So, picture this: the Mario Kart World team is knee-deep in making the game, right? And then, boom! They hit this massive roadblock. Do Mario and Luigi actually munch on those mushrooms, or is it more of a magical touch-and-go situation? You’d think it’s straightforward, but nope, not even close. Even Shintaro Jikumaru, a dude who’s been with Nintendo for like, ages, was scratching his head.
And I get it. Jikumaru and this guy, Kosuke Yabuki—who’s like a big shot producer—were really digging into this. They wanted answers and decided to bug Takashi Tezuka. He’s like, the guru of Mario stuff. If anyone’s gonna know, it’s him.
So, why all this mushroom madness? Well, Jikumaru wanted to throw in hamburgers and, you know, all sorts of food into this new Mario Kart thing. That meant they needed eating animations—hence the mushroom munching mystery. Seriously, they even tossed around the craziest idea of having Mario go through drive-thrus, chomping burgers, and then poof, he’d change outfits or even transform! Wild, right?
Eventually, they had to wake up to the rules of the Mario universe. They spilled the beans in this Nintendo interview and said, Yabuki actually asked, “Does Mario eat mushrooms?” and Jikumaru added, “So, we straight-up asked Tezuka-san if Mario’s really chowing down on these shrooms.” Tezuka? He just goes, “Yup, he is.”
Fans might roll their eyes and go, “Duh, of course he eats ’em!” They’ve seen the Mario & Luigi games or even that Super Mario Bros. flick, where it’s all crystal clear that Mario gobbles mushrooms to get powered up. But you gotta appreciate the devs for being thorough because let’s be real, Mario games have power-up systems that are as consistent as my ability to stick to a diet—which is not at all.
Take Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Mario gets a Super Mushroom and it’s like the kart’s the one snacking, like a speedy power-up injection or something. Eating or touching? The lines are blurrier than my vision without glasses.
Oh, and if I ever—as if—get a sit-down with Takashi Tezuka, you bet I have a million more questions. The poor guy’ll probably sigh heavily and roll his eyes at each one. Not that I blame him.
