Empire State Building

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Empire State Building
Luigi's photograph of the Empire State Building
Luigi's photograph of the Empire State Building in Mario is Missing!
First appearance Mario is Missing! (1993)
Latest appearance Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Booster Course Pass, Wave 2) (2022)
Greater location New York City, Unites States
“Named after New York's nickname, the Empire State Building stands 1453 feet tall. At 102 stories, it's the third tallest building in the world, and is served by 73 elevators. It would take 30 minutes to climb the 1860 stairs, but the express elevator will carry you to the 80th floor in under a minute. While King Kong is a fictional figure, the resident window washer can be seen daily, climbing the portable scaffolds which enable her to move easily around the five acres of windows. Each pane gets washed once a month.”
Pamphlet, Mario is Missing!

The Empire State Building is a skyscraper in New York City, and at the time of its completion was the tallest building in the world.

The Empire State Building is known to be the setting of the popular film King Kong's finale, where a giant ape called King Kong climbs up the skyscraper to flee from his attackers. In both of the building's major Super Mario franchise appearances, allusions to this film were made.

History[edit]

Mario is Missing![edit]

DOS
CD-ROM Deluxe
Empire State Building in DOS and CD-ROM Deluxe versions.

The Empire State Building is one of the landmarks in New York City that appear in the PC, SNES, and NES versions of Mario is Missing! From the Empire State Building, the Koopas steal King Kong. Upon delivering the ape back to the skyscraper, Luigi is rewarded a prize of 1,960 dollars. To prove King Kong's authenticity, Luigi must correctly answer the following questions about the Empire State Building (the correct answer for each question is displayed in boldface):

  • How tall is the Empire State Building?
    • 1453 stories
    • 73 stories
    • 102 stories
    • 56 stories
  • The building takes its name from:
    • New York's nickname
    • the referee at a baseball game/a baseball referee (NES)
    • The Empire Strikes Back/Buddy Empire Jr. (NES)
    • its 73 elevators
  • The Empire State Building is located in:
    • Manhattan
    • Kongsville
    • New Jersey
    • Brooklyn

"Mario in Mariozilla"[edit]

Mario climbing up the Empire State Building
Mario climbing up the Empire State Building, as an allusion to a famous King Kong scene

The building later appears in the Club Nintendo comic "Mario in Mariozilla". In this story, Kamek accidentally makes Mario grow to approximately 120 meters. Searching for a solution to this problem, Mario calls on Dr. Light for advice. Because Light lives in the top floor of the Empire State Building and Mario obviously does not fit into the elevator, he decides to climb the building up, just like King Kong in the film. On his way up the building, some Japanese tourists in a helicopter take photos of him, but when he sneezes, the helicopter crashes. Mario also damages the pane of the top floor, as he wants to talk to Dr. Light. Link can also be seen in Dr. Light's room, studying a map with the doctor.

Mario Kart series[edit]

The building also appears in Mario Kart Tour as part of the New York Minute track; in particular, the New York Minute and New York Minute 2 layouts involve driving past it. New York Minute also appears in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of the Booster Course Pass, once again featuring the Empire State Building.