The Top Worst Super Mario Games
Hello friends it’s Tim here again from Super Mayhem and boy howdy do we have an interesting list for you today, awhooo. When a franchise such as Super Mario gives you so much joy and shapes your life so drastically, it’s really hard to talk about any faults or negatives about it. But today I’m going to be brave and take off my rose tinted glasses and take a look at some Super Mario games that, well, just didn’t cut the mustard for one reason or another. I know it sounds intense when you have such classics as the original Super Mario Bros. Mario 64, Galaxy or even the latest Super Mario odyssey but believe it or not there are some games that have this awesome plumber’s face planted on them and Nintendo’s seal of approval on them that are just horrible.
In order for a game to appear here it has to be a proper officially licensed Nintendo game! No fan made games or flash game rip offs, just the real deal.
Anyway why not subscribe, ring the bell and smash a big fat thumbs up on this video if you love Super Mario even at his worst!
So, with all that being said, in no particular order, here are the top worst Super Mario games, so far at least!
Mario Teaches Typing: There are some really fun typing games out there such as “The Typing of the Dead” or even “typing attack” to name a few. But one that isn’t very good, despite the name, is “Mario Teaches Typing”. Initially released on the 8th of March 1991 for Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS and even Macintosh operating systems, Mario Teaches typing was pretty hyped up for the time.
As the name suggests, this game involves Mario teaching you to type! It’s pretty simple, basically you type in a sequence of keys in correspondence to what the computer screen displays, using the right fingers as prompted. Mario hits blocks and the occasional Koopa Troopa but that’s just about it.
Whilst perhaps not the worst game on this list, it certainly wasn’t what one would call a “good Mario game”, at least conventionally. Imagine being a kid and opening a present that has Super Mario whacked all over it and then being met with a tedious typing game! Talk about a bring me down.
I think peoples perspectives on the game have changed a little over time though as “Play Classic Games online” gives the game a 4 out of 5 and Ebay claims it as a 5/5 and even 75% of Google users liked this video game…so that’s something, maybe a bit of nostalgia. But then again, if you were going to learn to type, it may as well be a Mario game!
Oh and whilst I remember, they even made a second one of these back in 1996. Give the people what they want I guess!
Mario Is Missing Originally released for MS-DOS in North America in January 1993 and later on for a plethora of Nintendo consoles and computers, Mario is Missing is what one would call an educational video game. Already with the key word of “educational” being in there you know it probably won’t be too fun.
I remember as a kid hiring this game from my local video game store, trembling with anticipation, hardly containing my excitement to smash out some platforming goodness…and then I got home and whacked it in my Super Nintendo. I don’t really have the right words to describe my disappointment in what ensured, perhaps severe devastation would come close.
Basically Mario Is Missing is a game where you play as Luigi and you have to travel around the globe to find and return stolen treasure in an effort to find Mario who has been captured by Bowser. On paper this sounds like an amazing game! Almost like a retro Mario odyssey. And it even was the first Mario game where Luigi was the main player! That poor guy, he couldn’t catch a break until some years after the release of this game.
Sadly the title doesn’t play or even come close to what you may expect from a Super Mario related game, even with its glorious description.
Basically the computer versions of the game are point and click adventures whilst the console releases are technically platformers. In this game Bowser has changed the mushroom kingdom into the real world and also relocated his headquarters to some Antarctican castle. Again, it sounds pretty cool, but it’s not. As Luigi you walk around the real world asking people questions and trying to find Bowser’s stolen items, some of which include Big Ben and the Mona Lisa, however he managed to steal them we will never know but it’s your job to find them.
Oh yeah and they threw Yoshi into this mess where he can eat Pokey’s that block paths and some other stuff, I never really got it as a kid and as a grown up, well I still don’t really get it.
But having said all of this, do you want some edutainment in your life? If so don’t miss out on Mario is Missing then!
Mario’s Time Machine: Are you ready for some more educational video games? I said-a are you ready for some more Mario educational games!? Well if anyone answered yes to those questions, here is another one.
Mario’s Time Machine was a game originally released on MS-DOS in North America in 1993 and later for both the Super Nintendo and the original Nintendo Entertainment System. I guess Nintendo really wanted you to play it for some reason. We are talking prime Mario time in a sense though so I guess it makes sense that they wanted it released everywhere possible at the time.
This game is set in the year 1993 and find’s Bowser has built a time machine which is interestingly called the “Timulator” which I will take as a personal head nod to me. Much like Mario is missing Bowser has stolen artefacts from different points in history for his own personal display in his castle.
Naturally you are Mario and you must save the future of man kind by using the “Timulator” to return the artifacts to their proper areas in time.
Sounds enthralling doesn’t it? Well it is…nt.
In a nutshell the game is about teaching you the historical importance of each of Bowser’s stolen pieces and who the artifacts relate to. To get through the game all you have to do is correctly answer questions that are asked about the information you learn throughout the game.
Yikes, what’s with the educational Mario games Nintendo? We want intense Goomba splatting action, not learning about human history!
Hotel Mario: Known for its Memes, interesting cut scenes, cringe worthy voice acting and all around poopness, as the last top Worst Super Mario Game we have to of course pay tribute to the infamous Hotel Mario.
This puzzle game was released on the 31st of December 1994 for the Phillips CD-I, a pretty unusual system for a Mario game even if they released games for MS-DOS and the Macintosh computers.
It is kind of a conventional Super Mario game in a sense. You do play as Mario and the main objective is to save Princess Toadstool, only this time you are going through seven hotels that are in the Mushroom Kingdom. Who knew you could rent a room in the Mushroom Kingdom?
Anyway, each Hotel is divided into different stages. In each the objective is to close all the doors on the level. Enthralling concept hey!
Once you do pass a Hotel stage you do end up having to fight with one of the Koopalings and then eventually, of course, Bowser.
Naturally the game wasn’t that well received, even at it’s time of release. J.C. Fletcher of Joystiq had this to say about the plot: "Apparently Bowser has nefariously plotted to have his underlings open doors in ... his own hotels, thus wasting air conditioning and increasing his own electric bill. Mario and Luigi must heroically latch all the doors and save their archenemy from having his hallways get too cold."Other sources didn’t have much else positive to say other than it was a bit better than the Legend of Zelda CD-I games…so that’s something at least.
Even the voice has been hugely criticized even by magazines like 1up.com where Danny Cowan wrote "Mario (voiced in the game by Marc Graue) sounds more like someone's ex-smoker grandpa trying to imitate a Mafia hit man... The dialogue is meant to sound playful, but the character voices imply acts of menace and hate.”
To finish it off, in 2008 IGN named Hotel Mario as one of the ten worst Mario games. Something I obviously agree with as it finishes off this list of the Top Worst Super Mario Games by Super Mayhem!
Anyway that’s it for today friends! I’m sure I missed at least 1 or 2 bad Super Mario video games so why not whack them in the comments for us all to discuss! Smash a like on this bad boy especially if you guessed one of the games that would be on this list before watching and subscribe with notifications on And enjoy the video below!
