Wednesday, 29 January 2020

Mario Is Missing! (SNES) - Part 2


Previously, Mario falls into some hole in Antarctica or to be more accurate in front of Bowser's castle. It's up to Luigi to search for his missing brother. He travels to Rome and Beijing but he can't find brother of his. But at least, he return artifacts to where they belong that previously stolen by koopa troopas. They includes: some stone block from Great Wall China and coins from Trevi fountain. His journey for geography lesson his missing brother continues...
Kid. Your words are jumbled and i have no idea what are you try to convey, not in the slightest. But it seems you're up to be political debater as opposed to what your saying. Spy_laughhappy02.wav
 
He said African country and equator. So my best guess is here: Nairobi, maybe. It could be Addis Ababa which is exactly 1 spot of north from where Yoshi parks. Apparently not. The boy refers to Nairobi, really.
"I must go. My people need me!" said this koopa troopa. Not really. That is the zooming effect of special troopa's demise. By special, i mean the one who carries/steals the artifact. If you killed the non-carrying-artifact troopa, he will leaves dust and star effect like in Super Mario World.
I forgot to tells you that Luigi can use these green pipes (which strangely planted in the middle of a road) to travel to corresponded pipe. They comes in pairs but you can hardly tell where the pipe leads you unless you memorize each pair of pipes in this city. Although the their location is strategically placed that they can cover entire city pretty well, i mostly rely on walking as it's the most accurate way to reach destinations. Besides, Yoshi can run pretty fast by holding 'Y' button. But there's something bothers me. You can't jump while running like in any Mario games! Maybe i was nitpicking too much but it still feels strange to me.
I though koopa troopas only steal inanimate objects but this time they steal a living being: a baby elephant! Demoman_negativevocalization04.wav
I'm tempted to answer this question with the 4th option: vote. What? Animal also have right to vote, you know? That's the true democracy is all about!
I have returned the baby elephant but i don't get to see the elephant here and instead a zebra that to try dip his foot to test whether the river is too cold for him to swim or not. I feel bamboozled. ;c
Here's another special effect on koopa troopa that carries the artifact, it shatters like vase and his eyes drop. This is genuine cartoon's effect. There's also another of this special effect: the koopa troopa explodes into tiny version of mushroom cloud, which feels less safe for environment.
Here's the reaction of booth attendant if you bring her artifact that's now where it belongs. Again, i wish i can select the artifact to return and/or ask to NPCs. Correction: you can choose them deliberately by selecting the Artifact menu on pause menu by using left or right button on d-pad. The chosen artifact is highlighted with white frame.
I can see the Maasai headdress through this pause menu. It looks like fur cap that Queen's Guards wear, only in white.
As you expected from a game that's intended for younger audience. Some of the answer options sometimes funny and hilarious. Here, for example: leftover birthday cake. Is it possible for people in 3 million years ago to bake a cake? Moreover, will it lasts to this day? That's my thought.
Of course, i'm not dumb enough to answer that question incorrectly. The prize of returning the oldest human skull is the portrait of it in close up and it's freaking ugly! It's much uglier than in pause menu, i tell you.
Next city is...errm i have no idea. Judging by that dome structure in that house on most left, i'm in Turkey. Maybe? The clue from the boy doesn't help me on that. But what do you expect from some random youngster, huh?    
I forgot to tell you that the exclamation mark on map is where landmarks/tourist attractions are. Hold on! Do you see that building on southern part of city that has colorful strange dome? I reckon i saw that kind of building in Tetris game. Yoshi! Get your tail to Moscow! Hurry!
You can also get obvious hint of the city through the brochure that she give you in landmarks/tourist attractions. Like in this case, it mentions Kremlin which obviously in Moscow, Russia. It seems the reward is in dollar instead of the proper currency, again.
I feel that the questions are trickier because the options contain all of the keywords in the brochure as you can see in 1st and 2nd options from top. But if you read the texts (and memorize them) more carefully, you can answer the question pretty easily. As for the 2 last options, they're quite hilarious. I imagine Czar Pushover will be big antagonist in some kid cartoon. While Da in 'Tsar Da', means 'Yes' in Russian. Although it supposed to be written 'дa'. How do i know about this? Thanks to Team Fortress 2's Heavy, of course. 
