Oh man, where do I even start with this one? So, there I was, spiraling down a rabbit hole about Mario, of all things. Like, does the dude actually munch on those mushrooms, or just brush up against them for that power-up goodness? Sounds simple, right? But no, the team behind Mario Kart World found themselves deep in this existential dilemma. I mean, picture it: seasoned developers, scratching their heads, debating if the world’s most famous plumber is having a snack or just magically juicing up.
Now, we’ve got Shintaro Jikumaru, a Nintendo veteran who’s been around the block, pondering this deeply. It’s curious, isn’t it? Like when you realize you’ve been doing something wrong your whole life. But hey, who better to ask than Takashi Tezuka? This guy’s been in the Mario game since forever, so if anyone’s got answers, it’s him. Or so you’d think.
So, the devs toyed with the idea of adding hamburgers, yes, hamburgers, to spice things up in the new open-world Mario Kart. Imagine a drive-thru for power-ups! The absurdity is real, but Yabuki was all for it—characters chowing down, outfits changing, chaos ensuing. And yes, they actually went back to Tezuka to get the “does Mario eat mushrooms” mystery solved. Spoiler alert: he does! Shocker.
Then again, long-time fans might be like, “Duh, haven’t you seen the Mario & Luigi games?” where our dudes are chomping on goodies. And that movie? Totally clear on the eating part. Yet here we are, dissecting it because Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has Mario not eating, more like feeding the kart itself. Talk about a NOS vibe, right?
Anyway, the debate rages on. Maybe some things are better left mysterious. Like, do you really want to know every magic trick’s secret? Me, if I ever nab an interview with Tezuka after all this? I’ve got about a million more annoyingly fun questions lined up. But that’s just me.
