Mario is Missing!

"Education, a good idea, but bad execution..."

Well, this game had a Unique Development and is very different from any game I have ever played. I got the game when I was eight and I learned everything from it. I soaked it up like a sponge because I thought it gave Luigi a gig that he could not refused. But after a while, or if you are older, you will hope that Luigi refused the gig.

As an educational game.

It performs well and tells you about major landmarks and performs the task of teaching the geography. It made me gain extra credit a few years back that helped get me an A, but that was just because I retained the information, and that does not usually happen. It was only the only thing that I remember. So, it tells you some things, however, it might not be worth that one smidgen and I was already so close to having that A. It was a trivia question for one kid to get extra credit. The game does not teach you much when you are playing it being in the fifth grade or higher and its game play is not enough to be for anyone older than fifth grade.

Even though this game is like this, it has this thing, and you do not know what this thing is. However, this “thing” that it has, makes it a somewhat good game. However, I love geography and if anyone is a geography fanatic, they might love this game. And for everyone else, do not try it.

As a real game.

This game gives a bad name to all Luigi and Mario games. It creates a sense of immortality because you cannot die and all it takes is time if you miss a question. The game never will kill you and I guess that is so that the mothers or any overprotective people do not want violence but want education will buy the game. I believe that the game has nothing that any other game does not have. The jumping is the only thing you can actually do in the game that is action except the pipes and the pipes are a waste of time in the retrospect of things. So I guess they made the “real game” aspect so that you do not think that you are learning while the game uses its recalcitrant, sadistic and nefarious subliminal learning.

In my opinion the creators were trying to subliminally assimilate learning into a Mario game and they failed miserably. They got the Education, but not the correct way to put the Education into the context of a Mario game in which there is no true way. There is a way to put it into a game that is an RPG such as a Final Fantasy. However, the game has so much trial to assimilate it into an Action type of game that it does not work. The developers either did not try hard enough, however they might have been taking up a task that are bigger than the whole mental force of Nintendo. And that is the biggest task force in the world.

Overall Score:

This game is so unique it needs to have a unique scoring system:

Education – 8/10

It teaches you about landmarks and the locations; however, the culture is completely forgotten in the mix of things. They have the same few people looking around the city that tell you where you are and nothing else. However, you learn what the location is and what landmarks are there, and it does not have many cities to explore.

Game play – 2/10

It has map that you walk around on and the map gets really annoying while getting the artifacts. Invincibility is retarded and the rest is annoying also. Hopping on others is terribly stupid in this game.

Plot – 1/10

What?! A hole and Mario is gone. Random Koopas taking landmark pieces that don’t really matter anyway?! Gee that sure is a great story line that needs nothing. I mean, if that sarcasm is not obvious, what is? The plot stinks like the preserving liquid used to preserve frogs for dissection. I like how they gave a plot to Luigi and the end is amusing, but the rest has plot holes, which Mario falls through, and other random and terrible aspects…

Graphics – 3/10

Nothing special, nothing good or well drawn out either. The city repeats the building skyline, which in my opinion is retarded and should not happen and really gets annoying in places like Nairobi and Sydney. The Information places are retarded looking even though they have Peach in them, which you can see. The variability of graphics is what kills the game's graphics, it has no variability.

Originality in a good sense – 3/10

It is unique, in a bad sense however. It needs to be a better game even if it is unique…

Overall – 16/50 to 32/100 to 3/10

This game has its rises and falls and the falls outweigh its rises. Play it once if you are a geography buff and then give it to a person you do not like and tell them you heard it was good. They will get mad, but they would have already suffered through its nefarious ways and have been brainwashed to know the color of the Golden Gate Bridge’s foghorn that a retard Koopa took which is orange by the way…

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/02, Updated 03/16/02