Mario Is Missing!

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Mario Is Missing!

Developer(s)	The Software Toolworks Radical Entertainment (NES)
Publisher(s)	Mindscape
Release date(s)	December 31, 1992 (DOS) JPN: June 1993 (SNES) USA: June 9, 1994 (SNES) July 1993 (NES) June 5, 1994 (Mac)
Genre(s)	Educational game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Not Rated (NR)
Platform(s)	Macintosh, MS-DOS, NES, Super NES
Media	1 CD-ROM (DOS) 4 Floppy disks (DOS) Cartridge (SNES/NES)
System requirements	Intel 80286 CPU, 640KB RAM, VGA or Super VGA-capable video device
Input	Keyboard and/or mouse

Mario Is Missing! is a geography edutainment video game for the PC, Super NES, and NES. It was developed by The Software Toolworks and was released in 1992 for the PC. In 1993, two different versions were made for the SNES and NES, the latter being developed by Radical Entertainment. All three versions were published by the Mindscape Group.

The game is notable for being the first game to feature only Luigi as a playable character, prior to Luigi's Mansion. Since this game was not actually developed by Nintendo or Shigeru Miyamoto (they sublicensed the characters), it bears little resemblance to earlier Mario titles. The SNES version does contain nearly identical graphical representations of Mario and Luigi to those in Super Mario World.

This game was considered to the worst of the Mario series.

[edit] Gameplay

The gameplay consists of moving around a city in side-scrolling manner while jumping on Koopas to collect stolen artifacts (pieces of famous landmarks). Luigi then must take these artifacts to their respective locations and correctly answer three questions about the landmark. During the quest to return all three artifacts to their proper landmarks, Luigi must determine his location in order to receive the assistance of Yoshi. If Luigi takes Yoshi to the correct location, he can ride him for double the walking and running speed. He can then proceed to another town to do it all over again.

[edit] Story

In the introductory sequence of the NES version, Mario is captured by an unidentified green Koopa-like creature, which is thought to be a poor depiction of Bowser.

PC/MS-DOS version

The PC/Super NES version has more plot: Bowser has set up a castle in Antarctica, and plans to use many hair driers from the Hafta Havit mail-order company to melt the Antarctic ice and flood the Earth. He sends his Koopas to different cities across the Earth to steal artifacts in order to fund his operation. Mario, Luigi and Yoshi journey to Bowser's castle in an attempt to stop him. Luigi is hesitant to go in, so Mario goes by himself and is captured by Bowser (though in the SNES version, Mario doesn't even take a step toward the castle before a trap door opens beneath him). Luigi must now rescue Mario by completing levels in Bowser's castle; each floor is guarded by one Koopaling and contains a number of pipes which transport Luigi to a city containing Koopas. The SNES version contains three Koopalings (Ludwig, Roy, and Iggy), while the PC version has all of them actively guarding Mario except for two; Lemmy was absent because he wanted to play in the snow, and Morton simply didn't want to get involved. Princess Daisy makes a cameo in this game. She is the person at the information booth.

Super NES version

Once there, Luigi is able to question the locals to gain clues as to his current location, the general direction of remaining Koopas, and information about the affected landmarks. He is given a map and a cellphone, with which he can make and receive phone calls. Throughout the game he receives several phone calls from Mario, which become increasingly urgent. Powerups such as 'Koopa finders' and 'taxi tokens' can be picked up in each city. Once an artifact is returned, the landmark is reopened, and Luigi can then enter this landmark to view it and to take a snapshot which can be viewed later. Once Yoshi is sent to the correct location and the exit pipe is found, Luigi is returned to the castle where he will proceed to the next pipe. Once a floor is completed, Luigi must defeat the Koopaling guarding that floor to proceed to the next. Each city's musical score was an adaptation of Koji Kondo's Super Mario World overworld theme, based on where the city was located. For example, Latin American countries played a salsa remix "Starman invincibility" music, while New York has muzak playing.

NES version

The NES version, unfortunately, does not have the same graphic quality as the SNES and PC versions. The gameplay is totally different from the SNES version, while still having the same basic story.