So long, "gay Bowser" – fans lament the loss of Mario 64's most famous line in Super Mario 3D All-Stars

Mario’s famous “gay Bowser” line isn’t in Super Mario 3D All-Stars’ version of Super Mario 64 – and fans are waving a sad goodbye.

In the original N64 masterpiece, Mario shouts “so long, gay Bowser!” as he chucks Bowser in the final boss fight. Here’s how it sounds:

So long, gay Bowser! Watch on YouTube

Fans spent years trying to work out what the dialogue was going for – or even if it was being heard correctly. Time passed, the line became a meme, and we all moved on.

Until April 2019, when Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, took to Twitter to insist Mario is saying “so long kinga Bowser!”, but no-one bought that. A fan restoration published in July 2020 makes it sound even more like Mario is saying “gay Bowser”.