Retro Game Review: Mario Is Missing!

Players: 1

Co-op: No

Genre: Educational

Release Date: 06/01/1993

ESRB Rating: E

Developer: Software Creations, Radical Entertainment (NES Version)

Publisher: The Software Toolsworks, Inc.

Platform Reviewed On: PC (RetroArch Core: SNES9x_2010)

Additional Platforms: Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, MS-DOS

Initial Thoughts: I played this game long ago as a kid. Some of you out there reading this were probably babies when I played this game. I thought this game was going to be awesome because it was Luigi’s first starring roll. I played it, I beat it, and after I beat I asked myself ‘did I really just play that game?’. This game could’ve been way better if Nintendo didn’t’ go the education route back in the mid 90’s. This game was one of several games that Nintendo partnered with The Software Toolworks to put out an “educational” Mario game. All I’m going to say is that all those games should just stay in the 90’s. But what made me want to review Mario Is Missing! was the fact that I kept hearing about Luigi’s Mansion. The game recently came out on the 3DS and there is a new one coming out next year for the Switch. But if you play any of those Luigi Mansion’s games it’s the same object. Mario Is Missing! LOL! That’s why I call those games Mario Is Missing! 2, 3, … and so on. But you would be surprised if people don’t do their research they would never know that Mario Is Missing! was Luigi’s first lead role. So I figured there was a generation of younger people out there that needed to be educated on this game. That’s why I’m here.

Description: So you start out in Bowser’s castle which is in Antarctica. Didn’t know Bowser had a castle out there. You go into a dungeon where there are five additional doors. Go through one of them it’ll take you to a random city somewhere in the world. Your objective while in that city is to secure it. You need to find out where you are by talking to people. You also need to find artifacts that have been taken from landmarks in that city. They are at information kiosks where you find out what it is. There are three per city. Now who has the artifacts. Koopa Troopas just walking around. They can walk right by you and you won’t even shrink. So that tells me right there that this game wasn’t meant to be an adventure challenge. You can also talk to people walking around the city. They can help you identify an artifact or even just tell you where you are. When you return the artifact to its respective information kiosk you’ll have to answer a series of questions. Once you answer them correctly you take a picture with Luigi in front of whatever the landmark is. Once you figure out where you are you use Yoshi to travel to the city you are in on the world map. Once Luigi unites with Yoshi Luigi can ride him around the city. Once the city is secure you can leave the city. But if it is not secure you have to start all over. You get a password to save your spot once you complete it but nowadays with save states that’s kind of pointless. After you complete the first five cities you fight a Koopaling which is a joke because they run right by you. The combat in this game isn’t really a challenge. Once you defeat them you go on to another room with five more doors. Pretty simple game. Just pay attention to detail. Or I hope you payed attention in history class while you were in school. Most of the questions I guessed on but some of the questions I knew the answers right off the bat.

Music: Here’s a link to the soundtrack. It’s average for the most part. Not great but not bad at the same time. Some of the tracks are recycled tunes from Super Mario World.

Final Thoughts: This game I feel could’ve been so much better. If it wasn’t an educational game this actually could’ve been a great game for it’s time. But Nintendo made the choices that they made and there you go. You got a boring ass educational game with Mario characters.

My Score: 5/10. There are a lot of Luigi fans out there. If you love Luigi go ahead and try the game out. But if you aren’t a Luigi fan then don’t waste your time with this game or any of the other educational Mario games out there. And to answer your question no I won’t be reviewing Mario’s Time Machine! LOL!

Video Gameplay Footage: I streamed this game on Twitch. Here it is below. If you get bored I’m sorry and don’t say I didn’t warn you. LOL!