We're starting to get a bit scared of Mario. The behatted, bemoustached plumber has has been slowly leaking into real life, with Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit using AI to turn our messy living room into a go-kart course, and LEGO Super Mario letting us scan barcodes to create platforming levels made entirely out of bricks. Last night, we woke up long before dawn, and we swear we heard "it's-a-me" whispered in the darkness.

But enough about that! Enterprising game-hackers Playfool have created the Mario Kart course to end all courses, by combining the LEGO Mario with the Mario Kart Mario. It's a confusing multiverse twist worthy of a Christopher Nolan movie, but it's also a very interesting watch that might inspire some of your own creations.

By using their own proprietary paper creation, the SADDLE (Snug And Dapper holDer (for) LEGO Mario), Playfool has managed to suspend Mario ever-so-slightly above the ground. That means he can effectively read barcodes taped to the track as other Mario drives around. Neat!

LEGO lap signs
Image: Playfool

Using the barcodes provided with LEGO Mario, Playfool has added item blocks, Goombas, and checkpoints to the track, which turn the course into a level as you drive over them. They've even created LEGO versions of the Mario Kart AR markers, which the kart is able to read perfectly. That means that Mario can drive Mario around Mario's LEGO Mario-style Mario Kart course, while Mario reads the Mario Kart-style LEGO Mario barcodes.

Confused yet? We are, too. It's all Mario's fault. Or is it Marios, plural? Marioes? Marii??? We don't know any more.

Playfool has kindly made the SADDLE and the other course elements available for download here, so now we can all make our own Mario/Mario course! ...We might need to have a little lie down, first.

[source youtube.com]