Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which launched Dec. 5, marks the 100th time Charles Martinet has portrayed Mario in a video game, according to Guinness World Records.<\/b>
\nCharles Martinet, the voice of Mario for almost 25 years now, got more than just a certificate from Guinness World Records \u2014 they made up a category just so they could honor him. His voice in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is officially the 100th time he\u2019s performed in a video game as Nintendo\u2019s frontman and, yes, that is indeed a record.
Nolan North, by comparison, would have to star in 95 more Uncharteds as Nathan Drake, or 95 other Assassin\u2019s Creeds as Desmond Miles to break Martinet\u2019s hold on this mark (he\u2019s been in six games as each). We don\u2019t think that\u2019s happening anytime soon. So, I stipulate to both Martinet as record holder (officially, it\u2019s \u201cMost video game voiceover performances as the same character\u201d) and to the unassailability of said record.
It\u2019s more noteworthy that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate marks an even 100 times Martinet has appeared in a video game as the voice of Mario, per Guinness. I went checking other sources and databases \u2014 none official, it must be said \u2014 to see if I could count them all. I came up with 98 on IMDB (again: unreliable as a citation, but a good rule of thumb) and then 90 on Wikipedia (same caveat).
Most agree that Martinet\u2019s first Mario role, by date, was in 1995\u2019s Mario\u2019s Game Gallery, an anthology of common card and dice games for PC. Fans might more associate his first proper role as 1996\u2019s Super Mario 64. As for any shortfall or disparity, it could be that some roles as Baby Mario (there were four in the Yoshi\u2019s Island series, for example) might have counted? Who knows.
But Guinness is a citeable source and it says Martinet has done the job 100 times, so that\u2019s good enough for me. Congratulations to Mr. Martinet, who not only is Mario\u2019s voice, he was also on Matlock \u2014 another thing Nolan North hasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n