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Mario Originally Punched Yoshi’s Head in SUPER MARIO WORLD

Mario Originally Punched Yoshi’s Head in SUPER MARIO WORLD

This week, the SNES Classic Edition hits store shelves, and if we’re lucky enough to get one, we may disappear into a 16-bit flashback. One of the greatest Super Nintendo games was easily Super Mario World, which remains ridiculously fun to play even after two decades. But have you ever noticed that when Mario is on the back of his trusty dino steed Yoshi, it looks like Mario is constantly punching the back of Yoshi’s head? While Nintendo’s official story is that Mario is only “pointing” for Yoshi’s benefit and not punching him, apparently that wasn’t always the case.

Via Polygon, Super Mario World designer Shigefumi Hino was recently interviewed by Nintendo of Japan, and he indicated that the original intent was that Mario’s punches would surprise Yoshi, and force him to stick his giant tongue out. However, Hino and the rest of team eventually decided that it was simply too mean for Mario to mistreat his new friend that way.

But that’s not to say that Mario couldn’t abuse Yoshi in the final release of the game! In fact, many players have perfected the art of using Yoshi as a sacrifice by jumping off of his back at a critical moment and leaving him to fall to his demise. There are practically no consequences for Mario when he does that!

In fact, that’s such a common move that Fox’s ADHD actually parodied it a few years ago, and they even threw in the Yoshi punching.

What do you think about Mario punching Yoshi in the early development of Super Mario World? Hop a platform and let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Nintendo 

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