Mario is Missing (SNES)

[Falco Girgis]

Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.5
Replay: 5.0
Gameplay: 7.5

Review: Mario is Missing is not going to be entertaining for many people. None of the educational Mario games really are. This one is undoubtedly the greatest and most well polished of The Software Toolwork's educational Mario games. Even if it may not entertain you, the only thing that you can have against it is the typical 'it isn't my type' excuse.

Graphics are a good example of a great looking 16-Bit game. They aren't breath-taking, but they certainly appeal and add to the overall gaming experience. The character sprites are nicely ripped from Super Mario World. The foreground buildings and structures are nicely colored and detailed. An advantage is how unrepetitive the buildings are. The backgrounds are an impressive aspect that adds so much to the mood. You can see buildings fading out in the distance so that you get a sense of location.

I don't know why, but I have always liked the sound. Sound effects are just simply taken from Super Mario World. But, who doesn't like Super Mario World? The music is nice and peaceful. I don't know how, but the music fits the location. The music for Rome sounds... Uhhhhh Roman. China's theme sounds Chinese. I don't know how a song can resemble a country, but they do. The songs aren't repetitive. You will be calmed and in a state of contentment with this music.

Mario has been swallowed up by some random hole in the earth. Now it is up to Luigi and Yoshi to get him back. As Luigi, you explore different exotic cities in the world. You could go anywhere from France or Rome to Russia or Egypt. It just so happens that every city has had major artifacts stolen from its museum, what a coincidence! Luigi must recover all of the precious artifacts from the koopalings by finding and stomping them in the middle of the street. Then, after finding them, you have to determine which museum is associated with which artifact.
Now you are ready for the test. Luigi has to walk up to the museum owner and present her with the artifact. Before accepting it, she asks you questions about the country or city that you are in. The answers to these questions should of been found before you talk to her by talking to the people walking in the street. If you answer her questions correctly, she'll accept the artifact and you'll be one step closer to completing the stage. You must repeat this process with the next two artifacts.
Once all artifacts have been retrieved and restored, it is time to leave. Having talked to everyone and been quizzed, you probably know where you are at on the Earth. Then, you switch to your map and navigate Yoshi to your position on earth. Once he arrives, you can leave the city.

I like this game. I would buy it. If you did not find that gameplay appealing, don't bother. If you are the type of person who likes to learn things, and have a nice relaxing game session every once in a while, this is a must have.