Fashion
Awkwafina on Her Favorite Nintendo Switch Games, From Animal Crossing to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Awkwafina’s love of Nintendo started with the company’s very beginnings: Its Nintendo Entertainment System console, which first came out in North America in 1985, roughly three years before Nora Lum, who goes by Awkwafina professionally, was born.
“My cousin had the original Nintendo console [the NES], and we played Duck Hunt,” the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings actress told ELLE.com. “I thought it was the coolest thing.” As she grew up, her love for the brand “really started to blossom…when I got Super Nintendo [the company’s next system after the NES] and started playing Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country II.”
She was “obsessed” with it and the Mario games. “It’s one of those things, I think, that evolves with you as you grow up,” she said. With Donkey Kong Country, her favorite childhood game, she said “I still remember levels in my head.”
Fast forward to 2021, and Nintendo has released many more consoles—the Nintendo 64, the GameCube, the Wii, the Wii U, and now the Nintendo Switch. Awkwafina, at 33, is now an ambassador for the gaming company. She’s hooked on her Switch, which can be played as a handheld system or put into its TV dock for big screen play.
“I play my Nintendo Switch constantly,” she said. “I bring it with me everywhere I go. I probably play it on every mode of transportation. I bring it to set. In a period where I think I was binge-watching a lot of TV shows, watching a lot of movies, it was a way for me to unwind and declutter my mind. It fits into my lifestyle quite well in that way.”
Awkwafina took ELLE.com through her favorite games for the system, including her tips for people just starting the titles out, and the characters she loves most from the franchises. Awkwafina’s big two favorite games are Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Nintendo
“Animal Crossing: New Horizons [is] a big one, only because I feel I never really had that relationship with a game before,” she said. “I’d never played those games, where you’re almost living vicariously in this very peaceful world. It did change my view on the way I looked at wood and bugs and things. It was a really cool experience, and very therapeutic for me.”
Animal Crossing’s friendly Isabelle is actually Awkwafina’s favorite overall Nintendo character: “I feel she’s really just out here living her life and doing what she needs to do. I have a lot of respect.”
What’s Awkwafina’s island like? “I went a little much with mine, a little bit,” she said. “I think the last thing I figured out how to do was I laid down roads and stuff. I realize I have to replan that, because I have trouble getting my daily island supply. My island’s pretty cool. I realized that I need it to be cool because I would go to people’s cool islands and feel very jealous.”
The spot she is most proud of is “probably my entrance. I put the fountain, and I once was gifted a black rose. I have one of those in my welcome garden. I put a lot of time into what you see first when you walk in. It’s one of those things where you put all your stuff into a bedroom before guests come over. That’s definitely my situation.”
Awkwafina’s Animal Crossing Tips
- Overall: “I would say Animal Crossing: New Horizons is meant to welcome you to start out. There are no tips or tricks or hacks. You really have to grow to earn the love you put into your island and stuff. I think time is the best thing of Animal Crossing, just getting used to the environment.”
- On Tom Nook, the raccoon you’re indebted to: “Is it really horrible to say that Tom Nook is… Tom Nook will give you the things. If you get on Tom Nook’s good side, which I guess is money, you can get a basement.”
- On making bells, the game’s currency: “[I’m] still trying to figure that out, actually. If you have any tips, let me know. There’s a credit line [with Tom Nook when you expand your house]. My biggest tip is consistency, and setting a routine within the island. Collecting things is a big thing, and you’re only going to get a daily dose of it. Every day that you don’t get a fossil, or get your daily dose of iron, you’re missing out on precious resources. I think that it’s really time and consistency.”
Get Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Nintendo
“Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I got really into it,” Awkwafina said. “I was into it as a kid, but it took on a whole new meaning when I learned how to drift and how to put the perfect rig [kart or bike setup] together. I really developed this whole new relationship with it as an adult, to the point where I get really nervous. I’ll probably get more nervous getting close to an online world race than I am doing a scene or something. It’s very adrenaline pumping.”
Awkwafina uses Baby Mario but has no one go-to character in the game: “I’m still trying to figure out who that character is [my favorite to play as],” she said. “I play a lot with Isabelle. I play a lot with Toad, Yoshi, recently Luigi, and Mario. I switch around a lot.”
Awkwafina’s Mario Kart Tips
- On getting new people to play: “A lot of my friends that I’ve gotten into it have played it growing up. They have a knowledge of it but haven’t played it in so long, or say ‘I’m not going to be good.’ I think it really is one of those things where there’s a nostalgic aspect to it. It’s really fun for multiplayers. I think that depending on if your friends are mean or not, it’s a really fun game to play as a group.”
- There’s more than just how well you drive the course that determines how well you do: “You can learn the tips and tricks that aren’t just running the courses. That’s what pulled me into it, is realizing I could go faster; I could build a more efficient rig. I think discovering that, it’s nice. I feel I’ve accomplished something when I put hours into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It’s good.”
- On how to choose your vehicle and racer: “I’m still finding that out. Maybe it’s a metaphor for life, you have to do all these different [trials]… For me, handling and traction, I’m still trying to figure out how much those things affect your rig. People can often be fooled by the speed bar. [The bar] is really high, so it goes really fast. They have no idea how to handle it. There’s all these different factors. I think it’s really about finding something that you’re comfortable with. I know some people are more comfortable with playing with heavier characters that are harder to take down versus I like to play Baby Mario sometimes, [one of the game’s lightest characters].
- On her favorite item: “I like having the red shell when you’re playing against someone that you really want to take [down], that’s cocky. I think the red shell is my favorite one. I know there are more powerful ones, but that’s my favorite item.”
Get Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch
Mario Golf: Super Rush
Nintendo
Of the newer Nintendo Switch titles, Awkwafina is into one Mario sports game in particular: “I just played Mario Golf, and that’s really fun. I’m very excited for that. I think that Nintendo Switch, the library is continuing to expand, and really excited for basically all of them [the fall/winter titles] to come out.” Her go-to character in Mario Golf is Mario.
“It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, I don’t think, because it gets very chaotic,” she said of the game. “It is relaxing like golf, but then it gets very intense. It’s fun in that way, but maybe not the best expressions.”
Get Mario Golf: Super Rush for the Nintendo Switch
Pianista
Nintendo
Awkwafina also has one go-to music game: “There’s also a game called Pianista, where you basically just play classical music on a piano. That one is fun for me.”
Get Pianista for the Nintendo Switch
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