Mario is Missing! (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)

It has been requested that this article be rewritten. Reason: this page and its two analogues were split from the original Mario is Missing! article in a sloppy fashion. Much of the writing present in this article was simply copy-pasted from the original article with no concern as to whether it's relevant to the version of the game described here. This also results in a lot of repeat content across the three "Mario is Missing!" articles, which violates the wiki's "Once and only once" rule. Details here.

Mario is Missing!
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	The Software Toolworks
Publisher	The Software Toolworks Mindscape Metro Games
Platform(s)	SNES
Release date	June 1993 October 1993
Language(s)	English (United States) French (France) German
Genre	Educational
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Kids to Adults
Mode(s)	Single-player
Format	Super NES: Game Pak
Input	Super NES: Super NES Controller
Serial code(s)	SNS-MU-USA SNSP-MU-UKV SNSP-MU-FRA/SFRA SNSP-MU-NOE/SFRG SNSP-MU-AUS

Mario is Missing! is an educational game created for the SNES. It is the first game of the Mario Discovery series. Its gameplay was widely panned by critics. A follow-up called Mario's Time Machine was later released. This is the second game in the Super Mario franchise in which Luigi is the sole main protagonist, the first being Luigi's Hammer Toss. This game is mostly based on Super Mario World, which was a common theme of the Mario Discovery series and Super Mario educational games.

Story

In his latest scheme, Bowser decides to flood the Earth with hairdryers from Hafta Havit Hairdryer Hotline Corp to melt Antarctica. In order to buy the hairdryers, Bowser has his Koopas travel all over the world and steal various important landmarks he plans to sell. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi follow Bowser to Antarctica to stop him. However, Mario proceeds on his own and is captured by Bowser. Mario arrives last in Antarctica, with Luigi and Yoshi already present - Mario is initially seen in Dinosaur Land, distracted by the game's incomplete title, before accidentally falling through a hole to Antarctica, where Luigi is eager for them to enter the castle. A pit then opens up beneath Mario and traps him, prompting Luigi to tell Yoshi to wait here as he goes inside the castle to find his brother.

With Mario captured, Luigi finds himself faced with the task of returning all the stolen artifacts and saving both his brother and Earth. He bravely enters the castle, leaving Yoshi outside.

Story from console instruction booklet

Bowser's Plot

Oh no! Bowser and his bad boys are back to a life of crime. This time, it's not Mario World — it's your world! From his Antarctic castle, Bowser hustles his cold-blooded crew of cantankerous Koopas into his powerful Passcode Operated Remote Transport And Larceny System (PORTALS). The twisted turtles transport themselves throughout the globe, where celebrated cities suffer shell-shocking crime waves, as turtles trash landmarks and loot ancient artifacts. With dough from his slimy scales, Bowser hoards hair dryers from the Hafta-Havit Hotline. His plot? Melt Antarctica and flood the planet! Whoa!

Mario's Fate

Will the brave brothers from Brooklyn permit this abominable snow plan? The boys say "Not!" Mario, Luigi and Yoshi trek across ice and snow to shellac the shelled ones' schemes. But Bowser's slick; in one last trick, he takes the dearest thing of all...Mario is Missing!

Luigi's Mission

Luigi must stop the Koopas, foil Bowser's plan, and find Mario. Sneaking into each Portal, Luigi is transported to a city in trouble. There, Luigi needs to nab each Koopa, grab its loot, and return the artifact to its proper landmark. Along the way, Luigi explores the city, chats with the locals, reads maps, and solves puzzles. Help him do this before time runs out! Once he figures out where he is on the globe,

Luigi must use the Globulator to call Yoshi. Only after Yoshi scares Pokey away, can Luigi return to Bowser's castle and lock the Portal for that city.

Ending

Luigi pulls a lever to reveal Mario behind a wall. Bowser then jumps down from a distant ledge, but Luigi pulls the same lever again, causing Bowser to fall into a cannon. He is then launched out of the castle and into the snow, where he freezes instantly and then shatters.

