Ah, Mario and his mushrooms. I suppose it’s a mystery that’s kept people awake at night, right? So, here’s the deal: while dreaming up Mario Kart World, folks on the team landed on a pretty wild question: “Does Mario snack on those mushrooms?” I mean, does he take a big ol’ bite or just tap ’em for power?
To some, it might seem like a no-brainer. But even Shintaro Jikumaru, with two decades at Nintendo, wasn’t so sure. Him and the game’s big cheese, Kosuke Yabuki, did what anyone would—pester Takashi Tezuka, who’s basically Mario’s living dictionary. If he doesn’t know, we’re all lost.
This all brewed up because Jikumaru wanted to slip some burgers into the mix. Yeah, you heard me—burgers. Picture Mario hoovering up burgers while driving. They thought it’d be a laugh—characters munching at a drive-thru, changing outfits mid-bite. Nuts, right?
Adding these fast-food delights shoved Yabuki and Jikumaru into a corner. They had to grapple with the nitty-gritty rules of Mario world. During a Nintendo chat, they had a funny epiphany: Mario actually eats these mushrooms! Straight from Tezuka-san: it’s confirmed with a chuckle.
I reckon old-school fans would yell, “Duh!” citing Mario & Luigi escapades where chomping power-ups is a must. Or the movie, that has our mustached hero munching away. Yet, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe flips it—mushrooms seem to feed the kart like some wild NOS boost. Makes you scratch your head a bit, huh?
The whole eat-or-touch conundrum is still kinda murky. And there’s loads more unanswered stuff. If, by some miracle, I ever chat with Tezuka, I’ll bug him with questions ’til he’s fed up. Like, seriously, brace yourself, Tezuka!
