Students create a self-aware Mario who contemplates death

But does he feel remorse?

In the film Grizzly Man, director Werner Herzog layers his own thoughts on life, death, and everything in between over footage of ill-fated bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell. I kept getting Grizzly Man flashbacks while watching the above video, and it’s not just because the narrator has a German accent. There is something about the existential dilemma presented here that smacks of Herzog’s style. A self-aware Mario, capable succumbing to drives like hunger and curiosity while grasping the absolute quality of death is a Mario that’s more than ready for Cannes. 

In the Mario games, death never feels all that real. If it did, then the player might feel guilty or sad as they trample multiple reptile or fungus-based animals to death on their way to victory. To see Mario exclaim “If I jump on Goomba, then it certainly dies” is to paint the picture of either an unfeeling sociopath in blue overalls, or a internally conflicted mustached baby-man who is constantly tortured by his own monstrous deeds. 

Needless to say, Nintendo would do well to incorporate this self-awareness functionality into Mario Maker, complete with Charles Martinet voice acting. “We’re all-ah gonna die someday no mattah what, so what’s-ah the point of anything? Woo hoo!”