Okay, so here’s the thing—Mario Kart World was knee-deep in this existential crisis over, of all things, mushrooms. Yeah, those little things Mario munches on. Or does he just touch them? I mean, really, I’ve played these games, and sometimes you just gotta wonder.
Anyway, so there’s this guy, Shintaro Jikumaru, been with Nintendo for like 20 years, and even he’s scratching his head over it. Can you believe it? The poor guy ropes in Kosuke Yabuki, the producer. They even drag Takashi Tezuka into the mix—dude’s a big shot at Nintendo. Seriously, if anybody knows, it’s him.
All this mushroom talk because Jikumaru wanted to throw in hamburgers. Yeah, hamburgers. Didn’t see that one coming, huh? They were thinking of this whole drive-thru idea, where characters eat while driving and magically transform. I guess it’s like mixing fast food with fairy tales—strange, but I’m oddly into it.
Yabuki even joked, “Does Mario, in fact, eat mushrooms?” And apparently, Tezuka just chuckles and goes, “Yeah, he is.” Like, case closed. But, is it? I’ve seen Mario toss stuff into his mouth in some games, and in others, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, he’s just zipping around as if the mushroom’s just kart fuel. It’s confusing, right?
Now, if I ever got a chance to chat with this Tezuka guy—I mean, come on, imagine that—I’d probably bombard him with questions until he’s ready to throttle me. Seriously, sometimes I think there’s more mystery in Mario’s diet than in any treasure chest the guy’s ever busted open.
