There’s no game character that’s more iconic to those outside of gaming than Mario from the Super Mario Bros. series, with a large part of that being thanks to the voice actor, Charles Martinet. However, today Nintendo announced that the voice actor will be retiring after 30 years of voicing the character, but will still work in association with the team.
Nintendo made the official announcement across all of its social media channels with a red card featuring the company’s logo and two paragraphs of text. It seems that the decision was mutual since Martinet is staying on the team as a “Mario Ambassador,” which doesn’t give a lot of insight into what he’ll be doing. Ideally, he could coach the next voice actor on an iconic performance that’s as memorable as his own.
Charles Martinet first started voicing Mario in the early 1990s and has continued to do so with passion in the decades since. After years of lovingly portraying countless characters in the games, he will likely have more of a passive role or be involved with direction as opposed to being the voice players hear. After so many years of his iconic sounds, there will be a few generations that are sure to notice at first.
Nintendo clearly doesn’t take this news lightly, releasing a very solemn announcement across all of its channels and in multiple languages. While he’ll still have a role on the Mario team, this news is sure to be felt by players across the world.
It’s unclear if Martinet was able to provide voices for Super Mario Bros. Wonder before his retirement, but Nintendo will likely announce more information regarding that as we get closer to its release.
Make sure to check back at Try Hard Guides for all the latest information about Charles Martinet retiring from the role of Mario in all future Super Mario titles.
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