Mario creator has surprising opinion on Wonder’s bizarre Elephant Mario

Nintendo had its August 2023 Nintendo Direct dedicated to Super Mario Bros. Wonder. And while some of the game’s new powers, like Elephant Mario, were a surprise, not everybody was keen on them—including, initially, Mario‘s creator.

During an Aug. 31 interview with IGN, Super Mario Bros. Wonder director Shiro Mouri and producer Takashi Tezuka spoke about some of the feedback they received during the game’s development, and a few notes came directly from Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto himself. While the team worked hard on putting together the game, Miyamoto would pop in and see what they were up to, and he had a strong first opinion on Elephant Mario.