The trailer showcases a good look at the film’s version of Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Tayor-Joy) while Chris Pratt’s Mario only gets a couple of lines of dialogue. Overall, it’s a fun glimpse at some familiar Mario locales and characters, translated for the big screen. If you’re a Nintendo nerd like me, you’ve probably rewatched the trailer more than once to spot everything going on in the background. And there’s some cool Easter eggs - particularly if you like the extended Donkey Kong family. Let’s give it one more watch and dive in. This opening shot makes it clear there are a lot of Donkey Kong’s species out there, filling this huge stadium. Will we see any we know? (Yes.) As well as Donkey Kong (obviously), there’s Cranky Kong, sat with Peach and Toad. Created by Rare for Donkey Kong Country, Cranky Kong is officially Donkey Kong’s grandfather, and is said by Nintendo to also be the original Kong Mario fought against in the company’s early arcade games. His most recent appearance as a playable character was in the 2018 Nintendo Switch port of Donkey Kong Counry: Tropical Freeze. Credit to DK Vine on Twitter above for spotting and enhancing this brief glimpse at some classic Kongs: Swanky, plus the diminuitive duo of Dixie and Diddy. Swanky Kong is a particularly deep cut, introduced in 1995 SNES game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. He cameoed in 2005 GameCube game Mario Superstar Baseball, and was also a collectible spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Writing on Twitter in response to these characters’ appearance, Rare design veteran Kev Bayliss simply said: “Wow!” This crowd shot of Bowser’s minions includes a list of familiar species: Koopa Troopers and Paratroopas, Goombas, Piranha Plants, Shy Guys, Bob-Ombs and Hammer Bros. It’s another fresh layout for the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Peach’s Castle, which is surrounded as usual by Toad Town. Well, the castle will keep on getting abducted. To me, this looks rather like the Mushroom Kingdom design seen at Universal Studios. In a change to his established Mushroom Kingdom invasion procedure, Bowser doesn’t turn up in his airship this time and instead just floats an entire island over. Cool. Here’s a familiar-looking world map of the Mushroom Kingdom and surrounding areas. Lava level? Check. Desert? Check. Until I’m told otherwise, my personal headcanon for this Toad with a frying pan is he’s Captain Toad. A classic-looking Mario level layout, with mechanical Piranha Plants and cannons. Anyone will know by the shape of those blocks at the front that you can’t stand on them for long. Mario gets hit in the face by a Cheep-Cheep. Standard. It’s Tanooki Mario! My question is whether in the film this is an actual magical suit Mario has to clamber into, or whether it appears magically through a power-up. Speaking of which, Peach here appears to absorb the powers of fire from a Fire Flower. Pink, Yellow, Blue, Red and Green Yoshis. It’s Rainbow Road from Mario Kart! Funky Kong makes his appearance to the left of Donkey Kong here. Another Rare-created Kong, the laid-back Funky first appeared in Donkey Kong Country and recently made his first playable appearance for many years in smartphone game Mario Kart Tour. Have you spotted any other Easter eggs or cameos? Let us know in the comments below.
