Hotel Mario facts for kids

Hotel Mario is a puzzle game released in 1994 for the CD-i system. It was made by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media and Nintendo. In this game, players control Mario, who needs to rescue Princess Toadstool. She is being held captive by Bowser and his children in seven different hotels across the Mushroom Kingdom.

To beat each level, players must close all the doors in a hotel. After closing all doors, Mario faces one of Bowser's children, called Koopalings. Defeating a Koopaling lets Mario move to the next hotel.

Nintendo allowed Philips to use some of their famous characters, like Mario, in games for the CD-i. This happened after Nintendo decided not to make a special add-on for the Super NES with Philips. The games made during this time, including Hotel Mario, were often criticized. Many people thought Hotel Mario was one of the weaker Mario games. This was due to its animations, controls, and the video scenes. The CD-i system itself was not very successful. Because of this, the games made for it are now quite rare and valuable.

How to Play the Game

In Hotel Mario, you can play as Mario or his brother Luigi if you play with a friend. Your goal is to finish all the levels in seven different hotels. The first six hotels have 10 levels each. The last two hotels are bigger, with 15 levels each.

To complete a level, you must close every door before time runs out. The game does not directly tell you how to close doors. You use elevators to move between the five floors of each level. The faster you finish a level, the more points you earn. The game saves your progress on special title screens for each stage. These screens also let you go back to hotels you have already visited. You can also see a map of the Mushroom Kingdom to pick any hotel you want to revisit.

While closing doors, you need to avoid dangers. Mario loses a life if he touches an enemy or runs out of time. He also loses a life if he falls off the edge of a floor or if all the doors open again. Most enemies are familiar Mario characters, like Goombas, Koopas, and Boos. At the end of each hotel, you will fight a Koopaling. Each Koopaling tries to stop Mario in a different way.

Normally, Mario can take one hit from an enemy. He can also defeat most enemies by jumping on them. By opening doors, you can find special power-ups. These items give Mario different abilities.

• A Super Mushroom turns Mario into Super Mario. He glows and can take two hits from enemies.
• If Super Mario finds another mushroom, it becomes a Fire Flower. When he grabs it, Mario becomes Fire Mario. He can then throw fireballs to defeat enemies from a distance.
• An "Extra Mario Mushroom" or "Toad" gives Mario an extra life. Only Fire Mario can find this mushroom.
• You can also earn an extra life by collecting 30 coins.
• A Star Man makes Mario temporarily invincible. He can knock any enemy off the screen just by touching them.

Game Story

The story of Hotel Mario begins when Bowser takes over the Mushroom Kingdom. He turns it into a hotel resort for himself and his children. He even renames the land "Klub Koopa Resort." Each hotel is guarded by one of the Koopalings and their helpers. These hotels look very different, like a tree, a mine, or a cloud.

Mario and Luigi are invited to a picnic by Princess Toadstool. When they arrive in the Mushroom Kingdom, they find a message from Bowser. They learn that Bowser has taken control and built seven hotels. Princess Toadstool is being held as a "permanent guest" in one of them.

As Mario and Luigi visit the first six hotels, they find the Princess many times. But each time, she disappears and ends up in another hotel. Finally, they reach Bowser's own hotel. After defeating Bowser, the brothers quickly escape the building with Princess Toadstool before it falls apart. The Princess is now safe and can rule her kingdom peacefully. She thanks the Mario brothers for saving her with a kiss.

How the Game Was Made

In May 1991, Nintendo had a plan with Sony to create a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. However, this plan did not work out. So, Nintendo then made a deal with Philips to develop the add-on instead. But after seeing how another CD-based system, the Sega Mega-CD, was not doing well, Nintendo decided the add-on would not be profitable. The project was completely stopped.

As part of ending their deal, Nintendo gave Philips permission to use five of their characters. These included Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool. Philips could use these characters in games for their CD-i system. Nintendo did not help develop these games. They only gave comments on how the characters looked.

Before Hotel Mario, there was a game called Super Mario's Wacky Worlds. This game was going to be a CD-i version of the side-scrolling game Super Mario World. But Wacky Worlds was canceled, and only some early versions were made. Instead, Hotel Mario was created as a puzzle game. In this game, each level area was limited to a single screen. Unlike the Legend of Zelda games also made for the CD-i, Hotel Mario was developed by Philips' own team, Fantasy Factory.

Many full motion video (FMV) scenes were created for Hotel Mario. These videos show Mario and Luigi as they travel to the next hotel. They talk to each other and sometimes give hints to the player. For example, Mario might say, "If you need instructions on how to get through the hotels, check out the enclosed instruction book!" The voices for Mario and Luigi were done by Marc Graue. Jocelyn Benford provided the voice for Princess Toadstool. Besides using FMV, Hotel Mario also used the CD-i's internal clock. This allowed the game to show messages that changed depending on the date.

The backgrounds for the hotel stages were designed by an artist named Trici Venola. She thought the first version of Hotel Mario looked "mechanical" and "no fun." So, she and art director Jeff Zoern decided to add elements inspired by Disney and J. R. R. Tolkien. This helped improve the game's visual style. Drawings of the stages were made from many small blocks, each with a specific detail. The first thing Venola created for all hotels was the door. Each hotel took about one week to design. Every building had its own special theme. For example, Bowser's hotel used a gothic design.

Images for kids

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  A stage in the first hotel

See also

In Spanish: Hotel Mario para niños