Empty N.Y.C. Streets Have Led To Real-Life 'Mario Kart'
There are few silver linings to COVID-19, but it's good to point them out when we can find them in the face of overwhelming despair. That leads us to this delightful, yet bizarre video:
As you can see, it's two dudes (self-described "pranksters' Caleb Simpson and Irving Salazar) driving around the streets of New York City in go-carts while dressed up as Mario and Luigi. It's a weird mix of delightful and insane with a touch of depressing thrown in, considering that this is only made possible due to the lessened traffic from COVID-19. But, again, let's not dwell on the negatives. Let's just focus on the fact that Elon Musk was right! Life's a simulation, and that simulation is of a video game in which we can use a banana peel as a trip-mine in a go-kart race.
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Of course, as exciting a time as this is for American Mario Kart enthusiasts, Japan beat us to the punch.
This video was uploaded in 2017 -- in the before times. But we'd have to expect that Mario's country of origin would have mushroom-boosted their way past us in Mario-style street racing. Still, something is fitting about Mario driving around New York City. Maybe it's his Brooklynite roots from the god-awful Super Mario Bros. movie. We can just picture Mario speeding to a stop, nearly mowing down a pedestrian, before the guy turns and yells at him, "Hey, I'm walkin' ova here!" It's classic Americana, but if there were any Mario spinoff I'd really like to give life to, it would be this guy cooking up a vaccine.
Here's hoping, but in the meantime, here's to racing.
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Top Image: Caleb Simpson, Nintendo
