Over the years, Mario has become the mascot character of the platforming genre, Nintendo, and arguably even the gaming industry as a whole. Any time the heroic plumber stars in a new release, the gaming industry stops and pays attention, regardless of whether it’s a newSuper Mariogame,Mario Kart,MarioParty, or one ofthe character’s many sporting ventures.
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Despite the almost unparalleled level of attention that theMariofranchise receives, there have been a few games over the decades that fell through the cracks and slipped out of the memory of even some ofMario’s most die-hard fans. Granted, some of these games have been forgotten for a very good reason, and they certainly don’t match up to games likeSuper Mario 64andSuper MarioGalaxy, but they’re still interesting to know about for gaming historians.
10Mario Is Missing!
One of the most appealing factors about theMariofranchise is that the games, simply put, tend to offer fun over anything else. However, the IP’s popularity with children was used in 1993 to try and educate kids while also entertaining them.
Mario Is Missing!puts players in control of Luigi, who has to rescue his brother Mario after he’s captured by Bowser. Luigi, along with Yoshi, travels to some of the world’s most notable cities such as London, Paris, and Cairo, where the player will learn geography facts.
9Super Mario Bros. Special
Considering the enormous success ofSuper Mario Bros.,a game that helped rejuvenate the entire gaming scene in the 80s following the home console industry’s crash, it would only seem logical that every otherMariorelease in that decade would get worldwide attention.
However, there was one game that was released just a few years afterSuper Mario Bros.that is still rarely spoken about in the western world.Super Mario Bros. Specialwas initially released In Japan in 1986, before coming to South Korea the following year. The game features 32 stages, the same as the originalSuper Mario Bros.,but each level has been completely redesigned, and the fluid side-scrolling is replaced by shifting screens when Mario reaches the end of each screen.
8All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.
All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.is anotherMariogame that never had an official release in the west. The game was released in Japan on the Famicom in 1986, the same year as the aforementionedSuper Mario Bros. Special.LikeSuper Mario Bros. Special, the game aimed to capitalize on the success of the originalSuper Mario Bros.
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All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros.is essentially a retooled version of the originalSuper Mario Bros.but with a few alterations such as the ability toplay as Luigi, alterations to the level design, and the implementation of Japanese celebrities as in-game characters.
7Mario Clash
Mario Clashwas released in 1995 in Japan and North America, exclusively on the Virtual Boy. The game is a 3D re-imagining of the originalMario Bros.arcade game, with the objective being to knock every enemy off of each ledge.
Mario Clashhas an impressive 99 levels, though only the first 40 can be accessed from the start of the game. Moreover, the game doesn’t feature a save mechanic, so many of the last levels will never be seen by some players.Mario Clashalso doesn’t save high scores, making progression feel redundant.
6Mario Family
Throughout his illustrious career,Mariohas ventured into all kinds of different genres and activities such as baseball, kart racing, and even medical practice inDr. Mario.Despite this, there are manyMariofans who will be surprised to know that the platforming hero has also starred in a sewing game.Mario Familywas released on the GameBoy Color and is compatible with the Jaguar’s JN-100 sewing machine, which lets players sew their favoriteMariocharacters.
Mario Familyis another game on this list that was only released in Japan, hitting stores in August 2001. Surprisingly, the game isn’t the first sewing game in theMariofranchise, asI Am a Teacher: Super Mario no Sweatercame before it in 1986.
5Hotel Mario
Phillips were trying to promote their Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-i) console in the 90s, so they made the seemingly logical decision of hiring two of gaming’s most iconic characters, Marioand Link,to star in a handful of games.
Unfortunately, the move is best remembered for providing two of the most notoriously awful games of all time withLink: The Faces of EvilandZelda: The Wand of Gamelon.These twoLegend of Zeldagames have been ridiculed for decades, though some people aren’t aware that there was a CD-iMariogame too.Hotel Mariowasn’t as bad as theZeldatitles, but thepuzzle gamestill struggled to impress and wasn’t the console seller that Phillips had hoped for.
4Mario Teaches Typing
When hearing that there is a Mario game developed by Interplay Entertainment, the team that publishedBaldur’s Gate, there aren’t many people in the world who would guess that the game would be aneducational title for kids.
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Mario Teaches Typingdoes exactly what it says on the tin, teaching players how to type on a keyboard. This is done by presenting players with traditional platforming stages and tasking them to control Mario’s movement by typing what they see on screen.
3Mario’s Early Years!
Mario’s Early Years!is a collection of three point and click educational games titledFun with Letters, Preschool Fun,andFun with Numbers.Each game gives the player a selection of islands to choose from, containing a selection of educational activities.
The collection’s gameplay doesn’t tend to be too complex, usually requiring players to simply answer multiple-choice questions. These multiple-choice questions tend to tie into some form of simplistic mini-game, such as helping Mario reach one end of the screen to another.
2Mario Hoops 3 On 3
As mentioned before, Mario is no stranger to inviting his friends and enemies for some sporting fun. Games likeMario & Sonic At The Olympic Games,Mario Strikers Charged,and the recently releasedMario Golf: Super Rushare well known to most fans of the plumber, but the Nintendo DS exclusiveMario Hoops 3-on-3seemed to fall through the cracks.
As the name suggests,Mario Hoops 3-on-3takesMario and friends to the basketball court, with an over-the-top iteration of the sport. The game was developed by Square Enix and featured a handful of characters from the studio’s iconicFinal Fantasyseries.Hoops 3 On 3isn’t the onlyMariogame that Square Enix has developed, as prior to Square’s merge with Enix, Square developedSuper Mario RPG.
1Mario’s Time Machine
Mario’s Time Machineis yet another one of Mario’s attempts at trading his plumbing profession the teaching. The 1993 educational game sees Bowser create a time machine, which he uses to steal numerous artifacts.
Mario, who has obtained control of Bowser’s time machine, travels back to various times in history to return the stolen artifacts. In the process of doing so, the player will meet numerous historical figures like Sir Issac Newton and Thomas Edison and will learn about interesting facts about Human History.
