MAR10 Day has wrapped up but there’s a lingering sense of disappointment online as Mario’s new voice actor completely dropped the ball with his latest gig. Kevin Afghani, who recently replaced the iconic Charles Martinet as the plumber’s voice actor, only had four words to speak in the latest MAR10 Day trailer and they were awful. So much so that fans have realized that the future of Mario’s voice work might not be as bright as they hoped.
To catch you up, Charles Martinet, who voiced Mario since 1994 retired from the role in 2023. The announcement was made shortly before the launch of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and fans speculated who would voice Mario in the Nintendo Switch game. At launch, Nintendo confirmed that Kevin Afghani was the new Mario and for the most part, he did a great job in the award-winning platformer.
Not only did Afghani voice Mario but he also voiced the various flowers across the game too. If you didn’t pay attention, you would likely think it was Charles Martinet. However, the same can’t be said for his latest work. Kevin Afghani muttered four words during the MAR10 Day trailer and fans aren’t feeling it.
The trailer opens with Mario shouting “Oh yeah! Mario Time!” and Afghani sounds like he has just hit puberty. His voice cracks and the pitches are all over the place. It reads “Oh yeah! Mario Time” but it sounds like “oH yEAh! MaRIOO TIiime!”.
Fans are feeling the change. The YouTube comments section ignores all the actual news from the trailer and focuses on the voice work. Some say they are heartbroken, some say the voice work is cringe. Others say he didn’t even try to capture the Mario we all know. Some comments say Nintendo should just use AI to replace Mario’s voice as it would do a better job.
I won’t deny the voice work is shoddy. There’s something clearly wrong with it. Mario is definitely there but the delivery isn’t great. I don’t know how Nintendo approved it. Surely there had to be other versions to include?
It does make me a little concerned for the future of Mario games. If Afghani is the new Mario for all upcoming content, we might have to get used to this crackled voice. Perhaps he was just having a bad day? You be the judge. Watch the clip below.
