Gaming

New Super Mario 3D All-Stars game kills off iconic ‘gay Bowser’ line – but seriously dials up the bisexual energy

In Super Mario 64, when Mario would fling Bowser out of the stage, he would utter a line that, to many, sounded like: "So long, gay Bowser!". (Nintendo)

In Super Mario 64, when Mario would fling Bowser out of the stage, he would utter a line that, to many, sounded like: “So long, gay Bowser!”. (Nintendo)

Super Mario 3D All-Stars removed the iconic “So long, gay Bowser” line from the Nintendo 64 platformer – but in its place is new, improved bisexual energy.

For countless gays of a certain age, booting up Super Mario 64 while their parents or guardians were asleep, huddled in their duvet covers, was a rite of passage.

The news that Nintendo would release Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which sweeps up three of the plumber’s most iconic platformers into one cartridge, had many ready to relive the year 1996, in particular the infamous “gay Bowser” line.

At the end of every lava-filled boss level – we don’t recommend getting Bowser to do your interior design, to be honest – Bowser would stomp in and Mario would have to fling him into explosive spikes.

After releasing the turtle-like beast, Mario would shout, “So long, King Bowser” – but only, it sounded as though he was saying “gay Bowser”.

So, imagine the heartbreak, the devastation, the pure pain, when it emerged that the port of Super Mario 64 removed the beloved meme-worthy line.

Fans found this out when Nintendo shared footage of Super Mario 64 being played on the Nintendo Switch on Friday (September 18).

In the new version, when Mario hurls Bowser off the stage, he simply says: “Buh-bye.”

Super Mario 64 fans lament the loss of ‘gay Bowser’ (1994 to 2020).

The tweak is no act of homophobia –instead, it’s likely the result of Nintendo basing the game on Super Mario 64 Shindou Pak Taiou Version, a refreshed version of the original released in Japan in 1997.

There’s a package of updates with this region-exclusive version, but in Japan, Bowser isn’t known as “King Koopa” as he is internationally. So having Mario refer to the big bad in this way would have confused many Japan-based fans.

But even this logical reason didn’t stop the change leaving fans reeling like Bowser being lobbed into a spiked bomb.

As much as fans lamented the loss of “gay Bowser”, others welcomed the arrival of bi Bowser, noting that Mario is now pretty clearly saying “Bye, bi”.

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