For the past 30 years or so, we’ve considered Super Mario games to be universally accepted. Hardcore players love them because they pose a challenge, but kids love them too because, c’mon, it’s Mario. However, an interesting rating for Super Mario Odyssey has emerged from Australia that has us wondering just what kind of content we can expect from the forthcoming Nintendo Switch game.
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According to the Australia Classification Board (via GameZone), the game has been given a PG rating. That’s a bit on the odd side, considering that a lot of Mario games in the past have been given a G rating.
Now, mind you, that doesn’t mean Mario is going to start bloodying people or going all Grand Theft Auto on someone. PG is still a well-accepted rating when it comes to kids’ movies, so it’s about the same when it comes to games.
Still, check out the description that comes with the PG rating in Australia. That rating is described as “not recommended for children under 15; may contain material which some children find confusing or upsetting.” And that has us wondering – what could be “confusing or upsetting” about a Mario game? The fact that Peach is getting married to someone like Bowser? The fact that Mario’s hat Cappy can come alive and pretty much possess anything it touches, including human people?
The rating for Super Mario Odyssey specifically states that the PG was given because of themes and “mild” violence. But it’s a Mario game. Meaning that you stomp on opponents and they just go “smush” without any sort of bloodshed or anything like that. And it looks like enemies magically disappear when you hit them in Odyssey, so we’re trying to see where these mature themes come from.
Now, the game hasn’t been rated by the ESRB yet, but more than likely, it’ll see an E for Everyone rating, because the board isn’t nearly as finicky as that of Australia’s Classification Board. However, if the rating shows up as E10 (for ages 10 and up), we’re definitely going to look into it to see what Mario’s doing differently this time around. Hmmm…maybe it’s that human possession…
Super Mario Odyssey will release on October 27th for Nintendo Switch.