Characters

Playable

• Luigi

Supporting

• Mario
• Yoshi
• Princess Toadstool (likeness used for police officer characters)

Antagonists

• Bowser
• Koopa
• Pokey
• Roy Koopa
• Iggy Koopa
• Ludwig von Koopa

Gameplay

In each level, Luigi must retrieve several artifacts which were stolen by several Koopas within the city and return them to their rightful places. Luigi must jump on the Koopas to defeat them and reclaim the artifacts, which he then takes back to the landmarks they were stolen from. He must answer trivia questions about the landmarks before the Curators will take the wares back. All the information kiosks are manned by women resembling Princess Daisy (complete with crown), although this is an unconfirmed appearance. The game also features Warp Pipes to facilitate speedy travel.

As well as returning the artifacts, Luigi must also deduce what city he is in so that he can use the Globulator and call Yoshi to his aid for double the walking and running speed. Without Yoshi, Luigi cannot finish the level, as the exit pipe is occupied by a Pokey. When approaching the Warp Pipe, the Pokey is scared away by Yoshi's presence, allowing Luigi to exit the level.

Once Luigi has secured all the cities whose doors are located on a floor of the castle, he must engage in a small boss battle with one of the Koopalings. However, the bosses cannot hurt Luigi, and must be stomped on a certain number of times to be defeated in the SNES and NES versions. The console versions also differ in that the Koopas are not defeated when they are knocked about and forced to leave in an undignified manner, but rather a sound stomp with destroy them upon impact (including the shell). The SNES version also has them literally fall to pieces, like a collapsing building.

Cities

All countries and cities (yellow ★) that Luigi visits in the three versions of the game

First floor

• San Francisco, California, USA (North America)
• Moscow, Russia (Europe)
• Nairobi, Kenya (Africa)
• Beijing, China (Asia)
• Rome, Italy (Europe)

Second floor

• Paris, France (Europe)
• Mexico City, Mexico (North America)
• Sydney, Australia (Oceania)
• Buenos Aires, Argentina (South America)
• Athens, Greece (Europe)

Third floor

• London, United Kingdom (Europe)
• Cairo, Egypt (Africa)
• Tokyo, Japan (Asia)
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (South America)
• New York City, New York, USA (North America)

Mistakes and errors

This section is under construction. Therefore, please excuse its informal appearance while it is being worked on. We hope to have it completed as soon as possible.

Although Mario is Missing! is intended to teach its players geographical facts, it contains numerous errors and oddities in its teaching material.

General

• Some information in the game features proper terms that are not well known outside of North America. For example, the pamphlet for the Big Ben calls its subject "England's Capitol Hill"; as Capitol Hill is a metonym for the area surrounding the United States Capitol, this analogy, despite being technically correct, would likely confuse players who are unfamiliar with the metonymies used in American politics.

Globulator

• Colombia's capital, Bogotá, is misspelled as "Bogata."
• Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, is spelled "Reykavik."
• Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, is spelled "Dashnabe."
• The largest city in New Zealand, Auckland, is spelled "Auchland."

