Mario is Missing! is an educational game created for MS-DOS, the MAC, the SNES, and the NES. The gameplay was widely panned by critics, although its Super Mario World music remixes have gained recognition. Mario is Missing! was released in floppy disk format for MS-DOS in 1992, with the CD-ROM Deluxe edition and console versions released the following year. A follow-up called Mario's Time Machine was eventually produced. This is the first game where Luigi is the main protagonist with Mario in a supporting role and the second solo adventure for Luigi (the first being the Nelsonic Game Watch game Luigi's Hammer Toss) until 2001 when Luigi's Mansion was released on the Nintendo GameCube.

Story [ edit ]

Bowser decides to flood the Earth using hairdryers from Hafta Havit Mail-Order to melt Antarctica. In order to buy the hairdryers, Bowser has his Koopa Troopas travel all over the world and steal various important landmarks that he plans to sell.

Mario, Luigi and Yoshi follow Bowser to Antarctica to stop him, but when Mario goes on ahead he is captured by Bowser. The PC version is the most elaborate: Luigi is too scared to go inside the castle, so Mario enters alone. Despite Luigi's warnings against taking candy from strangers, Mario eats some candy offered to him by Bowser (disguised as a butler), and is then scooped up in a net. In the SNES version, Mario arrives last in Antarctica (Luigi and Yoshi are already present, and Mario had apparently warped to Antarctica by accident while he was distracted by the incomplete title in Dinosaur Land), and Luigi even seemed eager to go into the castle after appreciating that Mario "dropped in." with a pit opening up beneath him when the group reaches the castle, while in the NES version, a Koopa throws a bag over Mario while the latter is fuming about the title claiming he was missing as he walks through the snow and ice.

With Mario captured, the task of returning all the stolen artifacts and saving both his brother and Earth falls to Luigi, who bravely enters the castle, leaving Yoshi outside.

Story from console instruction booklet [ edit ]

Bowser's Plot [ edit ]

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 [ edit ]

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 [ edit ]

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 [ edit ]

Bowser is de-shelled, as seen in the DOS version of the game.

In the DOS version, Luigi takes Bowser's shell (which covers his tail in this depiction) off, causing Bowser to run off screen, embarrassed about his polka-dot boxers. This is the only time Bowser has been seen in his shell-less form. Luigi shakes the shell to retrieve the key to Mario's cell, and then throws the carapace away. Bowser returns wondering where his shell is, with Luigi then lying to him saying he threw the shell off the balcony; then, when Bowser leans over the railing to look for it, Luigi kicks him off and he lands in the snow. Luigi then opens Mario's cell and the two dance around in joy. They then go outside and shake Yoshi's hand, before walking off into the distance together. Bowser then pokes his head out of the snow, looking in their direction with his shell back on.

In the Macintosh version, Bowser doesn't run off after his boxers are revealed, and Luigi smacks him off the balcony with his own shell.

In the SNES version of the 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, causing Bowser to fall down into a cannon. He is then launched out of the castle and into the snow, where he freezes instantly and then shatters. In the NES version, Luigi and Bowser have a boss battle and "Bowser" turns out to be a normal Koopa Troopa in disguise, who turns the key to Mario's cell, freeing him.

Characters [ edit ]

Gameplay [ edit ]

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. Luigi must jump on the Koopa Troopas 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. In the SNES version, all the information kiosks are manned by women resembling Princess Daisy (complete with crown), although this is an unconfirmed appearance.

The DOS version adds a videophone aspect to gameplay, and Luigi must call the help number provided at the landmarks to get in touch with his friends, answer the questions, return the artifact, and receive a monetary reward. The mayor of the city also phones Luigi when he arrives, asking for his help in stopping the Koopas; he later phones when Luigi secures the city, thanking him and wishing him luck in finding Mario. The red plumber himself even manages to phone Luigi, giving him advice on his journey as well as updates on his capture and the Koopas' struggle to maintain their plot as planned. The DOS version also has a Taxi feature, in which Luigi collects little Taxi tokens around the city and then exchanges them for rides across town. The SNES version instead uses more Warp Pipes to facilitate speedy travel.

As well as returning the artifacts, Luigi must also deduce what city he's 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 large Pokey. Yoshi proceeds to gobble the Pokey up in the DOS version, whereas the Pokey is merely scared away by Yoshi's presence in the SNES release.

Once Luigi has secured all the cities whose doors are located on a floor of the castle, Luigi must use a Fire Flower collected in the cities to defeat them using their only weakness - Fire. The console releases remove the Fire Flower in favor of a small boss battle. 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 Koopa Troopas 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.

