If you had told 10-year-old me that in 2023,Sonic,Mario, andPokemonwould all still be making major video game headlines, I’d have probably believed you because they’re all awesome, so why wouldn’t they? With almost a century of video game experience combined between the three series, Mario’s movie, Sonic’s frontiers, and what’s potentially next for Pokemon were all among the biggest news stories in gaming this past week. Everything you need to know on why those video game stalwarts were in the news and more as we recap the biggest stories from the past seven days.
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Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Super Bowl Spot Revives Super Show Rap
As the world was preparing for the Super Bowl last weekend,a new ad for the Super Mario Bros. Moviethat would air during the game debuted. Not a trailer, per se, but a faux advert for Mario and Luigi’s plumbing business. One that revived the rap from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, ensuring it was an instant hit with long-time fans. After the ad aired, fans discovered the website it includes is real, and that if you call the number shown,you’ll hear a recorded message from Luigi. Plus, the world is still wondering whether the customer is actuallyvoiced by the same actor who played Princess Toadstoolin Super Show.
Rihanna’s Super Smash Bros. Super Stage
After everyone had recovered from the excitement that was the Mario ad, video game Twitter was set ablaze by Super Bowl hype for a second time via Rihanna’s halftime show. Not because it was great but because the impressive stage on which she performedlooked like something that had been pulled from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The memes adding the finishing touches, turning Rihanna into the latestSuper Smash Bros.roster addition, and now that’s all most of us will see whenever we see footage and images from the performance from now until the end of time.
Sonic Frontiers Success And More 2D Games
There was a lot of Sonic news this week, beginning withfans guessing what a rumored Sonic Origins Plus will add to the collection. That speculation was followed witha Sega director confirming that there will be more 2D gamesin the Blue Blur’s future, andthe Sonic Frontiers director revealing an interest in introducing comic charactersto upcoming titles. The biggest Sonic news of all was confirmation thatFrontiers exceeded expectationswhich means whatever’s next will have additional money pumped into it. Evidence that reviews aren’t the be-all, end-all asSegaalso admittedFrontiers' Metacritic score was lower than expected.
Stacked Expectations For Pokemon Day
Pokemon Day is fast approaching and fans are expecting a lot of big reveals on February 27. That’s despite Pokemon not claiming it has anything to reveal at all. People have pieced together clues suggestinga number of Pokemon games from the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance will be added to Nintendo Switch Online, largely because none were announcedwhen the libraries were revealed during last week’s Direct. Others have found evidence suggestinga new Mystery Dungeon game is in development. Suffice to say, if Pokemon Day passes with nothing announced, a lot of people are going to be very unhappy.
There are a lot of big games coming in the first half of 2023. That has resulted in a release date minefield for pretty much anything that isn’tTears of the Kingdom. Launching an additional seven days earlier than the new Zelda game, and also moving away from arriving on the same day as Jedi: Survivor, it was revealed this week thatDead Island 2 will now be here on April 21. Revealed alongside the news the sequel has gone gold, whether you’re able to really claimDead Island 2will be here earlier than expected ultimately depends on when you were expecting it. If you were expecting it on April 28, then yes it is arriving early. If you’re one of the people who has beenholding onto their pre-order for the better part of the last decade, maybe not so much.
Ragnarok Almost Began With The Killing Of Kratos
If you haven’t playedGod of War Ragnarokyet then watch out, mild spoilers lie ahead. A writer who worked on the sequel revealed this week that a very early drafthad Thor killing Kratos right at the beginning of the game. While that intense first battle was kept, Kratos being killed and then rescued after a 20-year time jump did not make it into the final cut of the game. It was also revealed this week that many ofthe game’s devs weren’t aware characters would yell solutionsto Ragnarok’s puzzles at players until after their work was done.
