Many Nintendo fans have gone out of their way to play every single game from the company they can includingsome of the more obscureMariotitles. However, much like the anime about the iconic plumber, one game in particular has become forgotten and faded into relative obscurity.
Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi’s Adventure Landis one of the fewSuperMariogames that doesn’t appear on a Nintendo console. It’s quite the combination of a unique film and video game and has some big names in the animation and gaming industry behind it.
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How Does The Game Work?
Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi’s Adventure Landuseda game console that most have never heard of— the Bandai Terebikko. Known as the Mattel See n' Say Video Phone in the United States, the Terebikko was able to hear sounds and provide audio outputs to a VHS player to allow young players to interact with and receive “phone calls” from the various characters on screen. While those in the US got basic educational games, those in Japan got special titles for franchises likeSailor Moon,Dragon Ball, and of courseSuper Mario.
The games were very basic, with players helping answer questions by clicking the correct buttons that corresponded with the answers on screen.
Who Was Behind The Game And Anime?
Unfortunately, there is no information listed online to share which studio worked on the animated scenes for this game. Its director Masami Hata, who worked onthe first Mario movieSuper Mario Brothers: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach, worked for the now-defunct Grouper Productions at the time, so it’s quite likely they did the animation work while Bandai produced the film. This would mean that it’s possible that Shigeru Miyamoto himself helped work on the game just like he did for the film.
It also featuredthe original voice of Mario, Toru Fuyura, who was well known for playing Yamcha inDragon Ballat the time as well as singing the series' theme song. Most of the other original Japanese voice cast of the characters worked on the game as well including Yuu Mizushima ofFood WarsandOne Piecefame and Chika Sakamoto known as the voice of Agumon inDigimon Adventure. Nintendo made sure to secure serious voice talent for their anime outings even if they were never released outside of Japan.
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What Is The Story?
While the story often pauses to allow players to answer multiple-choice questions, getting the answers wrong doesn’t really affect the story in any way. It gently follows the plot ofSuper Mario Worldand featuresseveral of the power-ups found in the game. Mario and Luigi receive a postcard from Peach which sets off the adventure as the brothers take a plane to Dinosaur Land to meet her.
Of course, once they arrive, they learn that not all is well. They have to take down Iggy and a slew of enemies with the help of the player. The brothers then go through Donut Plains, Vanilla Dome, the Forest of Illusion, and Chocolate Island to take down the Koopalings and Bowser to save the day. The two end up getting cake and a kiss from Peach and the rest is history.
The game is notable for how Princess Peach’s hair was actually made red to match her appearance in the games at the time unlike most other animated forms of her at the time. Even the other anime movies and OVAs for the games had her hair as blonde which is now the current standard.
Is There Still A Way To Experience The Game?
Those who want to experience the game are in luck — there in an English subtitled recording of the VHS for the game on YouTube which can be viewed above. For those who want to try the game with the phone itself, things get a bit more complex. Both the Terebikko and the See n' Say Phone will work with the game despite it coming from a different region as both devices are exactly the same internally.
Still, trying to purchase one would be extremely difficult as they are not only expensive when they show up on auction websites, but they rarely appear at all. The toys were only produced for a year in Japan and the United States back in the 80s making them not only a bit rare but likely worse for wear due to the young children playing with them. Still, anyone willing to track one down could have an incredibly unique gaming experience that would make those obsessed with obscure Mario lore extremely jealous.
