Is there maybe another model that has an extra hand attached to it, or a separate model of Mario's hand?

My speculation is that there's a scene where they hold hands with another character and it's more important for the hands to stay together properly than that they follow the arm perfectly. Inter-character animation is always a nightmare in video games. But I haven't played the games (sadly) so idk.

The only optimisation I could think of is that the hands are instanced meshes, but then they would both have to be separated and I doubt it even improves anything, especially on newer hardware. My speculation is: 1/2