Thank the Gods of Silence; you can mute those talking flowers in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. That damned “onward and upward” that one spews at Mario is locked in a very painful spot in my mind. It’s like having a grain of sand between the folds of brain, slowly aggravating everything around it in small but significant ways.
Thankfully, Nintendo’s own Japanese blog has shared a screenshot that reveals a setting specifically for the “Talking Flower Voice.” While it doesn’t specifically say what settings are available, I’m going to assume that if there is a setting for “voice,” then there is likely one for “no voice.”
What’s funny about Nintendo’s post is that it seems to assume that people are going to want the flowers to talk to incessantly spew their insipid hints in their sharply saccharine voices. They suggest that their voices will make a lively adventure even more lively.
Listen, Nintendo. I don’t know how to describe it, but these talking flowers have very punchable voices. They talk like a dude who is trying to impress a single mother by talking to her child. Their voices drip with cartoonish insincerity that makes me want to ruin their day by telling them the saddest story in my arsenal. If someone stepped out of a cafe and spoke to me in that voice, I would intentionally spill their drink on them, snatch the donut from their hands, and consume it right in front of them.
So, thankfully, you can turn it off.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is coming to Switch on October 10, 2023.
