Finally, everything you ever wanted to know about Nintendo’s Mario, provided of course all you ever cared for were his appearances and cameos in video games of all kinds, in one convenient place: Here! Or, to be precise, included in the following list, which -I am sure- is not a 100% complete, despite cataloging over 100 games on more than a dozen platforms ranging from the ZX Spectrum to the Wii. Obviously, all the latest gems and our very dear Super Mario Galaxy have been included. Oh, and, please, do let me know of any omissions.

Arcade: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros, Vs. Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros., Mushroom World Pinball (an actual pinball machine!), Super Mario Bros 2., Super Mario Bros. 3., Super Mario World, Mario Kart Arcade GP, Punch-Out!, Vs. Dr. Mario.

Atari 2600, 7800: Donkey Kong, Mario Bros.

Game & Watch and Mini Arcade: Mario’s Cement Factory, Mario the Juggler, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., Mario’s Bombs Away, Donkey Kong Hockey

ZX Spectrum (Yes!): Mario Bros.

Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES (or even Famicom if you prefer) & Famicom Disk System: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Classics, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong Junior Math, Donkey Kong 3, Dr. Mario, Golf, Mario is Missing, Mario’s Time Machine, Mike Tyson’s Punchout, NES Open Tournament Golf, Nintendo World Championships, Return of Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 3, Tennis, Wario’s Woods, Wrecking Crew, Yoshi, Yoshi’s Cookie, Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally, Kaettekita Mario Bros.

NEC PC-8801: Mario Bros. Special, Punch Ball Mario Bros., Tennis, Super Mario Bros. Special.

Game Boy and Game Boy Color: Alleyway, Donkey Kong, Dr. Mario, F1-Race, Qix, Game & Watch Gallery, Game & Watch Gallery 2, Game & Watch Gallery 3, Mario’s Picross, Mario’s Picross 2, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Tetris Attack, Mario Tennis, Wario Blast featuring Bomberman!, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario Land 2, Yoshi, Yoshi’s Cookie, Mario Golf.

Super NES (SNES, Super Famicom): Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium, Mario and Wario, Mario is Missing, Mario’s Time Machine, Mario Paint, Mario’s Super Picross, Mario’s Early Years: Fun with numbers, Mario’s Early Years: Fun with letters, Mario’s Early Years: Pre-School, Nintendo Power Dr. Mario, Picross Nintendo Power, Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, Tetris and Dr. Mario, Tetris Attack, Wario’s Woods, Wrecking Crew ‘98, Yoshi’s Cookie, Yoshi’s Cookie: Kuruppon Oven De Cookie, Yoshi’s Safari, Zelda 3, Super Scope 6.

Virtual Boy: Mario Clash, Virtual Boy Wario Land, Mario’s Tennis.

CDi: Hotel Mario, Super Mario’s Wacky Worlds (unreleased).

Nintendo 64 & N64 DD: Dr. Mario 64, Paper Mario, Super Mario 64, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Party, Mario Party 2, Mario Party 3, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 64, Yoshi’s Story, Mario Artist: Paint Studio, Mario Artist: Talent Studio, Mario Artist:Polygon Studio, Mario Artist: Communication Kit, Donkey Kong 64.

PC and Mac: Mario Teaches Typing, Mario Teaches Typing 2, Mario’s Fun with Numbers, Mario’s Fun with Letters, Mario’s Pre-School fun, Mario’s FUNdamental, Mario’s Games Gallery.

Game Boy Advance (excluding the Classic NES series): Game and Watch Gallery 4, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Bros., Mario Party Advance, Mario Party, Mario Tennis Advance, Mario Pinball Land (a.k.a. Super Mario Ball), Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Super Mario Advance, Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Advance 6: Mario is Missing, Wario Land 4, WarioWare Inc: Mega Microgames, WarioWare Twisted!, Famicom Mini: Wrecking Crew, Yoshi Topsy Turvy, Mario Kart Super Circuit.

GameCube: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Luigi’s Mansion, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Party 4, Mario Party 5, Mario Party 6, Mario Party 7, Super Smash Bros. Melee, WarioWare Inc.: Mega Party Game$, NBA Street v3, Super Mario Strikers (a.k.a. Mario Smash Football), Dance-Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes.

Nintendo DS: Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, Mario Basket: 3 on 3, Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64 DS, Super Princess Peach, Tetris DS, WarioWare: Touched!, Itadaki Street DS, Yoshi Touch and Go, Mario Slam Basketball, Mario vs Donkey Kong 2, Mario Party DS, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Yoshi’s Island DS.

