“Super Mario Bros.” Wonder” Makes Your Switch Controllers Sing

Nintendo’s Pro Controller for Switch is great , especially if you find the Joy-Cons a little small for extended gameplay. But whether you prefer the larger Pro controller or the convenience of the Joy-Cons, they both have something in common: a lack of speakers. As such, any accompanying gameplay sounds must come from either the TV speakers or the Switch itself. At least that’s what I thought.

As it turns out, the Pro Controller and Joy-Cons are capable of playing sounds, particularly music, one note at a time. Somehow, this feature took over six years to discover, and it took a famous Italian plumber to crack the code .

And it’s all thanks to Super Mario Bros. Wonder , the latest installment in the Mario franchise to focus entirely on music. The soundtrack claps, enemies start singing, and there are even music tiles that play notes when you bump into them. In fact, it’s these tiles that make the Switch controller make music. As you run across tiles, the haptic feedback in the Joy-Cons and Pro Controller vibrates accordingly. These vibrations are specifically tuned to the notes you press, so if you mute the Switch, you’ll be able to hear the notes from the controller itself.

It’s a small but interesting feature that shows off the capabilities of the Switch’s “HD Rumble” haptic system. Some games use these haptics more than others ( most famously 1-2-Switch ), but it would be nice if more games did what Super Mario Bros. did here. Wonder . If you have to play without sound, you’ll at least hear a little of Wonder’s musical nature.