Athens

• There are several buildings whose signs read "ΟΔΑΝΤΟΚΡΕNΑ." This seems to be a misspelling of "ΟΔΟΝΤΟΚΡΕΜΑ," which literally means "toothpaste"; the signs were presumably supposed to read "dentist," which is spelled "ΟΔΟΝΤΙΑΤΡΟΣ."
• A scientist says that Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, but this actually happened in 1833.
  • He also says that 3000 years had passed between Athens being founded and becoming Greece's capital. As Athens was founded in 3000 BC, close to 4800 years had actually passed between the two dates.
• A policewoman makes a comment about Zorba being here but having "left for the Acropolis". "Zorba" is presumably a reference to the novel and film Zorba the Greek, in which its titular protagonist does not visit the Acropolis at any point.
• A scientist says that the Caryatids have stood for 2000 years. Considering that they were constructed in 406 BC, they had stood for close to 2400 years at the time of the game's release.
• The Erechtheion Temple's proper name is simply the Erechtheion, without the word "temple" being a part of it.
• The temple's pamphlet says that the Caryatids are 6 feet and 6 inches tall, when they are actually around 7.48 feet (2.28 meters) tall.
• The Brass Plaque is nonexistent in reality; the inscriptions of Hadrian's Arch that the game depicts as being on the plaque are actually carved directly onto the monument.
• It is stated that the arch served to divide the separate cities of Athens and Hadrianopolis, but no proof of two divided cities has been found (rather, they are separate districts of the same city).
• The pamphlet for the arch says that Hadrian commissioned its construction, but it is unknown who actually built it.
  • It also says that it was constructed in 131 AD; the exact year is not known, being either 131 or 132.
    • It also mentions that it looks like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Beyond how they are both arches, the structures do not resembles each other, and the Arc de Triomphe was not specifically based on Hadrian's Arch.
• The two images for the Parthenon Column conflict with each other: its SNES sprite depicts a broken bottom-half, while its DOS sprite depicts it intact.
• A boy says that the Parthenon is held up by 46 columns, which is not technically accurate when some of them are broken.
• A reporter says that the columns are 36 feet, when they are really 34 feet.
• A policewoman says that the Parthenon is "near" the Acropolis, when it is in fact on the hill.
• Athena is described as being the "goddess" of Athens, when "patron" is the accurate term.
• The pamphlet for the Parthenon says that Athens gets its name from Athena; though it has been disputed whether the city is named after the goddess or vice-versa, it is generally believed that Athena was named after the city.
  • It also says that the Parthenon was constructed between 447 BC and 438 BC; it was actually between 447/446 BC and 443/442 BC.
    • It also suggests that the statue of Athena's body was solely made out of ivory, when it was a mix of ivory and gold.
      • It also says that the statue of Athena's dress weighed 2,205 pounds; it actually weighed 44 talents (3,300 pounds).

Beijing

• A boy states that China is the largest country in Asia, even though Russia has the most territory (without even including its territory in Europe).
• A reporter states that Beijing has been the capital of China for 800 years. However, the timeline does not work out: considering that Beijing was officially made the capital in 1279, just above 700 years would have passed by the time of Mario is Missing!'s release. This also ignores the two gaps in which Beijing was not China's capital: from 1368 to 1420, when Nanjing was made the capital during the Ming dynasty, and from 1928 to 1949, after the 1928 Chinese reunification and numerous other events until the formation of the People's Republic of China.
• A boy says that the Gate of Heavenly Peace leads to the Emperor's home in the Forbidden City, which is misleading: the Forbidden City itself was the Emperor's home.
• A scientist says that the gate was created in the fourth century, while the Forbidden City's pamphlet says that it was built in 1651. Both of these are incorrect: the gate was built in 1417, although it was rebuilt in 1651 after being burned down.
  • The scientist also says that the reigning emperor, the Yongle Emperor, was the one who built the gate. While he ordered its construction, it was designed by Kuai Xiang in conjunction with other architects.
• It is stated on several occasions that only the Emperor could pass through the Gate of Heavenly Peace, when it was actually the Gate of China that had this restriction.
• It is stated on multiple occasions that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object that is visible from space, despite this being completely false; other objects are visible from space and the wall itself is not even visible.
• The pamphlet states that the Great Wall is one of "the world's seven great wonders", which is misleading: the traditional list of the seven Wonders of the World does not include the Great Wall, but it is typically included in lists about the wonders of the medieval world.
  • The pamphlet also says that it took 300,000 men ten years to construct the entire Great Wall. This is incorrect for three reasons: for one, portions of the wall were built across several centuries; secondly, several hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people were forced to work on the wall; finally, while 300,000 soldiers were conscripted to build one section of the wall, it took them nine years to do so.
    • It also states that the wall was "[b]egun in fifth century BC", despite walls being constructed many centuries prior; they were also only joined together after 221 BC.
• The building that is stolen from the Temple of Heaven is called the Hall of Good Harvest, the Good Harvest Hall, and the Great Hall in-game, none of which are actually names for it. It is officially the "Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests".
• One of the questions for returning the hall involves answering what was not used during its construction; though "air conditioning" is a technically valid answer, it is not accepted for the question.