Wii (excluding Virtual Console offerings): Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Mario Strikers Charged Football, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Party 8, WarioWare: Smooth Moves

The Americans and the Japanese all but ignored it, but we Old Worlders knew better. We were after all old, loved arcade conversions and hadn’t really gone for this Nintendo Mario fad. Besides, instantly loading games impressed us deeply. Anyway, no matter the reason, we knew immediately. SEGA’s classic 8-bit console, the venerable Master System, was an impressive piece of hardware that sported dozens of gaming gems, managed to decently bring arcade favorites at home and was an all around excellent console. We absolutely loved the thing. Almost as much as our trusted home computers (though definitely not as much as those impressive AT PCs and Amigas).

But, as is customary, I digress. What I meant to tell you was that the Wii retro experience is about to get vastly enhanced with the addition of them lovely Master System games to the Virtual Console service. Yes! Your Wii Points will soon be able to get you all the Alex Kidd and Phantasy Star retro gaming you’ve always wanted. Oh, and judging by the Master System’s two-buttons controller you wont be needing a Classic Controller either, though, truth be said, it is an excellent little accessory.

Now, before you go off searching for downloadable bits of retro love, know that them SMS games will debut in Japan in a few weeks and only later hit European and US Wiis. The first games that will be made available will be no other than the excellently surreal, very cartoon-y, very smart Fantasy Zone shoot-’em-up (500 Wii points) and the Fist of the North Star (600 Wii points) brawler. Not a bad selection mind you, but definitely the best will arrive later and will hopefully include Phantasy Star, Golden Axe RPGs, lots of Sonic, Choplifter and -why not?- quite a few Sega Game Gear games too.

Created by Ron Gilbert, sporting the talents of both Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer, and impressively appearing on everything from classic PCs to the Amiga, the Atari ST, Apple’s Macintosh, the SEGA Mega CD, the rather multimedia FM Towns computer, your average Windows PC and even the moderately modern PlayStation 2, the Monkey Island series is a definitive part of the history of the adventure game. But what about the series’ history, I pretend to hear you ask. Well, here it is. In a nutshell of course.

The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)

The game that started it all and the first adventure ever to have been inspired by -of all things- a Disneyland ride, Monkey Island was a hilarious point-and-click adventure with a few darker bits, that was all about pirates. And monkeys. And some of the most surreal puzzles in the history of video gaming. And some lovely stylized art. And insult sword-fighting. And ghosts. And introducing Guybrush Threepwood. The game was published of course by LucasFilm before it turned into LucasArts. Oh, and if you find the PC CD version, do go for it and enjoy an amazing reggae soundtrack too. An instant classic and a great seller.

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (1991)

My favorite MI installment, a sequel that bested its predecessor in every single department and probably the best comedy point-and-clicker I’ve ever enjoyed. Really. If you haven’t tried it, do yourselves a favor and grab a copy. Monkey Island 2 offers (among other things) two difficulty levels, lovely pixel-art VGA graphics, a brilliant soundtrack and the weirdest game ending sequence you could ever imagine. Which you can’t. Only Mr. Gilbert could and what he did come up with also happened to be a monumental cliffhanger. Then, as he left LucasArts before actually making the third game or revealing The Secret, said monumental cliffhanger turned into a pretty unbearable one…

The Curse of Monkey Island (1997)

Lacking Ron Gilbert, but still managing to cope with the series’ sublime first two entries, CMI still is a fantastic adventure. It sports a then-new simplified interface, some excellent jokes, amazing hand-drawn graphics, above average though easy puzzles and more importantly Murray the demonic skull, one of the funniest Monkey Island characters ever. On the downside, MI lost its darker side, Guybrush got to wed Ellaine and the game was a bit on the shorter side of things. Not that bad is it? And wait till you hear a certain pirate-y song by some barbers. Anyway. Should you need further reasons to try CMI, know that both Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer think it’s a great game.

Escape from Monkey Island (2000)

Escape from Monkey Island, EMI, Monkey Island 4… The black sheep of the family and unless I’ve missed something (probably huge) the last adventure game LucasArts managed to publish. The widely hated but critically acclaimed final installment, that signaled the end of an era and failed to be funny. But, what is this all about? Why the hate? Well, because people tend to overreact, because it’s a Monkey Island game in 3D and because the interface is an impressive mess. Then again, there’s quite a bit of MI spirit in this one too. Not much, mind you, but there are enough references and familiar characters that make it a passable way to spend your point-and-clicking time. Until we get Monkey 5 that is. Or Ron Gilbert’s next game.

Any MI questions? Feel free to ask…

It’s only been 50 years since the founding of Namco and no more than 30 since the oldest game on the compilation under scrutiny was released, yet the word museum still sounds slightly odd. Then again, I do sound both old and odd. And continuously fail to come up with meaningful intro paragraphs. Anyway. On with reviewing stuff on shiny disks for the PC.

