Although I missed it on my feed, apparently Nintendo gave a rather odd and unnecessary statement about the age-old pair, Mario and Princess Peach. On Wednesday, July 23rd, Nintendo announced us that, apparently, Mario and Peach are “just friends“. Why, after over forty years, did they feel compelled to make this cannon?
The quote specifically was: “Princess Peach and Mario are good friends and help each other out whenever they can.” It is so random, yet so outrageous, it’s hard to wrap my brain around, and here’s why:
Number one: Who cares? Mario has been saving Princess Peach in a franchise that spans over four decades and 24 mainline titles. Even with the saving the princess silliness, these games focused on almost exclusive on gameplay. That’s why it’s one of the best platformer franchises in history. So, unless you’re sitting around with nothing else to do, why would anyone focus on their relationship status? It’s not even the core part of the Mario games. When I play Mario, I spend 99% of my mental energy trying to make a perfect jump and to make it to the end of a level with as many coins possible. If Peach is at the end of all this, great.
Number two: Even if you cared to ship Mario and Peach, I completely understand why. Nintendo Wire discusses this, and I agree. After rescuing the Princess, Mario usually is rewarded with a kiss. Are all kisses romantic in nature? No, but their various banter over the series is playful, and the pair can easily be mistaken for lovebirds. Also, while causation can’t be drawn from this, it’s not hard to stretch the imagination when the antagonist, Bowser, is constantly trying to marry her. Deep in our subconscious, one could envision this as a weird love triangle.
Number three: Even if they were dating, what is so bad about it? Once again agreeing with Nintendo Wire, Nintendo’s recent “announcement” was likely to reaffirm the kid-friendly aspect of the franchise, especially after its massive success with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. I’m sure they gained a lot of new fans that perhaps weren’t gamers prior to the movie. With that said, I still don’t see what would be so wrong if kids, teens, adults–whoever–are left to wonder if Mario and Peach like like one another.
So, while the news is really a nothingburger, it certainly got my heart rate up wondering why bother at all? Nintendo didn’t seem to care about all things “cannon” before, and they tend to want us to lead with our imagination anyway. Remember when Zelda fans cried out for a timeline? Yes, we got it, and it didn’t really shine through strongly once The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom released. Those two take place way after everything in said timeline, but it’s just…floating out there in cannon-space. What’s next? That Link and Zelda aren’t romantically involved? Again I say, who cares?
What did you think of Nintendo’s announcement that Mario and Peach are friend zoned? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
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