Charles Martinet is an incredibly talented voice actor who is, naturally, best known for being the iconic voice of Mario in theSuper Mariogames. He’s had roles in other games, includingSkyrimas the legendary dragon Paarthurnax, but his adoring fans will forever remember him for his lengthy stint at Nintendo voicing the likes of Luigi, Waluigi, Wario, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi. Of course, after spending so long inhabiting these popular characters, one has to assume he has a good grasp of which games in the series are the best.
Fortunately, Martinet has spoken quite a bit about his favoriteMariogames, including the one he deems the very best. Surprisingly, though, thebestMariogame, at least according to Martinet, is the one he finds the hardest, something that may take a lot of fans by surprise. Some may contest his belief that it is a difficult game, and others may doubt it is the best of all time, butMartinet’s pick is still a perfect choice and should rank rather high in every fan’s list of the best games in the series.
Charles Martinet Loves Super Mario Sunshine
Even Though He Finds It Hard
During a 2021 Q&A session at the FAN EXPO Canada: Limited Edition, as reported byTheGameCrater, Charles Martinet discussed everything from how he got the role of Mario to how he wished he could play the character forever. Naturally, a fan asked whatCharles Martinet’s favoriteMariogameof all time was.Martinet responded that it isSuper Mario Sunshine, the 2002 GameCube classic that has quickly become one of the greatest in the series. However, his reasoning for why it is his favorite is a little confusing.
Martinet also mentioned that his love ofSunshinecomes from “the game’s message of cleaning up the island, and [that] it was just a fun game.”
When asked for clarification as to why it is his favoriteMariogame,Martinet explained that “it’s [his] favorite Mario game because [he] was very bad at it, especially when [he] had to think backwards.“Sunshineis renowned for being quite challenging, with it sporting several infamous levels, but it easily remains one of thebest 3DMariogamesever made, perhaps only being bested byOdyssey. Martinet also mentioned that his love ofSunshinecomes from “the game’s message of cleaning up the island, and [that] it was just a fun game.”
Charles Martinet Has An Interesting History With Mario
He Didn’t Think He’d Get The Gig
The rest of the interview explored how Martinet managed to actually land the role of Mario, something that one would expect was rather difficult, especially considering how iconic the character has become. However,the way Martinet tells it, he just “sort of fell into it,” after “crash[ing] an audition in Las Vegas"at the behest of a friend. During the audition, he was asked to improvise and, according to TheGameCrater, had intended on doing a more stereotypical Italian-American voice - which he thankfully avoided - and instead opted for something a little more lighthearted.
He then began naming every Italian dish he could in the now instantly recognizable Mario voice, before being told the tape had run out, and he had to stop. Martinet recalls how the casting director then sent the tape to Shigeru Miyamoto, before telling him, “We got our Mario.” Of course,that voice, as well as all the other voices Martinet provided for the games, undeniably play a part - if only a small one - in making them such enormously successful gamesand easily some of the verybest platformers ever made.
There are few characters with such a distinct voice, and even fewer actors who portray so many iconic characters within the same series. Martinet’s impressive range enabled him to bring to life such a wide range of famous faces, even despite the lack of real dialogue or language.The fact that one is able to distinguish so effortlessly the likes of Mario and Waluigi is a testament to how talented Martinet is, how impressive his career has been thus far, and how, despite appearing trivial on the surface, nuanced the voice acting for everyMariogame is.
Charles Martinet Wishes Waluigi Would Get His Own Game
Waluigi Is Long Overdue His Own Game
The best tidbit from the interview is thatMartinet wishes Waluigi would get his own game. He said, “I think he should get his own game where you have to cheat to win,” which, frankly, is an amazing premise for a game centered around the purple-clad anti-hero. His better half, Wario, has had several spin-off games, the majority of which have gone on to obtain cult status. It only seems fair that Waluigi gets his own, fully-fledged title, perhaps one focused on pinball-based challenges or another minigame collection where the only way to win is to cheat without getting caught.
It is rather baffling when you stop and think about it that, despite appearing in practically everyMariospin-off game available, Waluigi remains one of the few major characters who hasn’t had his own game or appeared as a main character. Despite no longer voicing the character, perhaps Nintendo could make Martinet’s final wish for the character come true. While we wait for that to happen, fans and newcomers looking for a recommendation for thebestMariogame on Switchshould go with Charles Martinet’s pick and playSuper Mario Sunshine, if you haven’t already, that is.