Namco’s 50th Anniversary Museum is a decent (thankfully budget priced too) collection of some classic, some not so classic and a few pointless games hoping to please retro gamers, teach new gamers old tricks, teach young dogs strange tricks and/or entertain the average casual gamer. There are 16 games on offer two of which (PacMania and Galaga `88) are unlockable by attaining (pretty low) highscores in PacMan, Ms. PacMan or the original Galaga, that coincidentally are actually three of the best titles available in this compilation. All three are well-emulated too and classic to the point where there is no need of any descriptions whatsoever. The other games included are:

Dragon Spirit, which I had never played before, and is a passable top down shooter with an appropriately ridiculous backstory and cute graphics .

Pole Position and the radically samey Pole Position II, both aged beyond recognition (they used to be quite nice guys back then) but excellently emulated. Still very enjoyable for the high-score maniacs out there.

Galaxian, a classic shoot-’em-up that expanded on Space Invaders. Also the first game ever to offer proper colour graphics, a theme song and a scrolling 3D-ish starfield.

Mappy, the strange little unknown game that is fun for five minutes, but tends to get nervous, act stranger and gradually reduce the poor player to a horrified excuse of a person.

Rolling Thunder, a decent platformer/shooter with nice graphics.

Xevious, the classic Namco Classic that all but defined its genre. Fly, avoid enemies, dodge bullets and destroy everything while gawking at these once groundbreaking graphics.

Skykid, which is pointless, annoying and obscure, but I guess perfectly emulating the horror of being a skykid (?).

Rally-X, a very interesting car racing game with a maze twist. An absolute time sink.

Oh sorry, almost forgot. When (and if) you buy Namco Museum you will also be able to play Dig Dug and Bosconian.

That’s the deal. Just take into consideration that there are virtually no extras (like interviews, photos, videos etc), very few options, very slight but usually annoying sound problems and the overall presentation isn’t as sleek as it should have been. And you could always go all criminal and download MAME roms for free instead. On the plus side you get to hear five “classic” 80s songs while browsing through the games and it wont cost you a fortune. The 3D arcade is a nice touch too.

Assuming not everyone is a misanthrope like my poor wretched grumpy self and that people still sort of like Santa, well, happy holidays everyone! May your goats live life to its fullest! May your PS3s come in cheap and your Wiis in abundance! May you all live long and prosper. May you game healthily away. Uhm… yes, best wishes everyone etc. Happy? Good.

Now that you got your fare share of holiday wishes and since you’re all wearing your silly (probably red) festive little hats and ButtonSmasher is all about games, let’s talk Christmas games, shall we? Of course we shall.

Christmas games you see are divided in three categories. First of all we have them properly Xmas themed offerings like Christmas Nights, Daze Before Christmas or even Christmas Carnage. Then there are the games released/bought during the holidays or those strongly associated with them in the most personal of ways and, finally, there are the Christmas Lemmings games. Or to be precise the two Xmas Lemmings and the two Christmas/Holiday Lemmings games, all from the period before Sony got involved with Psygnosis and long before the pretty excellent PSP and PS2 Lemmings were first imagined. Not a real category, I know, but I love the little buggers.


The first Xmas Lemmings gig was a free four level demo (only two of the levels were Christmas themed) released by Psygnosis back in 1991 for the Amiga, PC and Mac and was aptly titled Xmas Lemmings 1991. The game played exactly like the original, as was actually the case with every festive Lemmings game that followed it, with the main difference being the cute Santa dressed Lemmings and the snow covered levels. Xmas Lemmings 1992 was another 4 level demo that followed one year later, only this time each of the four levels was filled with festive little touches and Lemmings in red outfits.

The 1993 demo, this time dubbed Christmas/Holiday Lemmings 1993 -depending where you played it, featured only 3 levels and was followed by a full commercial game sporting an adequate 32 levels, 16 of which had a difficult rating of “Flurry” and 16 of “Blitz”. 1994, the last year that got its festive Lemmings offering, was the luckiest one too, getting an up-to-standards 4 level demo and a 64 level commercial version offering 2 new difficulty settings (”Frost”, “Hail”) and the complete ‘93 game.

And, ignoring some hideous 3D rodents, this was the end of ‘em Christmas Lemmings. Sad isn’t it? Oh, well… Merry Christmas!

Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Twilight Princess and a bucket load of triple A games aren’t all there is to your Wii, you know. The shiny little white one has a strong retro side too and all you need to access it are some Wii Points and a WiFi connection. Well, probably a Classic Controller too. But you knew that. Then again, you probably also knew that the Virtual Console isn’t as sleek or well priced as the Xbox Live service and you simply didn’t care. What you didn’t know is that I’m about to suggest 10 of them downloadable classics in an attempt to a) let you get a glimpse at my gaming tastes and b) make sure you don’t spend them hard earned points on something meh.

