Mario Kart World Brings Fascinating Lore – Does Mario Eat Mushrooms?

The first trailer for the game got people excited about eating food and changing outfits. A recent interview with the development team reveals that the idea of incorporating food into the game “came up early on in development.” According to planning team leader Shintaro Jikumaru, “If you’re travelling through a vast and diverse world, you can’t leave out the local food that’s unique to each place.” They came up with the idea of using a chain of drive-thru restaurants called “Yoshi’s,” where racers can buy food and eat it on the go.

Designing the Food

Art director Masaaki Ishikawa says that when designing the food, they “incorporated lots of Mario-inspired twists and tidbits to create a wide variety of designs.” The food designs in Mario Kart World incorporate elements from the locations and Mario lore. As Ishikawa states, “For example, a Yoshi’s drive-thru located in a volcanic region would look like a volcano and sell piping-hot soup inspired by Bowser.”

Does Mario Eat Mushrooms?

The development team also asked Takashi Tezuka, Executive Officer of the Planning and Development Division, who worked largely on the 2D Mario titles, whether or not Mario actually eats the mushrooms he collects. Tezuka confirmed that yes, Mario eats the mushrooms, so there’s a tidbit of Mario lore you can tell your friends. It’s also a fun tidbit when you consider that in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario hates eating mushrooms.

Conclusion

Eating food and changing outfits will undoubtedly get players replaying Mario Kart World over and over to see all the outfits the different characters can wear. When you buy food from Yoshi’s, remember to take a look at it before gobbling it down. Remember the thought that went into the food designs. Also, remember that yes, Mario does eat mushrooms.