PBS’ Space Time has taken Super Mario World and Dinosaur Land apart, Mythbusters style, and come to the conclusion that the gravity on whichever planet the game is set on is not only impossible in our solar system, but also impossible in the known universe.
Using maths to determine the gravity in Dinosaur Land, presenter Gabe Perez-Giz concludes it is around eight times that of Earth. He explains that gravity that strong is generally reserved for stars as not even gas giants come close. Although he admits that some exoplanets (outside our solar system) have been estimated to have gravity that strong. The problem with gas giants though is that Mario would have no surface to stand on.
Additionally, Mario’s jump strength would be beyond human limits with a takeoff speed of around 50 miles per hour on Earth. Perez-Giz also determines that Mario could not be human as the higher gravity would make his blood so heavy a human heart couldn’t possibly pump it to his brain.
Perez-Giz comes to the conclusion that Super Mario World simply couldn’t take place in our universe based on our understanding of physics. Either that or the entire game takes place on a platform at the edge of a gas giant…held up by Donkey Kong. Of course.
Science is awesome.
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