Oh boy, let me try to unpack this tangled yarn of mushroom madness. Ever find yourself staring into space and suddenly wonder, "Does Mario actually eat these mushrooms?" Well, apparently that’s an actual debate that popped up during the creation of Mario Kart World. Sounds silly, right? But hey, to the developers, it was like—wait, does a lightbulb actually need to glow to be a lightbulb? Not sure if that analogy works, but you get the picture.
So, here we are with Shintaro Jikumaru, who’s been hanging around Nintendo for, like, two decades, still scratching his head about whether Mario munches on fungi for real powers. He and Kosuke Yabuki, the producer, figure they’d better get to the bottom of this. They ask Takashi Tezuka, a fella who’s been with Mario since he first jumped a Goomba, or whatever.
Imagine pitching the idea: "Hey, maybe we could have Mario chowing down on a burger mid-race? Yeah, like a drive-thru that gives him new outfits or turns him into—I dunno—a turtle? (Laughs) So crazy, it just might work. Or, you know, might not."
Now, before you think they’re just twiddling their thumbs over there, the whole food bit brought up critical questions. Like, are we consistent here? In some games, Mario basically tosses power-ups back like they’re movie theater snacks, while in others, they’re like magic—poof and it’s done. So, what’s the deal with that mushroom, huh?
Anyway, they circle back (because why not?), and Yabuki literally asks Tezuka-san, point-blank, if Mario eats—like, actually eats—the mushrooms. Turns out, yep, he does. Boom, mystery solved! Sort of.
Yet, here’s the kicker: Super Mario Bros. fans could argue this topic into eternity. Some would shout, "Yeah, he eats ’em, duh!" and others might say, "Nah, he just touches stuff like Fire Flowers." And in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, does Mario actually eat the Super Mushroom? Nope, that one’s like piped into the kart like some sort of race fuel.
So, infinite unknowns linger in the realm of Mario power-ups, honestly. And I bet if I ever sit face-to-face with Takashi Tezuka—though unlikely, let’s be real—I’d have a million questions, probably to the point of annoying him to no end. But hey, who can resist the allure of Mario trivia, right?
