SNL Lampoon’s prestige drama featuring Mario Kart sketch in The Last of Us style

Entertainment

“Jesus Christ Mario. What did you do?”

Saturday Night Live wasn’t shy about building on the success of HBO’s The Last of Us, while Pedro Pascal hosted, using their Mario Kart skit as proof.

The skit, shown on the February 4th episode, plays out over a pre-produced trailer for a fake Mario Kart prestige drama. It pulls elements from HOB’s The Last of Us almost one by one, giving everything a grittier, dingier feel to make things seem as bleak and hopeless as possible in the name of a sense of prestige.

The skit begins with a monologue about how the Mushroom Kingdom has been ruined by an unexplained cataclysm and karts are the only means of getting from one place to another. Mario, played by Pedro Pascal, must transport Princess Peach from one point to another in his kart, enlisting the help of characters like Luigi and Toad to help him.

There are references to the Mario Kart series and The Last of Us throughout, either through sound effects from the games or the characters’ famous catchphrases. At the same time, however, there are moments that combine the two franchises and their most iconic elements into a new, more dramatic fusion. Luigi and Toad are decked out in post-apocalyptic versions of their usual attire, while Mario is addicted to mushrooms because it makes him “feel big”.

It’s incredibly silly and spasmodic, but all in all pretty funny too. It also manages to poke fun at elements of prestige television that would never be applicable to the light-hearted side of video games should they ever get The Last of Us-style HBO adaptations.

It’s worth checking out the skit via the official video below.

Those wanting to find out why HBO’s The Last of Us was big enough for SNL to parody can watch it via HBO Max, with old episodes available to stream and new episodes premiering every Sunday at 6pm PST. To learn more about the show, we have many related articles that you can read below.