Mario is Missing!
Mario is Missing! is an edutainment game created for the NES, Super NES, and for DOS. The gameplay was widely panned by critics, although its Super Mario World music remixes are recognized. Mario is Missing! was released on MS-DOS in 1992, and the console versions came out the following year. A sequel called Mario's Time Machine was eventually produced.
Story
Bowser has kidnapped Mario and taken him to his castle in Antarctica in the real world. Bowser plans to steal several shipments of hair dryers from Hafta Havit Mail-Order to melt Antarctica and flood the world. By kidnapping Mario, he assumes that no one will be able to stop him. Luigi, however, proves him wrong.
Story From 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 Antartic 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 through his slimy scales, Bowser hoards hair dryers from the Hafta-Havit Hotline. His plot? Melt Antartica and flood the world! 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 stop the shelled ones' schemes. But Bowser's slick; in one last trick, he takes the dearest thing of all, Mario. Now 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
In the SNES version at the end of the game, Mario and Luigi load Bowser into a cannon and launch him into the snow where he freezes instantly and then shatters.
There is a different ending in the PC version. Instead, Bowser is simply pushed out of the final tower and into the Antarctic snow. After Luigi, Mario, and Yoshi leave, Bowser hauls himself out of the snow and throws a nasty look toward the player.
In the NES version, Luigi and Bowser have a boss battle and "Bowser" turns out to be a normal Koopa Troopa in disguise. Bowser reveals his Beach Koopa form.
Gameplay
In each level, Luigi must retrieve several artifacts which were stolen by several Koopa Troopas within the city and return them to their rightful places. He must also deduce what city he's in so that Yoshi can come 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 large Pokey. Enemies cannot hurt the player so the boss fights are not as hard.
Quotes
For a full list of quotes, see here.
Trivia
- Mario's voice is inconsistant in this game. Sometimes he has an Italian accent, sometimes he has a New York accent with a slight hint of Italian. Luigi, however has a consistant New York accent.
