The iconic voice behind Mario, Charles Martinet, is no longer lending his familiar tones to the beloved plumber.
The voice actor, 67, Charles Martinet, who has famously lent his voice to the Nintendo character for more than 20 years will be “stepping back from recording character voices for our games.” and is transitioning into the role of “Mario Ambassador” Nintendo said. The company also confirmed with GameSpot that Martinet will not voice the character in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
When asked about who will now voice Mario , Nintendo said, “Character voice actors will be credited in the game credits, so please wait for the game to be released.”
“It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate them,” Nintendo’s statement continued. “Please keep an eye out for a special video message from [creator] Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”
Martinet was the original voice of Mario starting with 1996’s game “Super Mario 64,” and Martinet’s Nintendo voice history also includes voicing Mario’s younger brother Luigi and their twisted counterparts Wario and Waluigi.
“Super Mario Bros. Wonder” will release in October, while “WarioWare: MoveIt!” releases in November, when “Super Mario RPG” will also relaunch.