One the earliest Game Boy
games, and guess who shows up in it. Yep, it's Mario. However,
this game is themed around Mario to some degree. Aside from
appearing at the beginning of the game (and on the box cover),
each bonus round has bricks shaped like Mario characters.
-It's
Mario
-It's
Mario again
When you select your pitcher,
the first name available for the Bears is Mario. If you pick
Mario, the Eagles will pick Luigi. Mario is also on the game's
cover.
-Mario
and Luigi
Like DKC2, there are DK Hero
coins scattered throughout the game, one in each level. If you
collect a certain number, you'll outrank a Nintendo mascot, and
again like DKC2, Mario and Yoshi appear in the top two spots.
However, Link is nowhere to be found (the third slot is occupied
by Diddy, even if you collect very few coins).
-Mario and Yoshi
All of Nintendo's old-school mascots cameo in this game, similar to the NES version of Tetris. After you beat a course in first place, you'll drive past a Nintendo character who will wave as you go by. Toad appears before course two, Luigi before three, Peach before four, Link before five, Mario before six, Samus before seven, Pit before eight, DK before nine, and Bowser during the endgame victory lap.
The first game in the Game
& Watch Gallery trilogy began a new trend. Though the old
handheld games were rereleased in their entirety, new versions
were also included which featured Mario-related characters.
Manhole, for example, replaces Mr. Game & Watch with Yoshi,
who has to use his own nose and tongue to keep Toads, DKjrs, and
Marios from falling through the manholes.
Fire puts Mario and Luigi in the hero role, where they must save
Toads, Yoshis, and DKjrs as they jump from the burning building.
Princess Peach also lends a hand when you need a miss retracted.
The third game, Octopus, features Mario trying to gather gold as
Peach stays above in the boat.
Oil Panic gives Mario two buckets, with which he must collect oil
that Bowser pours through the ceiling above his head. In order to
dispose of the oil, Mario must feed it to Yoshi who waits below.
But if he misses, he will spill the oil on Luigi and DKjr.
-Title
Screen
-Manhole
(2)
-Fire
-Octopus
-Oil Panic
Like Game & Watch Gallery,
this sequel features Mario characters in the roles of classic
Game & Watches. In the first game, Parachute, Mario controls
a boat and must rescue Toads, Yoshis, and Donkey Kong Jr.s as
they fall from a flying ship above.
In Helmet, Mario must move from one building to another while a
Parakoopa drops hammers and mines from above.
For the first time in a Game & Watch Gallery, Peach is
playable in the role of Chef. She must bounce food that is thrown
to her by the Mario brothers, until it is cooked enough for Yoshi
to eat.
In Vermin, Yoshi must protect a nest of eggs from approaching
shyguys and parakoopas. When one approaches, Yoshi bashes them
with a mallet.
Donkey Kong is faithful to the original. Mario must reach the top
of the level to free Peach from DK.
Collecting enough stars unlocks the first Game & Watch game,
ball. There are several modern variations of the game to unlock.
The first one features Yoshi, who has to bounce eggs. Another
stars Mario. Wario and Bowser are also available.
-Title Screen
-Parachute
-Helmet
-Chef
-Vermin
-Donkey Kong
-Ball (Yoshi)
-Ball (Mario)
Game & Watch Gallery 3
Coming Soon...
A bunch of Nintendo characters pop up in this cool, yet strange accessory. First, a dancing Mario, or someone in a Mario costume, appears on the title screen.
In the gallery mode, there is a stamp option, which provides a bunch of decals to put on your pictures before printing them out. One of the stamp sheets features Pokemon characters, including Charmander, Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Meowth, and Mew. Another one has Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Toad, Lakitu, and a Mario nose and mustache. Interestingly, this game was released in August '98, making it (technically) the first game in the U.S. to feature Pokemon.
One of the minigames available from the beginning of the game is a version of the first Game & Watch, Ball. As an interesting touch, Mr. G&W's head is replaced by a "game face", which players can snap pictures of and then use in the game (no, that's not a NASHW staff member, just the default face).
In Album B, there are a number of special stamps which you can earn by doing different things, many of which feature Nintendo characters. They are as follows: stamp 16 (Blastoise, Venusaur, Charizard, and Mewtwo), 17 (Wario), 18 (arcade-era Mario), 19 (Luigi and Peach), 23 (Game & Watch sprites), 24 (small Wario), 25 (Mario, Yoshi, and Baby Mario), 27 (Boo) 28 (Toad), 29 (arcade-era Mario and DKjr), 30 (wing-cap Mario).
This little-known precursor to
the Game & Watch Gallery series featured five re-released
Game & Watch titles: Ball, Vermin, Flagman, Manhole, and
Cement Factory. Cement Factory is a new version of the originally
titled Mario's Cement Factory, though for what is probably the
first time in gaming history, any direct reference to Mario has
been removed from the game which he originally starred in. The
gameplay remains identical, however.
-Cement Factory
Like the NES version of Golf,
Mario is playable. However, this time it's a bit more obvious
that it's him. Among other places, he appears during the mode
select screen, where he and his caddy will say fight after you
start a match. Later on, he appears throughout the gameplay
screens.