Cairo

• The Mosque of Muhammad Ali is shown on the in-game map as being located on the west side of the Nile River; in actuality, it is located on the east side of the Nile.

London

• The pamphlet for the Big Ben states that the distinction of the tower's eponymous nickname goes to its chime bell and not the clock itself. This is both incorrect and a hypocrisy; the bell is technically a part of the clock's mechanism, and the "Big Ben" name is collectively used for both the entire clock mechanism and the Elizabeth Tower (then known as the Clock Tower).
• The pamphlet for the Tower of London states that one of the main reasons William the Conqueror built the tower was to "oversee shipping" on the River Thames. While it is plausible that the pamphlet is referring to the castle's proximity to the Thames providing a militaristic advantage, there is no evidence that the diplomatic use of the river is attributed to William the Conqueror, nor is there any evidence that he ever regulated commerce on the river.

Moscow

• Most NPCs act as if the Soviet Union still exists, despite the game being released well after its dissolution on December 26, 1991. The sole exception is a tourist who gripes how "First it was Russia, then the Soviet Union, now it's Russia again!" This line further introduces an inaccuracy of its own, as the Soviet Union officially acknowledged Russia as a constituent republic (one of fifteen that made up the USSR), and "Russia" was frequently used in English-language vernacular as a byword for the entire union during its lifetime.
• While a boy points out GUM's letters in the Cyrillic script, the text misspells Cyrillic as "Cyrlik".
• The largest lake in Russia is said to be the Caspian Sea. However, the Caspian Sea is not fully enclosed within Russia, but merely connected to it, and even then, the largest lake to be connected to Russia is actually the Black Sea. The largest lake to be fully enclosed within Russia is Lake Baikal.
• The height of the central structure of St. Basil's Cathedral is stated to be 107 feet; it is officially 47.5 meters tall, around 156 feet.
• The term "Holy Fool" is said to mean "saint" in Russian. This is incorrect: a holy fool refers to anyone who surrenders themselves to God at the expense of themselves and societal norms, even if they are not a saint, and the concept of Foolishness for Christ appears outside of Russia, even within the Bible itself.
• The pamphlet for the cathedral says that it was built in 1555, which is misleading when it was constructed from 1555 to 1560.
  • It also says that it was built by "Ivan III"," while also calling him Ivan the Terrible. While Ivan the Terrible did order its construction, he was "Ivan IV"; Ivan III was his grandfather.
    • It also says that he ordered the cathedral built to honor Basil the Blessed. It was actually built to commemorate his recent victory in conquest; Basil's name was only attached to the building in the seventeenth century. While St. Basil does have a mausoleum within the cathedral, it was only constructed in 1588.
• The names "Bolshoi Ballet" and "Bolshoi Theater" are used interchangeably (for example, it is stated that the Bolshoi Ballet has been closed for visitors). However, the Bolshoi Ballet is a dance troupe, whereas the Bolshoi Theater is an actual building.
• It is claimed that the Bolshoi Theater "sells out every show." This is despite a period where it struggled to gather an audience, which is to say nothing of canceled shows in the past.
• Its pamphlet attributes the introduction of realism to ballet with one of the Bolshoi Ballet's directors, Alexander Alexeyevich Gorsky; realism within ballet can actually be traced to the 1830s.
  • It also claims that Gorsky served as the director until 1942, despite him dying in 1924.
    • It also claims that the theater was constructed in 1856; it was actually in 1780, with restorations taking place until 1856 after a fire in 1853.
• A boy claims that the Tsar Cannon is the largest one ever created. Though it is the largest bombard, there exists both the Little David and the Mallet's Mortar.
• A scientist says that the cannonballs for the Tsar Cannon were cast alongside it in 1586; in reality, they were cast in the 19th century.
• The pamphlet for the Kremlin states that the cannon was cast by "Andrey Shchokhov", whose name is actually Andrey Chokhov.

