There are some people that would argue that modern gaming has changed the way we feel about our characters in video games. Endless re-spawns, saves, and check points have allowed us to forget the importance of the old “x3” lifespan of our characters and the dreaded “Game Over” screens. However, as careful as we were in old-school games like Super Mario Bros. there’s something we all still took for granted. What happens to Mario after he dies?

YouTube’s Nukazooka set out to answer that question and what they came up with is… rather troubling. They posit that while we were starting out new life after misjudging a jump across a chasm, the real trials of our jumpsuited plumber were just beginning. Dropping into a sort of Mushroom Kingdom underworld, our hero experiences the horrors of seeing his fallen brethren (clones?) and the twisted nature of everything he’s ever jumped on.

Some may remember the folks from Nukazooka from their nightmarish  Minecraft IRL and how its realism can make an entire gaming world feel fairly messed up if we think of these characters as living, breathing, and feeling beings. Seeing Mario come to grips with his post-game reality, face his fallen foes, and (for some reason) run from a cannibalistic version of Luigi will make us think twice about treating those extra lives with such flippancy. Is this nightmare underworld hellscape the normal staging area for Luigi when he’s not chosen to be played? Has he become that monster because no one ever wants to play as him? What have we done!?

As silly as the subject matter is, the short video does build some suspense to where we’re happy to see Mario hijack a Lakitu cloud and get the hell out of dodge. Who knows, maybe with this newfound freedom, this is the Mario that we finally see in Super Mario Sunshine doing something positive with his life.

What are your thoughts on Mushroom Kingdom hell? What other games would you like to see IRL’d by Nukazooka? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Images: Nukazooka