-Fight
-Gameplay
Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening/DX
Here's an original. Early in
the game, right after Link finds his sword, he'll be able to go
into the Trendy Game building. The trendy game is basically a
crane game, except the items move around in a square. The only
item that doesn't move is a Yoshi Doll. The Yoshi Doll is the
first of a number of items that you must trade with in the game.
If you give it to the woman with the little girl, she'll give you
a Bow. Also, notice the comment that the game makes about Yoshi.
Yoshi was at the height of his popularity when Link's Awakening
was released, so this statement is very true.
-It's
Yoshi
-You got a
Yoshi Doll! Recently,
-he seems to be
showing up in
-many games
A number of Mario enemies
appear in this game, mainly in the side-scrolling rooms of the
dungeons, including Goombas, Pirhana Plants, Bloopers, Cheep-cheeps,
Boos, and more. Also, a chain chomp appears in town.
-Goomba
and Pirhana Plant
-Boos
-Bowbow the
Chain Chomp
The last course to unlock in this game is the Hyrule course, in reference to Zelda.
Though Yoshi has virtually
nothing to do with this game, he makes two brief appearances on
menu screens. One is in the game select screen, and the other is
on the Easy Picross screen.
-Game Select
-Easy Picross
Despite the game's title, there
are very few Mario-related puzzles in this game. One exception is
a puzzle that, when completed, takes the shape of a baby Yoshi.
An adult Yoshi also appears on the select screen, and on the how
to play menu.
-Revealing Yoshi
-It's Yoshi!
-Mini Yoshi
In Saffron City, there is a SNES in the house of the girl who repeats everyone. If you press A while next to it, a text box will pop up and say "A game with Mario wearing a bucket on his head." This is a reference to the Japanese game "Mario and Wario."
This is one of Mario's most
unusual cameos yet. He appears in both the single and multi
player modes. In multiplayer, he and Luigi appear in the standard
1-Player is Mario/2-Player is Luigi situation. In the single
player mode, however, he makes several unusual appearances. If
you get between 50,000 and 200,000 points, he will appear in a
desert, wearing a sombrero and singing. Secondly, once you get
200,000-250,000 points, he will be in Africa, jumping up and down
with an elephant in the background. Third in Spain wearing a
matador costume and fighting a bull, if you break 250,000 points.
And last in India, as a snake charmer, if you reach over 300,000
points.
-Mexico
ending
-Africa ending
-Spain ending
-India ending
-2 Player
-Mario wins
After beating the normal adventure mode, a Yoshi's Egg challenge is unlocked. Find all the eggs, and Yoshi will appear on the title screen (just like in Super Mario Advance). If you find just one Yoshi egg, a Yoshi area will open up in the toy box. This is a sort of roulette game, which you can use to find Yoshi eggs in different areas, depending on what combination of numbers you get (for instance, 1-1 will show you where the egg on level 1-1 is).
After rescuing Mushroom retainers from Bowser, you can find them in the Toad area of the toy box. The Toads will give you various banners and pictures to print on a Game Boy Printer. The Toads from worlds 4 and 5 have stickers that feature Yoshi on them.
Just like in the NES game of
the same name, Mario is the ref. Along with the updated look, he
has a few added frames of animation over the NES version.
-Mario's
the referee
-Ready to
serve
Mario and Luigi make an
appearance different from the one they made in the NES Tetris. In
classic Nintendo fashion, they represent player one and player
two in the two-player mode.
-Mario
vs. Luigi
-Mario's
screen
-Luigi's
screen
-Mario wins
-Luigi wins
The original Japanese release of this game (entitled Panel de Pon) was a girl-oriented game. Nintendo decided that this would not sell outside Japan, so they changed the character sprites into Yoshi characters (Yoshi's Island had just recently been released, and was still popular). A few other changes were also made, such as a few Yoshi musical tracks. Otherwise, the two games are virtually identical.
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
This is a major spoiler for
those who haven't beaten Wario Land. If you want to beat it
without knowing the ending, read no further. At the very end of
the game, after beating Cap'n Syrup, her fortress will crumble to
the ground and reveal a huge statue of Princess Toadstool.
However, Mario will immediately fly in on with a helicopter, lift
the statue into the air, and fly away with it.
-Mario
in a helicopter
Remeniscent of "The Great
Cave Offensive" in Kirby Super Star, there are 50 treasures
to collect in WL2, which, when all are collected, will unlock the
last level. And also like KSS, some of the treasures are
references to other Nintendo games. Notice an Ocarina from Zelda
(starting from the top and going down: sixth item in row three),
a Yoshi Egg (second item in row five), and a Metroid (seventh
item in the bottom row).
-The
Treasure screen
Along with the final level,
collecting all the treasures helps unlock Flagman D.D., a version
of the classic Game & Watch game Flagman which features
Dangerous Duck. It costs coins to play, and quite a bit at that.
But it's a neat addition.
-Flagman
D.D.
Like Wario Land 1 and 2, there
are various treasures to collect throughout the game. One of
these treasures is a Pocket Pikachu.
-Pocket
Pika
Just like the NES version,
Mario is playable and appears through most of the game, but Yoshi
gets all the credit.
-Gameplay
-Bonus
screen
The Game Boy version of this
game is a little different from the NES version. Once again,
Mario appears throughout, but Yoshi also helps during gameplay,
having a more equal role in the game than on the NES.
-Title
screen
-Select
screen
-Gameplay