Nairobi

Nairobi

• Many of the buildings in Nairobi are old and dilapidated, with some even being held up with sticks and straw roofs; this is a far cry from the contemporary city in reality.
• A tourist said that he had to fight off lions and elephants when traveling from Mombasa to Nairobi, which is odd given that there is a highway that directly connects the two cities.
• A scientist comments that female Asian elephants cannot grow tusks, which is incorrect. Some of them have smaller tusks, called "tushes," that are notably more brittle than males' tusks, but are still present. The scientist also implies that male Asian elephants always grow tusks, which is also incorrect.
• The pamphlet for the Nairobi National Park describes the area as "undisturbed", which is incorrect given the proximity of human civilization and how it interferes with the area.
• The Maasai Headdress, in both its NES and SNES sprites, look nothing like the enkuraru headdresses worn by actual Maasai warriors.
• The pamphlet for the Maasai village says that Africa has "more than 70 tribes", which is a gross understatement: estimates often place more than 3,000 tribes in Africa.
  • The pamphlet also says that new warriors are initiated as soon as they turn fifteen, but this process can begin anywhere from the ages of fourteen to eighteen.
• The National Museum of Kenya's actual name is the Nairobi National Museum.
• The Human Skull was discovered by Bernard Ngeneo, a member of Richard Leakey's expedition team, and not Leakey himself.
  • Also, unlike what the game claims, the skull depicts a member of the Homo rudolfensis species and not Homo habilis (although initial claims thought the skull to be Homo habilis, it was first classified as a new species in 1986).

New York City

• King Kong is stolen from the Empire State Building and must be returned to its supposed rightful place, despite King Kong being entirely fictional, though this is mentioned in the game.
• An NPC can say, "So nice they named it twice, NY, NY." While this is colloquially acceptable, this technically refers to the borough of Manhattan specifically.
  • The same NPC can say, "Catch a cab, or take the subway, not many private cars in this island city." This implies that it is on a single island when in reality the city is mostly part of an archipelago (with the main exception being the Bronx, located on the mainland). The islands are not represented on the Globulator, though the City Map and artifacts indicate that it is geographically centered around Manhattan.

Paris

• The Tricolor is stolen from the top of the Eiffel Tower, but in real life, it was never flown there to begin with.
• A boy mentions that France is the biggest country in Europe after the Soviet Union has broken up; in reality, Russia's European portion and Ukraine are each larger than France.
• A tourist misspells "aéroport" as "airport" in L'Airport d'Orly.
• A business woman mentions obtaining French fries, though their origin as a French food has been disputed, with sources citing possible origins in Belgium or Spain.

Rome

• A tourist uses the name "Latin Manhattan" for Rome. This has never been a nickname for the city; in fact, it is an alcoholic drink. However, the nickname has been associated with Buenos Aires.
• The Colosseum's pamphlet lists its circumference as 573 yards, and not 544 meters (about 594 yards) as in reality.
• A scientist says that "Sistine" means six in Latin. Six in Latin is "sex" or "sextus"; "Sistine" refers to any of the Sixtus popes, although "Sixtus" is derived from "sextus".
• The Sistine Chapel's pamphlet describes Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling's 10,000 square feet. He actually painted around 534 square meters (about 5,747 square feet).
  • It also describes him as having painted while lying down, which is a common misconception. He actually painted while standing up.
• The Trevi Fountain's pamphlet says that anyone who throws a coin over their shoulder and into the fountain is guaranteed to return to Rome. Although technically correct, this is missing details, as the myth specifies that a person must throw a coin with their right hand over their left shoulder.
  • The Trevi is also said to be the oldest fountain in Rome, which is incorrect due to the Fountain in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere.

