Against all odds, The Super Mario RPG remake retains the original's dirtiest joke

Mario has been teaching kids important life lessons for generations. Think about how Mario showed you that persistence is key, munching mushrooms is good for you, and stealing is a-ok. Well, that spirit will live on in the upcoming Super Mario RPG remake, it turns out, in the revival of one of the dirtiest jokes in the game's history.

One of the most important lessons the original Super Mario RPG taught us was not to go through a lady's belongings. As the game makes clear with one of the perceived dirtiest jokes known to Nintendo fans worldwide, you never know what you might find.

The game touches on the subject with a hidden item in Princess Peach's room labeled "Toadstool's ???" or "Peach's XXX" depending on the translation. From the reactions elicited from spotting the thing - either a scold from Peach's grandma, or Peach herself later down the line -  it's clear there's something untoward going on in the minds of those game developers.

If you thought, like us, that there's no way the Super Mario RPG remake is keeping the original's most infamous joke, think again. Turns out the new game stays true to the original to such a degree that it even keeps the silly filthy joke in. 

I mean if it ain't broke, why fix it?

In their Super Mario RPG hands-on, our Dustin Bailey notes that "Against every expectation I had, the game even retains the infamous little Easter egg where you can make Mario rifle through Peach's bedroom in order to find some sort of unmentionable item."

There have been a few other theories around what the item could be, as one r/GameTheorists Reddit post from a while back goes over. User ProfessorMetallica considers that the item in question could actually be a bottle of booze, since "Alcohol is occasionally labeled as 'XXX', especially in cartoons". Alternatively, it could be "a gift from her absent parents, and it's labeled '???' because Mario didn't get enough time to look at it before it was snatched away."

General consensus, however, is that it's either a sex toy or some kind of pornographic imagery. As for the question of whether the true nature of the item will be revealed in the  upcoming game... well, you'll just have to play it to find out.

"Super Mario RPG is deeply weird even by the standards of Mario role-playing games, and the remake loses none of those bizarre vibes", says Bailey in their overview. I'm excited to relive the strangeness come November 17 when the new Super Mario RPG will hit shelves.