Super Mario Odyssey: How to Represent a Culture, the Italian Plumber Way.

Alejandro Palacios
Sep 6, 2018 · 6 min read

“Mijo, ya apagale al Nintendo!” Those were some of the words that my mother would often yell at me when I was up late playing Super Mario World on my Super Nintendo back in the 90s.

Seeing these graphics bring me flashbacks of my after-school adventures.

There is something about Mario that emanates many feelings to people (including myself). Childhood bliss, countless hours of fun, colorful imagery, and overall fun are all tied to this Italian plumber. With every installment being released, I get excited to get in the shoes of this plumber and be part of his wacky adventures. Which is why when I saw the first glimpse of “Super Mario Odyssey” for the Nintendo Switch back in October 2016, I was extremely excited. However, there was something very special about that small tease that we got, and it wasn’t just the pretty graphics or the gameplay. But the world where Mario was looked very picturesque. It looked as if Mario was visiting a Mexican town in the middle of a desert.

“Mira, ahi esta mi casa!”

Being a Mexican-American myself, I got beyond excited and wanted to know more about this mysterious place. I thought to myself “Finally! A Mexican-themed world set in the Super Mario universe.” However, there was this lingering thought floating around too: “I wonder if people would get easily offended by this.” Being that these recent years have been very divisive culturally and politically, it is easy to see people who get “triggered” by the simplest of things. Especially seeing Mario, an Italian plumber, wearing a Sombrero and Zarape (or “poncho” for y’all), of course people would find it quite insulting. To my surprise, I saw it being welcomed with open arms by most (if not all) of my friends and people that I saw online. I would read Tweets and Facebook comments congratulating Nintendo for portraying the Mexican culture with such ease. Once the game came out in October of 2017, most people finally got the opportunity to play around this world.

For the sake of context, I will try to explain the plot in extremely simple terms: Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser and Mario must travel outside the Mushroom Kingdom using the “Odyssey,” a ship (in the shape of a top hat) that flies across the globe. If this somewhat sounds familiar, it is because Homer’s Odyssey has quite the influence on this game (or course, the word ITSELF is the selling point of this game). You travel through all these different places — or Kingdoms — each with their own inhabitants, special coins, and moons to collect. One of these kingdoms is of course, the Desert Kingdom, called Tostarena. By stepping in, you clearly see how there is an influence of both Mexican and Egyptian culture.

Mario seems to be enjoying his time a bit too much.

On the former, you see the inhabitants, little people that may be confused with Calaveritas de Dulce, clad with Sombreros and Ponchos; buildings with picturesque colors that feel like a “barrio” from Mexico City, and a music that sounds like you are at a tianguis on a busy Saturday afternoon. Step several steps further, and you are in a maze-like, Egyptian style platforming stage, with enemies trying to take your life bars away and obstacles that are a joy to overcome thanks to Mario’s arsenal of movements and jumps. However, how did Nintendo get to infuse both of these cultures into one that seems “organic?”

One of the key aspects of this video game lies in its superb gaming design. Yoshiaki Koizumi, the lead producer of this game, has the philosophy of creating video games that may make the player feel as if he is in Mario’s shoes. He tends to draw on real life experiences, such as his hobby of mountain hiking. According to him, “it’s that sense of wonder and excitement [he] want players to feel.” By making this video game one of a large scale, it makes perfect sense that he wants to capture the player’s attention by putting detail on the vistas and the grandeur of every kingdom that appears on this game. Nonetheless, it would look out of place to have a chubby Italian plumber running around with his overalls and cap. Of course, that has been his uniform for the past 30 years. Nonetheless, throughout his adventures he has spent it on the Mushroom Kingdom and areas that are similar to this fantastical kingdom. In this case, however, he is travelling all around the globe in the search for his princess. Every kingdom has its own ambiance, culture, and music that makes it unique for Mario and the player alike. Which is why Koizumi decided to make the player’s mission to acquire different vestments that are available in every kingdom so that he could mix in with the locals. In the case for the Desert Kingdom, Mario must get a sombrero and a zarape. However, instead of looking like a cheap knock off costume that one would find at a Party City during last minute Halloween costume shopping, the Mexican vestment that Mario acquires matches perfectly with him, as the color scheme for the costume is not really designed as your typical Mexican poncho (with bright green, red, and white colors).

Mario looks comfortable with his outfit.

These vestments are not thrown in randomly, as each serve a purpose in every kingdom. For the Desert Kingdom, there is a certain moon that is only acquired if Mario is dressed like the locals. For this moon, he must go in dressed as one and play a show for them. Mario then gets a Spanish guitar and plays a lively tune that makes the people dance. Koizumi and his team could have easily put “La Cucaracha” and call it a day, but instead Mario plays an original song that the locals enjoy and players may enjoy as well. In this case, the “sense of wonder and excitement” of Koizumi’s mountain hiking is that every kingdom is like a mountain that the player must climb, and discover how it looks in order to be engaged in Mario’s Odyssey.

Ultimately, Super Mario Odyssey comes down to one simple thing: Fun. An organic, blissful, and tangible fun that the player has. Koizumi and his team did an excellent job creating a game that has a large scale that has Mario visiting the entire globe (and *coughspoileralert* the Moon itself) to save the Princess Peach. The different kingdoms, costumes, and characters that Mario meets are incredibly crafted, which may make the player feel that he is travelling along with this Italian plumber. Plus, it helps that the Nintendo Switch is portable, so just in case my mom tells me to “apagar el Nintendo,” I can just take the console off its dock, and play it anywhere I want. Now, where can I get a blanket that won’t reflect the light as much? Asking for a friend.

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