Here's another of my weakness besides numbers in date: numbers in size! Maybe i have been conditioned to only accept numbers in engineering formulas. Not to mention, information regarding this question is not in the brochure! Thankfully, Mr. Einstein (who isn't far from here) told me about the height of St. Basil's Cathedral. But to be honest, i got this right from my first lucky guess. :p    
Here's the Cathedral itself. I bet this picture is worse than the background of Tetris game where i know about it on first time.
Next city is...where Golden Gate Bridge exists. It must be San Francisco! I'm smart!
What? You call me greenhorn? You sure have nerve as oversized as your lips, Miss Hideous. BUUUUUUUUURN! :D
I expect some knowledge increasing experience in education game and Mario Is Missing! delivers it well. I know that San Francisco is home to Golden Gate Bridge but i didn't know that it also home to The Coit Tower and Transamerica Pyramid. In fact, i barely knew about those landmarks.  
Now, ladies and gentlemen. The moment that you are (not) waiting for: Ludwig Von Koopa versus Werdito Von Izenger (which is represented by Luigi). Do note: i'm not really German. Ludwig probably is, though
The key to defeat Ludwig is: stomp him in the head and...that's all. Keep stomping him until 10 times or so. Quite often he tries to trick you into stomping him and suddenly he run back to avoid your feet. But most of the time, he runs left and right. Moreover, he can't kill you if run into you. In fact, all of the koopa troopas also can't hurt you via skin contact unlike in every Mario game. They just run bypass you. No any collision or whatsoever. The only failure that you can do in this game is if you aren't saved all of the artifacts. Even then, you can go replay the stage at your leisure. But it's still mandatory to finish all of the stage in order to proceed the game.
With Ludwig defeated, i can enter this celled door and proceed to next hub. There's no congratulatory texts or fanfare upon defeating the koopaling or text regarding Luigi is one step closer to find Mario. There's none of them! To quote Exdeath in Dissidia Final Fantasy: Empty Victory!
Next city is...judging by that Greek letters, i must be in Greece! I like to continue this Luigi's journey but off the record as i doubt there's anything interesting for you to read further. Even if there's anything good to tell you, i will keep it for end-year article like usual.
What do i think about The Software Toolworks' Mario Is Missing! (1993)? I love playing it even though it's subpar for Mario game. At least, it's more enjoyable and exciting than Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House the game which is also a game for young kids. Because it's intended to be child's game, MiM! is less focused on skillful gameplay than any Mario games. Instead, it adds geography element into the gameplay. The control is quite accurate like in Super Mario World but as i said before you can't jump while running and that still bothers me. There's no saving game but you got password everytime you have secured a city. The artifact is either impossible to fit into that small pouch or insignificant part of the tourist attractions/landmarks. As i have said before that none of the enemy can kill you if they touch you instead they just walk pass you. But thankfully, Luigi's stomping is accurate. The walking NPCs provide you with additional information but it's not mandatory to listen to all of them. The information you need is mostly in the brochures/newspapers. But sometimes not. The Einstein is the most useful NPC while the ugly woman is the least useful ones. Believe it or not, the music are good and also catchy even though they're altered (or maybe butchered) version of Super Mario World theme. I particularly love the music in Moscow. I can say that the music have style. The graphic maybe not as good and/or colorful as in Super Mario World but at least it's good enough to me and also kids.

I really favor Mario Is Missing! (1993) but i don't think i can recommend it to you, reader. As this is not really Mario game with bootleg quality. Let's say this: if you fancy some geography challenge in your Mario game but don't mind about it being friendlier and with less skillful gameplay, you can play this game for a couple of stages or two. It takes someone who has genuiness in fancying Mario game as bad as this game's genuiness. That person is me and i proud of that fact! XD

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