So, without further ado then, here’s what you should be having a look at (in no particular order and right after emailing Nintendo and asking them for some downloadable demos; I mean, really, how difficult is it?):

Air Zonk (TurboGrafx 16 / 600 points)

Zonk, the sci-fi Bonk spin-off character stars in this wacky shoot-’em-up by Hudson Soft, that comes complete with amazing parallax scrolling, brilliant cartoon graphics and some of the weirdest power-ups you’ve ever seen. Splashes of decent -more than decent by video game standards- humor, tactically demanding gameplay, colorful cartoon graphics, surreal landscapes and a smart buddy/power-up system are also a plus. I’d even recommend it over its CD enhanced sequel too.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64 / 1000 points)

According to every games reviewer ever this is the best Zelda game ever crafted. Ever. So, uhm, who am I to question such wisdom? Well, that’s who, but the real question is whether you can stomach the traditionally mediocre Zelda story in order to delve into Hyrule’s past, do some time traveling, solve puzzles, investigate the origins of the Triforce and all in breathtaking 3D? The answer of course should be yes. Ocarina was amazing and revolutionary back in 1998 and still is one of the best games available on any format. Probably will last you for more than 30 hours too.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Mega Drive / 800 points)

The surprisingly named sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, also happens to be the best Sonic game ever (with the possible exception of Sonic CD) and the first platformer to offer split-screen two player action and truly satisfying bonus stages. If you haven’t played it yet, well, here’s your chance. Interestingly Sonic 2 was also the game that kick-started the whole Sonic-friends thing…

Super Mario 64 (N64 / 1000 points)

The N64 killer-app was the first game to provide Mario with a 3D corpus complete with a suitably 3D landscape to play in and consequently the game to show mankind just how 3D platformers are supposed to work. Mario 64 is huge, diverse, smart, beautiful and probably one of the best games you’ll ever play. Mind you, first time I tried it was on the Wii and even though I was suspicious it simply impressed me.

Super Metroid (SNES / 800 points)

The Space Pirates, truly nasty agents of the abominably evil Mother Brain, have stolen the last Metroid from a research station, and Samus Aran must don her awesome high-tech suit and lingerie and save the world. Again. Only this time, the open-ended Metroid experience comes with excellent 16-bit graphics, new weapons, dozens of different enemies and one of the best stories ever told in video gaming history. Make that a rarely touching story.

Ghouls N’ Ghosts (Mega Drive / 800 points)

Ghouls n’ Ghosts, the sequel to Ghosts n’ Goblins, was a major jaw-dropper. Its shiny 16-bit graphics, the rain effects, the smooth scrolling, the detailed sprites, all made for one of the best looking Mega Drive games of the 90s. Only problem was it was dead hard. Addictive and dead hard. Happily, thing haven’t changed on the Wii and people can still lose their sleeps over Arthur.

Paper Mario (N64 / 1000 points)

Paper Mario, the 64-bit follow-up to the 16-bit Super Mario RPG, is a highly enjoyable turn-based RPG/action-game hybrid set in an appropriately papery world composed of colorful cutouts. The story might be simple and Paper Mario may be missing the series’ latest shiny additions, but it’s still beautiful to look at, well written and immensely addictive to play.

King of Fighters ’94 (Neo Geo / 900 points)

SNK’s first King of Fighters game and the first arcade fighter to pit teams of 3 agains each other is one of the few true bargains available on the Virtual Console. Instead of trying to locate one of the few arcades sporting the game left or shelling out a small fortune for a Neo Geo with the cartridge, download KoF 94 and you’ll be in 2D fighting games heaven.

Gate of Thunder (TurboDuo / 800 points)

Admittedly, not everyone likes horizontal 2D side-scrolling shoot-’em-ups or shmups as people tend to call them these days, but those who do can easily appreciate great gameplay mechanics when they see them. As for the few true fans of the genre left, well, they can’t do much better than Gate of Thunder. The game was originally released for the CD part of the TurboDuo and is as hardcore a shmup experience as anyone could ask for. And with hardcore I mean both though and smart. And with an… uhh… interesting 80s soundtrack.

Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES / 500 points)

The only NES game to make my list, but please do understand. I grew up with home-computers and Nintendo’s classic console doesn’t have the nostalgic value of -say- an Amstrad CPC. Still, Mario 3 is an admittedly fantastic game. Probably better than Rick Dangerous too. And no, this has nothing to do with me memories, but more with the sheer excellence of said platformer. The variety of the power-ups, the colorful graphics, the perfect learning curve and gameplay balance… Ahh, yes, definitely a masterpiece.