There’s something about specially-branded/shaped foods of your favorite characters that just makes life that much more bearable. Many of you probably grew up, knowing the whimsy of seeing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shaped mac ‘n’ cheese. And by whimsy, I mean “absolutely losing your shit”. Sure, these cherished foods aren’t always the healthiest option, but as a fun treat once in a while, nothing quite beats the feeling of putting your Batman into your mouth

Wait. That came out wrong. Or did it?

At any rate, I’d like to present the following for all our fellow Nintendo fans:

Admittedly I’ve never eaten condensed soup before. I always associated it with this weird concept in my head of like… things that “normal” families did or ate. And I don’t mean that in the hyper-edgy, zany way, like “Whoa, hey-o, check out my c-c-cray-zay family! So wacky, huzzah!” I mean it in the sense that there were random foods my mother just didn’t believe in buying. As practicing Italians, we often weren’t privy to certain things that replace homemade meals, like jarred tomato sauce, Lunchables,  frozen popcorn chicken, and in this case, condensed soup. I figured it was mostly a matter of my mother’s philosophy that my sister and I “don’t need that shit.” since she could make us meals. Before you get the wrong idea, I’m not saying this is a bad thing either. It’s actually pretty positive, and responsible for why I’m so passionate about making food at home now, and why I never fell into the lazy American trope of considering “cans” to be a staple food group.

Hopefully 2013 was just the trademark date, not when this can was actually produced…

All the above aside, I will still admit that sometimes there’s fun treats that you simply cannot craft in your own home. In this case, there’s no way I can make Super Mari Bros. shaped pasta for my soups. Which is a shame actually because I’d argue there’s a market out there for people who would buy the shit out of just the wacky pasta shapes you see in Campbell’s soup or Kraft Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

This variety, Super Mario Bros. chicken noodle soup, features six different shapes. You get Mr. Video Game himself, Mario, plus your standard items in the form of Fire Flowers and Mushrooms. Throw in a Koopa shell and Goombas, and round it all out with your standard brick Block, and bam; you got yourself Mario soup.

As mentioned, this is just condensed chicken soup, only with Super Mario shapes. Honestly, like I said, I’ve never had the stuff before. And actually when I first opened it, it wasn’t… particularly appetizing-looking. But, Meg bought this can for me as a surprise, and plus, come on, it’s frigging Mario shapes. I don’t care if it has rat poison in it, I’m gonna enjoy it.

So as some people who eat condensed soup probably were jumping to point out to me, yes it did start to look like soup when I added water to it and began cooking it. I already said at the beginning of this that I don’t expect treats like this to be particularly great for you or the best thing you’ll ever eat, so I was very forgiving and kept an open mind. The ingredient list had a few suspect names in it, but alas, it comes with the territory. Long story short, you eat “fun” foods once in a while, not everyday.

In the end, the soup was actually pretty good! I doctored it a bit with some pepper and spices, but after it was finished, it pretty much just tasted like your average bowl of chicken soup… only it had Mario shapes. Yeahhh! Look at the Goomba! I’m gonna bite his friggin’ head off!

Overall, it’s worth picking up a can if you’re a fan of Nintendo since, sadly, cool-shaped pasta isn’t as common as it used to be in the ’90s and we should all enjoy it while it still exists. The ingredients aren’t the best on the market, but they’re affordable and for a fun one-time gimmick, this soup will make any Super Mario fan’s day.

Should you eat Campbell’s Super Mario Chicken Noodle Soup?

Yes

(if you like Nintendo games)