Mario has always been able to run over one block wide gaps. I'm not sure if small Mario can do it. And I think small Mario moves faster. Or at least, accelerates quicker.
I'm not sure if they finished at the same time or not. If you look at the screen on the left, and pause it, the walkway appears to have retracted just slightly more than the screen on the right. But when Mario walks over to peach, the text appears on the right screen first. This could however be explained by exactly where Mario landed on the axe, and it appears the guy on the left screen landed on the left side of the axe whereas the guy on the right screen landed on the right.
Determinining who won may come down to deciding what contitutes finishing the game. Is it who touched the axe and defeated bowser first? Or who reaches Peach first? :-)
I'm not sure if they finished at the same time or not. If you look at the screen on the left, and pause it, the walkway appears to have retracted just slightly more than the screen on the right. But when Mario walks over to peach, the text appears on the right screen first. This could however be explained by exactly where Mario landed on the axe, and it appears the guy on the left screen landed on the left side of the axe whereas the guy on the right screen landed on the right.
Determinining who won may come down to deciding what contitutes finishing the game. Is it who touched the axe and defeated bowser first? Or who reaches Peach first? :-)