Hotel Mario

Hotel Mario is a puzzle game produced and developed by Philips Media resulting from a failed deal with Nintendo to make a CD-ROM enhancement of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game features Mario, and the goal is to go through the seven Koopa Hotels within the Mushroom Kingdom. Each of these hotels contain ten stages and the objective for each of these stages is to close every single door. These doors may contain items such as coins, stars, and fire flowers. Hotel Mario was made in place of a failed sequel to Super Mario World, Super Mario's Wacky Worlds.

Gameplay
Having owned the rights to the Mario series at the time, Philips decided to create a Mario game for the CD-i. However, instead of a usual platformer game, it decided to create a puzzle game with a simple concept. Controlling Mario, the player must close all the doors on five floors while avoiding the enemies who try to open them. They can be avoided by hiding behind the doors or by jumping on their head to defeat them. Elevators enable Mario to go up or down from the stages. After having completed nine stages, a boss stage begins, but is played in the same way, having to close all the doors by avoiding the boss and his attacks. Mario will die if he touches an enemy, runs out of time, runs off the edge of the floor he is on, or if all the doors are open. After having completed ten stages, Mario travels to a new hotel and repeats the process, but with new enemies.

Contrary to Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, the Mario universe is much more recognizable here. The majority of the enemies are familiar enemies in the Mario world, contrary to the Zelda games, in which had many enemies invented for the games. Enemies include the Goombas, Koopas, Boos, Dry Bones, Wiggler, Bowser, etc., including some new variations of the enemies. The majority of the enemies react as they always have. The Boos only move if Mario turns his back on them, and the Dry Bones collapse and reform themselves. However, the ability to use a Koopa's shell to defeat other enemies is absent. Mario resembles a small mix of what he looked like in Super Mario World and what he looked like in Super Mario Bros. 2, except for in the animated cutscenes.

The familiar Mario items, such as the Star, Flower, and Mushroom, also appear here. However, the Star does not have music to inform the player when its effect has ended. Contrary to the usual Mario games, the Mushroom does not turn Mario into Super Mario, but rather adds to his overall health, but the Flower keeps its purpose of allowing Mario to shoot fireballs. The star makes Mario invincible. Mario can find these items by opening doors, but if an enemy opens the door, the item leaves, and picking it up will be hard. Mario can also gather gold coins which, after a total of 30, give Mario an extra life. However, continues are unlimited, and Mario will start at the stage in which he died if he runs out of lives. It is also possible to have 2 players controlling Mario and Luigi. Each player is free to start with any hotel starting from a save point. The only thing that differentiates Mario from Luigi is the sprite's color.

Level descriptions

 * Morton's WoodDoor-Hysteria Hotel - A treehouse hotel, with normal elevators and no unusual events. The boss is Morton Koopa Jr., who has no special abilities.
 * Debuting enemies: Goomba, Koopa, Wiggler
 * Boss level: Morton's Tree House 'O Pain


 * Roy's Hard Brick Hotel - The lights are flickering thanks to too much electricity being used up in the toaster room. The boss is Roy Koopa, who is able to scale walls and the ceiling like in Super Mario World.
 * Debuting enemies: Para-Bomb, Mini-Ninja (Ninji)
 * Boss level: Roy's Rowdy Rooftop


 * Larry's Chillton Hotel - This level takes place in an ice hotel. The elevator system is reworked here, and some levels only show the entire floor Mario is currently on. The boss is Larry Koopa, who rolls down bombs toward Mario.
 * Debuting enemies: Buzzy Beetle, Spiny, Monty Mole
 * Boss level: Larry's Scary Lair


 * Lemmy's High-ate Regency Hotel - This hotel is located high in the sky. The elevator system is reworked again, and clouds occasionally obscure some of the doors and must be blown away. The boss is Lemmy Koopa, who uses a flying device to get around the level.
 * Debuting enemies: Flying Goomba (Paragoomba), Banzai Bill (Bullet Bill), Flying Koopa (Paratroopa)
 * Boss level: Lemmy's Sky Hideout


 * Ludwig's Thump Castle Hotel - A hotel with a castle motif. The doors occasionally disappear and reappear. The boss is Ludwig von Koopa, who can teleport in a bolt of lightning, as well as fire lightning from his hands.
 * Debuting enemies: Boo Buddies (Boo), Big Boo, Skeleton Koopas (Dry Bones), Pat the Bat (Swooper)
 * Boss level: Ludwig's Frantic Lab


 * Wendy's Blitz Snarlton Hotel - A hotel casino. Stages are now expanded with an additional screen once the first set of doors are closed. Wendy's Pennies, which look like Coins at first, can become evil and try to harm Mario. The boss is Wendy O. Koopa, who summons hearts to open doors and launches attacks that home in at Mario.
 * Debuting enemies: Rhinestone Goomba (Goomba dressed like Elvis Presley, exclusive to this game), Bellhop Goomba (Goomba dressed like a bellhop, exclusive to this game), Mecha Koopa (Mechakoopa), Z Koopa (Paratoopa wearing a tuxedo, exclusive in this game)
 * Boss level: Wendy O's Sweet Suite


 * Bowser's Seizures Palace Hotel - A castle hotel in a more gothic style. In addition to two sets of doors like in Wendy's stages, there are now 15 stages in this hotel, rather than the standard 10. Fire also occasionally appears in a floor, while the elevator system goes back to normal. There are two bosses in the final stage. First is Iggy Koopa, who wears a Bowser mask and can either spit fire or summon lightning to strike down upon Mario. The final boss is Bowser, who has more powerful versions of Iggy's attacks.
 * Debuting enemies: None
 * Boss level: Bowser's BBQ Room

Note: Parenthesis indicate the traditional names instead of those listed in the manual.

There's apparently a secret eighth hotel that the player can access once the game is completed under one hour. Not much information is known about this hotel, if it even exists.

Cutscenes
Hotel Mario features a number of animated cutscenes in which both Mario and Luigi speak. However, their voices are not provided by later, familiar voice artist Charles Martinet. Instead, both characters have comparatively deep voices and gruff, Italian-American accents. In the opening sequence and before each stage, both Mario and Luigi break the fourth wall by addressing the player directly, giving hints before stages, and asking the player to "check out the enclosed instruction book". Princess Toadstool also breaks the fourth wall in the end of the game by thanking the player directly. The cutscenes are ridiculed among Mario fans and video gamers alike.

A scene where Mario finds a dozen toasters and utters the quote "You know what they say, all toasters toast toast." is amongst the most known, though much of the game's scenes have also become part of an internet meme.

Voice credits

 * Mark Graue as Mario and Luigi
 * Jocelyn Benford as Princess Toadstool