The
world
of
Super
Mario
is
a
dangerous
place.
In
the
games,
the
plumber
falls
off
cliffs,
gets
jabbed
with
spikes,
and
has
everything
from
wrenches
to
fireballs
hurled
at
him.
But
he
always
gets
back
up
and
goes
again,
which
raises
an
important
question:
does
Nintendo’s
hero
actually
feel
pain?
According
to
Takashi
Tezuka,
who
has
worked
on
the
series
since
the
original
Super
Mario
Bros.
(including
serving
as
producer
on
last
year’s
Wonder),
there
isn’t
really
a
clear
answer.
“It
may
be
that
Mario
does
feel
pain,”
he
tells
me.
But
that
ambiguity
may
be
because
I
was
asking
the
wrong
question.
The
important
part,
he
explains,
is
the
emotions
players
experience
when
Mario
plummets
to
his
death
or
is
fried
by
Bowser’s
breath.
“If
the
player
feels
that
Mario
is
feeling
pain,
that’s
a
better
experience,
rather
than
talking
about
whether
Mario
actually
does
feel
pain,”
Tezuka
says.
And
players
can
sense
that
emotion
much
more
in
Wonder,
with
the
game’s
more
detailed
and
lively
animations.
Mario’s
face
contorts
in
uncomfortable
ways
when
the
game
over
screen
pops
up
and
jolts
into
the
air
when
taking
damage
from
a
spiky
shell
or
chomping
Piranha
Plant.
It’s
enough
to
make
you
wince
—
which
is
kind
of
the
point.
“For
us,
if
Mario
hits
an
enemy
and
the
person
playing
goes
‘ow!’
that’s
ideal,”
says
Tezuka.
Original author: Andrew Webster
Comments