After All These Years, Mario 64’s Baby Penguin Still Faces Peril in the Mario Kart Universe Generations Later, the Baby Penguin from Mario 64 Remains Endangered in the Mario Kart Realm Decades On, Mario 64’s Baby Penguin Continues to Struggle in the World of Mario Kart The Baby Penguin from Mario 64 Hasn’t Escaped Its Fate in the Mario Kart Universe Mario 64’s Baby Penguin Still Isn’t Safe in the Mario Kart World, Decades Later Even After Decades, Mario 64’s Baby Penguin Is Still in Trouble in Mario Kart The Trials of Mario 64’s Baby Penguin Persist in Mario Kart, All These Years Later Mario 64’s Baby Penguin Remains Doomed in the Mario Kart World, Even Today Despite the Years, Mario 64’s Baby Penguin Continues to Suffer in Mario Kart

Nintendo’s Mario Kart World Direct presentation revealed tons of new details about the upcoming kart racer. However, among the many different scenes was a sneakily silly reference to an infamous moment in Mario history, and it all revolves around a little blue penguin.

During the Free Roam section of the presentation–at around the 12:04 mark–we see the Penguin racer approaching a cliff and driving off of it, plummeting to the water below. The kart lands safely in the waves, and the little guy cheerfully drives away. This is a far more fortunate fate than old-school Mario fans anticipated back in 1996, when the baby penguin debuted in the Cool, Cool Mountain stage of Super Mario 64.

One mission requires Mario to return the little penguin chick to its mother, which would earn Mario one of the game’s 120 Power Stars. However, once the task was completed and the Star appeared, some players found they could still interact with the chick–only to promptly drop it off of the nearby cliff into the abyss, birthing a future internet meme in the process.

The Mario Kart World Direct livestream detailed many new and returning features, including new tracks, new costumes, and new tricks–including the ability to rewind if you miss a big jump. The presentation also confirmed the return of Battle Mode, as well as a tease to Mario Kart World’s version of Rainbow Road.

Mario Kart World is scheduled to launch June 5 exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2, which is set to launch the same day.