Just recently, it was revealed that developer Acquire worked with Nintendo to brainstorm "over 100 options" for the title of its new RPG that would go on to be called Mario & Luigi: Brothership.
Now, in a fresh interview with Nintendo Dream (thanks, Nintendo Everything), producer Akira Otani states that one of the potential titles in consideration was actually 'Mario & Luigi Wonder', but the team was forced to abandon this idea when Super Mario Bros. Wonder released on 20th October 2023.
"Actually, I wanted to add “Wonder” to the name at first. Like “Mario & Luigi Wonder”. But while we were making it, Super Mario Bros. Wonder came out first, so we couldn’t use that (laughs).
"So Nintendo and Acquire came up with a lot of ideas, and in the end, one of the candidates from Acquire was “Brothership”. The word “ship” means, of course, a ship, and this refers to the brothers’ base, the ship island. It’s also used as a word to mean friendship, like “friendship”.
"So if it’s about the bond between brothers, then it’s Brothership, and it has a double meaning, and I thought, “This is it!” It really fit perfectly, and although the title usually changes when it’s released in North America or Europe, this time it’s the same title."
What's particularly interesting (and we may well be missing some crucial context with the above quote) is the loose implication that the development team had no knowledge of Super Mario Bros. Wonder until its release. We personally have a difficult time believing this since long-time Mario veteran Takashi Tezuka served as producer for Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Senior Supervisor for Mario & Luigi: Brothership; so there had to be some communication between the development teams throughout 2023.
Regardless, it's quite funny that the teams managed to cross wires like this. Honestly, we're not super keen on 'Mario & Luigi Wonder' as a title, so we're glad that Nintendo and Acquire eventually settled on Brothership.
What do you reckon? Do you think 'Mario & Luigi Wonder' would have worked as the game's title? Let us know with a comment.
[source ndw.jp, via nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 30
Pretty funny, but I'd say it's for the best as "Brothership" is way more fitting for this game based on what I've played of it while "Wonder" is absolutely perfect for the other one!
Pretty funny coincidence, but honestly, Mario & Luigi: Brothership is as perfect of a name as it gets. Everything worked out perfectly.
Personally, I think they should have dropped the word "Bros." in "Super Mario Bros. Wonder." Simply calling it "Super Mario Wonder" rolls off the tongue so much better and makes more sense considering you can play as other characters like Peach and Daisy right now. I get the feeling Nintendo thought the word "Bros." would keep casual consumers from getting confused thinking it was a 3D Mario game. But really, all you have to do is look at the screenshots on the back of the box or literally any of the advertisements.
It's not like Nintendo hasn't dropped the word "Bros." from 2D Mario games before. Super Mario World, Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2... Granted, Luigi isn't in the latter two, so I guess that would be false advertising, but still. I get how marketing the Wii U as "the new controller" was confusing, but I hate when companies go overboard to treat audiences like they're dumber than rocks.
At least Europe didn't intervene in Mario & Luigi's naming and call it "Brothership Bros."
Edit: I would've been first if I didn't have so much to say, so now it looks like I plagiarized @JohnnyMind in my first paragraph, lol.
That sounds like a sentence. Like, what do they wonder about?
@Not_Soos Didn't get notified of your comment most certainly because you added the tag in your edit but anyway, no worries and I couldn't agree more also with the rest of your comment!
Shame really, Wonder sounds better
If Nintendo had asked me, I'd have suggested "Super Mario Bros Boring".
I liked these talking flowers (in japanese) though !
Probably for the best lol. Brothership's bond-focused plot is arguably more down to earth by M&Ls standards that Wonder would be very weird.
Super Mario Bros Wonder makes sense because of all the wild wonder effects in levels
The ultimate crossover if Brothership hadn’t come out: Super Mario Bros. Wonder Where Mario & Luigi Went!
@Not_Soos if they called it Super Mario Wonder then you'd have 2 Mario games with an acronym SMW and that just sounds stupid
For this game, brothership sounds better.
It's a name that works but that's all it is. I wouldn't call perfect.
Makes you "wonder" which team came up with the name wonder, first, and just how late in the day the name was tagged onto Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
@N00BiSH What did this game do to you? Why do I have to see your negativity towards it on every single article about it?
Brothership is a much better title so I'm glad they went with that.
@Bret It poisoned my water supply, burned my crops and delivered a plague unto our houses
but in all seriousness, I'm surprised you responded to THIS comment of all things, given I've been WAY meaner to the game elsewhere. Sorry for expressing how I feel about the game but there are plenty of commenters here who are happy to be nicer to it than I.
all/both bad titles. Nintendo was fantastically good at naming things until around the gamecube generation and they lost the touch somehow.
@N00BiSH
couldn't help but hear the Kefka music while reading your comment. 😆 😂 😆 😂
seriously though, from @Bret 's response, I expected to scroll up and find you just RIPPING into this game 🤔 "this name isn't perfect imo" is hardly the slap heard round the world 😂
@-wc- I mean, I get it. I've been overt about my frustrations towards the game whenever it's brought up on this site, and I can understand how that can come off as insufferable to some, but I can't unchange how strongly I feel about it, y'know?
If it was called Wonder, I imagine the name would've only stuck in Japan. Brothership was retained outside of Japan because it was punny like basically every other Western subtitle for the series, according to the interviews.
Mario & Luigi Wondership? Maybe? In fact, is that even a word?
Every single time I end up seeing interviews on this game, my opinion of it just gets worse and worse. Suppose its good though that Acquire probably won't be working with Nintendo on this series anymore due to their parent company having the majority of their stock owned by Sony.
Yes because the name wonder is a great choice….huh what am I missing?!
@N00BiSH
i know 😊 I think that's what comment sections are for. I have just ignored this game for my own sanity, like most of the "first party output" on switch lately. 🖖
@-wc- Good choice. You're not missing anything with this one.
@NintendoWife Same with Super Mario Bros Wonder
@DonutPie You’re right! In my mind the game was just called „Super Mario Wonder“, but I was wrong.
@-wc- lol it's much less this comment specifically and more the constant stream of negativity towards this game on every article posted about it. Like c'mon, even the name? You can't even give it that?
@Bret
lol i get it! I've been on both sides of this kind of convo many times 😂 Certainly in the Metroid Dread days, I was just hatin' 😂😆
this one, I've not paid even a second of attention towards, but I did love a mario + luigi game on GBA, a lifetime ago! I played the entire game with my partner at the time, cheek-to-cheek on a single SP. probably the last time I ever did that!
I don't have a lot of faith in Nintendo these days tbh, but I'm always rooting for them! and, I always genuinely want a nintendo game to be good, especially a Mario game. So if you are enjoying this one I'm pleased! 😊✌️ happy new year! 🎉
@-wc- Oh, I absolutely am. This game's a constant joy to me, partly because after Alphadream went down I thought that was the end of this series.
It's LITERALLY a main Nintendo game that's been outsourced you rage farming duches
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