The final countdown to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is on, with the highly anticipated sequel set to arrive on 1 April.
It’ll mark the return of Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, and Jack Black as Bowser, but so too will the film welcome Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr and Brie Larson as Rosalina.
It perhaps no real surprise that this second outing is somewhat of a loose adaptation of the Mario Galaxy games, although the emphasis is on “loose”. There’s some major nods to Super Mario Odyssey too.
Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach will find themselves on a journey to outer space as they face off against Bowser’s evil son, Bowser Jr.
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With all of this in mind, it probably won’t surprise you that the film’s newly released trailer - which, yes, introduced Yoshi - featured a number of fun Easter eggs for gaming fans.
Here are five of our favourites.
But first - if you've not seen it, check out the Yoshi first look here! It's actually way cuter than I thought it was going to be. Definitely not another Sonic situation on our hands.
The Introduction of Mouser
Bet you didn't spot this! Or even if you did, you might be wondering who it is. In one shot, Peach is shown fending off projectiles aimed her way by Birdo, but the attentive amongst you may have spotted Mouser standing next to Peach.
Mouser is a pretty deep-cut character within the Mario universe, having first surfaced in 1998’s Super Mario Bros. 2 as a boss, although the character appeared in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic before that.
Admittedly, Mouser doesn’t look all that vicious in this scene but I’m going to hazard a guess that the character is appearing as a cameo only rather than a full-scale boss.
Let’s face it, this reference would easily go over many heads.
Classic Tunes Could Be Making a Return
Alongside the film’s new trailer, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has also received a new poster and it shows Mario and Yoshi looking out to what looks a lot like the Gateway Galaxy from the Wii’s Super Mario Galaxy.
As such, fans are wondering whether we’ll hear certain tracks from the game’s score reused or repurposed. It feels pretty likely.
“PLEASE HAVE THE SONG, PLEASE HAVE THE SONG,” wrote Reddit user RelanTheGuy.
“I’ll be bawling when Luma plays,” added Sloth_4.
Fire Power Has Received An Overhaul
If you’ve played any Mario game, you’ll likely know that the various playable characters can assume a fire form by consuming a Fire Flower.
It’s always been the case that the whole flower is consumed, but that doesn’t appear to happen here.
In an early section of the new trailer, Mario and Luigi can be seen simply touching the flowers to imbue their bodies with this power-up.
It suggests that items like this are reusable which is an interesting little adjustment.
There’s a Nod to Jurassic Park
Towards the end of the trailer, we see a Tyrannosaurus unleash a ferocious roar at Yoshi, who stands before Toad, baby Mario, and baby Luigi.
By all accounts, the roar used for the dino is the same roar used by the T. rex in the film Jurassic Park.
That links back nicely to Mario actor Chris Pratt, who is the star of reboot series Jurassic World. Nice easter egg!
Toad’s Jealousy of Yoshi Has Game-Based Reasoning
There’s a funny little scene in the new trailer where Toad complains about Yoshi’s sudden arrival.
“Who is this?” he asks. “So some dinosaur just shows up and now he’s part of the group? Cool.”
This jealousy is likely a nod to Super Mario World, launched on the SNES in 1990.
This is the title that introduced Yoshi. As the game didn’t exactly focus on the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad and related characters were cut, so you can see why this little fellow isn’t thrilled about Yoshi stealing the film’s spotlight.
Is there anything we didn’t spot? The Super Mario Galaxy Movie launches on 1 April.
Topics: Mario, Super Mario, TV And Film, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2