In addition, there was a later enhanced edition for PC known as the CD-ROM Deluxe version. It included full-on voice acting to go along with the dialogue, although not all of the in-game text matched the audio exactly. The voice actors are known (Kathy Fitzgerald, Rob Wallace, Bob Sorenson, Nicholas Glaeser, David Gill), but the game does not specify which of them supplied which voices. There are also some graphical changes, such as loading screens when the screen is black, and icons of Princess Toadstool, Toad and Donkey Kong replace a recurring phone call NPC (although the old dialogue was not changed on-screen). The viewings of every historic spot in particular were originally recreated and shown in garish coloring. The CD-ROM Deluxe version replaces most of these pictures with realistic photographs and even live-action video clips to represent the landmarks, with some exceptions carried over from the floppy disk version.

Cities [ edit ]

First Floor

Rome, Italy (Europe) 1st door

Nairobi, Kenya (Africa) 2nd door

Beijing, China (Asia) 3rd door

Moscow, Russia (Europe) 4th door

San Francisco, United States (North America) 5th door

Second Floor

Athens, Greece (Europe) 1st door

Madrid, Spain (Europe) 2nd door

Marrakech, Morocco (Africa) 3rd door

Mexico City, Mexico (North America) 4th door

Paris, France (Europe) 5th door

Third Floor

Berlin, Germany (Europe) 1st door

Buenos Aires, Argentina (South America) 2nd door

Dublin, Ireland (Europe) 3rd door

Kathmandu, Nepal (Asia) 4th door

Sydney, Australia (Oceania) 5th door

Fourth Floor

Amsterdam, Netherlands (Europe) 1st door

Bombay, India (Asia) 2nd door

Cairo, Egypt (Africa) 3rd door

Tokyo, Japan (Asia) 4th door

Toronto, Canada (North America) 5th door

Fifth Floor

Istanbul, Turkey (Europe) 1st door

Jerusalem, Israel (Asia) 2nd door

London, United Kingdom (Europe) 3rd door

New York City, United States (North America) 4th door

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (South America) 5th door

SNES version [ edit ]

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

First floor

Second floor

Third floor

NES version [ edit ]

First room

Second room

Third room

Tokyo, Japan

Paris, France

Fourth room

Montreal, Canada

Moscow, Russia

Fifth room

London, England

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sixth room

Seventh room;

Nairobi, Kenya

Beijing, China

Mistakes and errors [ edit ]

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. This section is currently under construction by Time Turner (talk).

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

General

There are many items and objects that are implausibly stolen, such as the entire Sistine Chapel ceiling and the 165-meter [4] Tilted Tower. This is coupled with how all of them can be carried in a small bag by both miscellaneous Koopa Troopas and Luigi.

Tilted Tower. This is coupled with how all of them can be carried in a small bag by both miscellaneous Koopa Troopas and Luigi. Whenever an item is stolen from a landmark, the entire landmark is closed down, even if the item should realistically not affect the location in any way. For example, the theft of a single Striped Prison Shirt causes Alcatraz to shut down.

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 confuse players who are unfamiliar with the metonymies used in American politics.

In the DOS and Deluxe version, Luigi is required to call phone numbers that are obviously shorter than reality. The numbers within Moscow are only two digits long, for example.

In the SNES version, there are several buildings whose signs read "ΟΔΑΝΤΟΚΡΕNΑ". This seems to be a misspelling of "ΟΔΟΝΤΟΚΡΕΜΑ", which literally means "toothpaste"; if the signs were supposed to read "dentist", this is spelled "ΟΔΟΝΤΙΑΤΡΟΣ".

A scientist says that Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, when it was actually in 1833 [7] .

. He also says that 3000 years had passed between Athens being founded and becoming Greece's capital. As Athens was founded in 3000 BC [8] , close to 4,800 years had actually passed between the two dates.

, close to 4,800 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.

, 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 [9] , they have stood for close to 2,400 years (at the time of the game's release).

, they have stood for close to 2,400 years (at the time of the game's release). The Erechtheion Temple's proper name is just the Erechtheion, without the word "temple" being a part of it.

Despite what its DOS sprite depicts, the Erechtheion Temple does not have four extremely large Caryatids looming over 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) [10] .

. The Brass Plaque is nonexistent in reality; the inscriptions of Hadrian's Arch that are supposedly on the plaque are carved directly onto the monument [11] .

. 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) [12] .

. The pamphlet for the arch says that Hadrian commissioned its construction, but it is unknown who actually built it [13]

It also says that it was constructed in 131 AD; the exact year is not known, being either 131 or 132 [13] .

. 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 [14] .

. 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 [15] .

. 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 [16] .

. 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 [17] .

. It also says that the statue of Athena's dress weighed 2,205 pounds; it actually weighed 44 talents (3,300 pounds) [17] .

. A boy describes Scottish kilts and the Foustanellas as being interchangeable, when there are distinct differences between the two garments [18] .

. Foustanellas use over 30 meters (around 33 yards) of fabric in their construction [19] , and not 25 yards as stated in-game.

, and not 25 yards as stated in-game. The evzones featured with the Presidential Palace have bright-orange pompoms on their shoes; although the pompoms are standard, their color is unusual[20].

