When you think about it, Mario and the guy from Minecraft (usually referred to as Steve) have a lot in common. They break blocks, eat mushrooms, and have complicated relationships with ghosts. And, since it’s one of the embedded rules of pop culture that any two similar entities must someday do battle, visual effects artist Andrew McMurry has done just that, creating a live-action video of the two fighting it out for possession of a coveted 1-Up mushroom—and, perhaps, for love.
There are a lot of videos of this ilk online, imagining video game characters interacting in real life, and most of them tend toward the amateurish. But, with the quality of its effects and its attention to detail as to how these two characters operate—Steve deflects fireballs with his sword, just like he does in Minecraft, and Mario shrinks down in a clever way when damaged—McMurry’s video stands out from the pack.