Gaming

Nintendo Have Removed The Line About Bowser Being Gay From ‘Mario 64’, So What’s Even The Point

"So long Gay Bowser" is no longer canon.

by Joseph Earp  19 September 2020
Nintendo Gay Bowser Mario 64

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Mario 64 was a once-in-a-lifetime game, a work of pure art that elevated the form forever. It was also very, very odd.

I mean, this is a game in which you play an Italian plumber who fights the world’s scariest piano, jumps through paintings, and generally wreaks havoc. It’s more like a fever dream than any other video game that exists.

And that’s not even to mention the moment where Mario calls Bowser “gay Bowser”.

Ian Walker of Kotaku, who has written an excellent article on the line, notes that Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, recently tried to claim he was actually calling him “King Bowser.” But that’s obviously not true.

I mean, just listen to an uncompressed version of the line, uttered as Bowser is being hurled to his doom.

Yep. No confusion over what’s actually being said, is there?

Well, Mario says it no more. In the new Switch port of the game, Mario now utters a much more predictable, “buh-bye” as he vanquishes his enemy. Sad!

In the hours since the new port has been out, the internet has lit up with reactions, as long term Nintendo fans mourn one of the strangest moments in a very strange game.

But hey, looks like not all of the Gay Bowser content is gone from the port…

Thank goodness for that.