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 evidence suggests that the "Big Ben" name is collectively used for both the entire clock mechanism and the Elizabeth Tower (then known as the Clock Tower). [40]

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,[41] 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.

Nairobi

King Kong is stolen from the Empire State Building and must be returned to its supposed rightful place, despite King Kong being entirely fictional.

A boy mentions that France is the biggest country in Europe after the Soviet Union has broken up, despite that Russia's European portion and Ukraine's land area is larger than France. [85]

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 origins in possibly Belgium or Spain.[86]

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 [ edit ]

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario is Missing!.

NES box art

Cover artwork

NES title screen

PC title screen

SNES title screen

Mario meeting Luigi in the PC version (scene by Dan Guerra[112])

Media [ edit ]

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Mario is Missing! media.

Quotes [ edit ]

Pre-release and unused content [ edit ]

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include information about lots of unused sprites from NES version.

Unused data [ edit ]

Dialogue intended for the ending of the game is in the CD-ROM Deluxe edition of the game: Game ending reconstructed with voices.

It also appears that Lemmy and Morton were going to appear in game, as their unused dialogue was found in the Deluxe version's data (they are the only Koopalings who do not appear in at least one version of the game)[113]. In the final game, Lemmy is mentioned as having run off to play in the snow while Morton is said to watch the others.[citation needed] Furthermore, the CD-ROM release of the game features Lemmy on the cover despite him not appearing in the game.[114]

The Deluxe edition's files also contain live-action footage featuring landmarks of several cities that are not visited in-game. These include:

There are exactly ten cities that go unused; considering the unused dialogue for Lemmy and Morton and how every other Koopaling guards five cities of their own, it is likely that they were meant to guard the unused cities.

There are also unused voice clips that reference locations that are not in-game, including those that do not even have footage. Beyond the previously mentioned landmarks, these include: the Lacqueur Pavilion in Bangkok; the Bogor Botanical Gardens and the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta; the Cathedral of Lima in Lima; and the Archway of Ctesiphon near Baghdad. The Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal is the only landmark to have a video clip and not a corresponding audio clip. Also, the White House and the Supreme Court are the only ones to have unique messages: "We are attempting to achieve world peace and are unable to take your call," and "We are hearing an important case and are unable to take your call," respectively.

Reception [ edit ]

Sales [ edit ]

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[115]. One employee also claims that the game sold over one million units.[116]

Legacy [ edit ]

Luigi's sprite in the PC version started the Internet meme "Weegee", as well as Mario being "Malleo" and Yoshi being called "Yushee".

References to other games [ edit ]

Super Mario Bros. - The Koopa Troopas look similar to their Super Mario Bros. artwork in the MS-DOS version.

Super Mario World - The Mario, Luigi and Yoshi sprites in the NES and SNES versions were taken from this game. Bowser's sprite in the NES version appears to use an edited version of Morton, Ludwig, and Roy's body from this game, along with an edited version of Lemmy's head. As such, he is uncharacteristically short in this game. When retracted into his shell, it uses the normal Koopa Troopa shell sprite from this game, except with all original detail removed and spikes drawn on. Finally, after defeat, he is knocked out of his shell and appears as a Koopa without a Shell, specifically from a Koopa Troopa. In addition, the curators in the SNES version have their sprites being slightly modified from Princess Toadstool's sprite in Super Mario World. The map included in the Globulator in the SNES version is based on the map for Dinosaur World from Super Mario World, and some backgrounds in the NES version is derived from similar backgrounds in Super Mario World (this is most especially evident in the opening for the NES version).

Staff [ edit ]

Names in other languages [ edit ]

Language Name Meaning French Mario a disparu ! Mario has disappeared! German Mario wird vermißt! Mario is missing!

Trivia [ edit ]

According to the MS-DOS release, Mario has a fear of the dark, which he is increasingly worried that Bowser will exploit in torture. This is not seen or referenced in other games, except potentially Hotel Mario when he stutters before entering the cave hotel without a flashlight.

when he stutters before entering the cave hotel without a flashlight. Mario's voice is inconsistent in the the CD-ROM Deluxe edition. Sometimes he has an Italian accent, sometimes he has a New York accent with a slight hint of Italian. The game's data includes all of his lines in both accents, so it's likely that the developers accidentally assigned some from both. [117] Luigi, however, has a consistent New York accent.

Although some Mario media supply voice acting for the Koopalings, the CD-ROM Deluxe edition is the first game to have the Koopalings voiced, as well as the only game to actually supply them with dialogue until the release of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam . Later games starting with New Super Mario Bros. Wii have the Koopalings voiced, although it is limited to roars and grunts.

. Later games starting with have the Koopalings voiced, although it is limited to roars and grunts. The USA and Canada are the only countries that are visited twice at different cities in all versions of the game (New York and San Francisco in USA, Toronto and Montreal in Canada).

References [ edit ]