Charles Martinet is No more Mario long time, a Journey longed 27 years

Charles Martinet, the voice behind Nintendo's famous character Mario, is to step down from the role, the gaming giant has announced.

The actor has voiced the Italian plumber in the video games since 1996, starting with Super Mario 64.

However, he did not voice the titular character in this year's movie. That honour went to Chris Pratt.

Nintendo announced the news on X, saying it had been an "honour" working with Martinet, 67.

Nintendo as a "Mario ambassador," and he seemed pleased with his new role.

The latest game starring the heroic Italian, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, was announced earlier this year and the trailer prompted speculation from some fans that Martinet had been replaced.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, Martinet wrote: "My new adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart!"

The 67-year-old added the hashtag "#woohoo" - one of Mario's signature catchphrases.

In 2019, the American actor won the Guinness World Record for the most video game voiceover performances as the same character: 104 at the time.

In a question and answer session at a Canadian gaming and comics expo two years ago, Martinet told the audience "I want to voice Mario until I drop dead" in response to a fan's question, according to gaming blog The Game Crater. But he added "if someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else."

Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games for a long time, as far back as Super Mario 64,” Nintendo of America said in a statement posted to Twitter. “Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all! 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 him. Please keep an eye out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”

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Sarah H

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