Mario is Missing (SNES) Review by XCommander
SNES Reviews
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Mario is Missing (SNES) Review

Do you play games to learn? I mean really do you? Not likely.

Developers of Edutainment titles like this one definitely think that you do. For some reason, Edutainment titles keep getting pumped out and they get worse and worse. Who actually enjoys these torture titles? I personally know I don’t and everyone else that I know hates them, too.


Mario is Missing is one of the most infamous Edutainment titles in existence. It puts the famous plumber to shame. Not only does it rip all of its ideas from the classic game, Super Mario World, but it also has crappy control something that basically goes against the ideas of the Mario Universe. Overall this is a bad game formed from a bad idea.

The story to this game is so great; it will leave you thinking and the whole plotline is controversial like Metal Gear Solid. In Mario is Missing, a strange turn of events has taken place and Bowser actually decided to capture Mario this time instead of Princess Peach. Now it’s up for the greatest sleuth of all time, Luigi, to discover Mario in Bowser’s vast labyrinth of a castle. Strangely, along the way Luigi must go through many doors throughout Bowser’s Castle that lead to different countries (the Koopa Troop has worldwide ties, you know). OK, I lied, the story line sucks just as bad as the rest of the game.

The educational features on this game are quite hard for the 4 year old kid trying to play this game. It is about history, and you read newspapers for all the information you need. Basically, it’s really stupid and should be for a middle school kid. A middle school kid would hate this because they don’t really want to *gasp* learn.

The gameplay is another terrible part of this game. You go around through all these doors looking for artifacts that the Koopa Troop stole. To get them requires vast reflexes and a sharp wit. Actually these Koopa Troopas are quite brain-dead. You look throughout the city for glorified turtles (Koopa Troopas) that supposedly carry artifacts that they have stolen. However, not all the Troopas stole artifacts, as there are tons of imposter Troopas roaming these streets. To kill the Troopas (thief or imposter) you have to the mind bending action of jumping on them! Wow, never saw that coming! When you get the artifact, you must bring it to an information desk to Princess Peach (she has to make a living, you know). There the Princess asks you questions to prove that it is not a fake. After you beat all the rooms on a level of Bowser’s Castle, you fight a boss. Repeat for about 20 different torture chambers, I mean levels, and about 4 different militant leaders, I mean bosses. *Yawn*
 

Luigi searching for Mario, while Mario is kidnapped by Bowser in the background


The Control that you have of Luigi is about the same as a cow on a greased floor. Luigi has the strangest jump. You know how in games like Super Mario Bros. 2 (a.k.a. Doki Doki Panic) Luigi had some sort of floaty jump? Well think of this as SMB2 times 1,000. He runs slower than he jumps, also. So it is easier to just keep jumping throughout the stage. The whole game is set up in these cities, like I said, and you see only one street at a time. To move from street to street, you press up at an intersection. Luigi does a stupid thing where he gets ready, and you run up or down to the next street. When you jump on a Koopa Troopa’s head, you bounce up really high, as you would expect from a Mario game. When you reach an imposter, they just die, but when you jump a real thief, it dies in one of three extremely stupid animations. The bosses are just plain stupid in the fact they just run up and down Bowser’s Castle like a plain idiot. Do you like control like that?

The graphics are ripped straight from Super Mario World. Except mutilated beyond recognition in a few ways. First, Princess Peach… she looks like the Bride of Frankenstein for God’s sake. I know if I was Mario, I sure as hell wouldn’t rescue this monster. Bowser’s Castle looks plain dumb. Same with the bosses, who are the only things that differ from SMW (even then, they look a little different and stupid). The cities are semi-detailed and really no complaints there. I guess the graphics aren’t as terrible like the rest of the game.

The sound in this game is a train wreck. The music is horribly, composed, repetitive and you don’t want me to describe it. However, I cannot get by and mention how bad the music is for Asian countries. It tries to mix Mario beats with Asian instruments and the result is a headache. For sound effects, they are also lame. The sound when you land on a thief Troopa is a lame explosion. The sound is very crappy overall.

In conclusion, if you have actually played this game, then you know how bad it actually is. Educational games are bad entertainment. Maybe developers of these titles should stick to regular games.

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