San Francisco

• A scientist says that "no one" was interested in San Francisco until the California Gold Rush in 1848, which is a rather flippant statement. Although the gold rush brought droves of new people to the settlement, it still had a sizable population; it was the initially steady influx of immigrants that allowed people to explore the surrounding territory in the years leading up to the gold rush.
• Despite there being multiple fog horns along the Golden Gate Bridge, only one Fog Horn appears as an item.
• A boy states that the Bridge is 260 feet above the San Francisco Bay, although it is actually 220 feet above water from bridge itself and 500 feet above land from the top of the tower.
• It is stated that the Bridge was built in 1937, which is misleading when construction started in 1933 and finished in 1937.
• The pamphlet for the bridge says that fog covers it on "most days"; fog usually rolls over during the summer.
• The Coit Tower was purportedly built in 1934; it was actually in 1933.
• The Tower's pamphlet says that its namesake is "Lillian Hitchcock Coit"; her name is actually Lillie Hitchcock Coit.
  • It also claims that Lillie donated $125,000 specifically to build the tower. Firstly, she donated $118,000 (although this expanded to $125,000 due to additional city funds), and she also donated the money to city for the general purpose of beautification, and not solely for the tower.
• The Transamerica Pyramid is on Montgomery Street, and not Columbus Avenue as its pamphlet claims.
• Its pamphlet only mentions that it is on a concrete base, disregarding the steel that was also used.

Sydney

• A woman explains that "I always thought Australia's capital was spelled like "Sid's-Knee"", referring to Sydney, when in reality it is Canberra that is Australia's capital, a fact which is stated by another NPC in the game.

Gallery

Main article: Gallery:Mario is Missing!

• 

  Box art

• 

  Title screen

Media

Main Theme

File infoMedia:MIM SNES Main Theme.oga ​

Help:Media • Having trouble playing?

Quotes

Main article: List of Mario is Missing! quotes

Reception

Steve Merrett and Robert Whitfield of Nintendo Magazine System both commend the game for succeeding in being both educational and entertaining, unlike most other educational games. They also praise the variety of locations to explore and objects to collect, though they criticize that the core gameplay is a bit repetitive and the city graphics are lack-luster. While they acknowledge that Super Mario fans and older demographics may not derive much enjoyment from the game, they do recommend the game to those who have an interest in geography or under the age of eleven.

Electronic Gaming Monthly's "Review Crew" gives the game a combined average score of 5.75/10. Steve Harris, Ed Semrad, and Martin Alessi all recommend the game to only young audiences and praise the educational content. However, Alessi criticizes that the game has very little challenging action sections. He points out that even boss fights "offer little to no challenge". Sushi-X, who gives the game the lowest score of 3/10, criticizes that the game plays like a slow Super Mario game and that the graphics were not lively enough to keep him interested.

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Nintendo Magazine System	83/100	An 'edutainment' game that actually succeeds in both departments. Because of the nature of it, it is only suitable for certain ages.
Martin Alessi, Electronic Gaming Monthly	6/10	Older, more experienced gamers should not bother with this cart. The idea behind it is cute, and younger kids will identify with Mario better than Carmen Sandiego. This game doesn't promise real action, but is very educational and kids may actually learn something. Even the bosses offer little or no challenge.
Nintendo Power	10.6/20	+ For younger players, this is a chance to learn about famous artifacts with some of their favorite characters. Lots of exploring without the chance of being defeated - If you're looking for an edutainment product, you've found it! If you're looking for a Mario game, you may be left scratching your head.

Sales

In an August 1993 press release, Software Toolworks claimed that sales of the console versions of Mario is Missing! exceeded $7,000,000 for the fiscal quarter and that the game boosted the company's revenue during a slow quarter. One employee also claims that the game sold over one million units.

References to other games

• Mario is Missing! (PC) - The in-castle music reuses the music in the fifth floor meeting Ludwig von Koopa.
• Super Mario World - The Mario, Luigi and Yoshi sprites were taken from this game. The Curators have their sprites being slightly modified from Princess Toadstool's sprite in Super Mario World. The map included in the Globulator is based on the map for Dinosaur Land from Super Mario World.

Staff

Main article: List of Mario is Missing! staff