Mushroom Kingdom Hearts is an old April Fools’ I still wish was real

destructoid.com:

I was in the passenger seat of my cousin’s Mazda 3 as we sat in the drive-thru line at Whataburger. To pass the time, I thought to do what anyone else would do in my position — explain the ever-complicated lore of Kingdom Hearts. It should be stated that my cousin is in his early 20s’ and hasn’t seen or heard anything about this franchise since he watched me play Kingdom Hearts II back in 2006.

You can imagine the look of horror on his face as I break down — game-by-game — a very abridged summary of what happens in Kingdom Hearts. It was a very entertaining car ride. But then, he asked me a question that took me by surprise: ‘do you remember Mushroom Kingdom Hearts?’

That’s a very good question. Do you?

Mushroom Kingdom Hearts was an April Fools’ prank pulled by Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) in their April 2007 issue. It was slated as a brand new spinoff or sequel to Kingdom Hearts in the era between Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2 Days. The associated article boasted that “over 41 Nintendo characters” would be joining the already stacked roster. 

I recall being a dumb little child, seeing this, and actually believing it was real. And here I am, a dumb, fully-grown adult using my position as a writer for Destructoid to tell you that I still wish it was real. To add, I believe we have never been in a better position to make Mushroom Kingdom Hearts real.

I’ll start with the most obvious point in favor of this Disney x Square Enix x Nintendo polyamorous triad: as of late, it seems as if the series is somehow re-entering the realm of video games. In Kingdom Hearts III, the Toy Box world features advertisements for a game called Verum Rex, and the main character of this game, Yozora, is very much tied to Sora in some way. If