In an interview conducted for Nintendo's Ask the Developers blog, designer Koichi Hayashida revealed that producer Takashi Tezuka wanted to implement a live commentary system that would remark on the player's actions and progress, similar to a sports newscaster. Programming director Shiro Mouri elaborated that the idea polarized the development team, who were "evenly split between those in favor and those against," and that the mechanic would've allowed the player to toggle between a standard newscaster voice and a tsundere voice (i.e. a voice which treats the player coldly on the surface but hints at a hidden affection towards them), the latter of which was unexpectedly popular with playtesters.

According to Tezuka, the idea was eventually scrapped due to the impracticality of it, as the mechanic would've required a large amount of work to create different voice variations and have them dynamically respond to the player. Instead, the concept was reconfigured into the Talking Flowers, which Mouri described as "a version of live commentary that fits the world of Mario."