle, but they're generally pretty minimal or have some reasoning behind them.
One of the most surprising things that has been kept in the game is an easter egg in the Mushroom Kingdom that lets Mario find an item in Peach's room that's implied to be something he definitely shouldn't be taking a look at...
Although most of the changes that have been made to Super Mario RPG can be explained in one way or another, there's one weird change that Mario fans have been noticing that seems a little random. In the original game, once Mallow and Mario have made their way through the Forest Maze and nearly chased after Geno, they'll come across Bowyer and determine that he's the one shooting arrows at Rose Town.
After they spot him, Mario will rush in punching like the weird little guy he is, before Mallow holds him back and says, "Who do you think you are, Bruce Lee? You can't just go in there with your fists flying!", before the two resolve to chase after him. The reference might be a bit cultural for a Nintendo game, but it was still a nice nod to the legendary martial artist.
In the remake, however, that line has been changed around a bit. As you can see from Twitter user CaptoneToneTony's post, Mallow will now hold Mario back and say, "Who do you think you are? You can't just go in there with your fists flying!", removing the Bruce Lee line altogether and seemingly erasing him from Mario history.
It's not clear why Nintendo deemed this a necessary change to the game's dialogue (especially as most of it remains the same as it was in the original), but it's possibly just due to the remake being for a new audience nearly three decades later who might not know who Bruce Lee is. I like to think he's famous enough that they would, but as he's not a Vtuber or TikTok star, it's more likely they wouldn't.
It could also be a licensing issue, as Nintendo would probably need the permission of Bruce Lee's family to mention him in the game. Either way, it's a bit of a shame that it's been removed as it was a pretty funny one-liner.
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