Mario's Lost Arcade Adventures

To be honest, it’s been since high school that I set foot in a legitimate, dedicated video arcade. If not for bars, laundromats, and pizza parlors, it would probably be even longer since I dropped a few quarters in an arcade machine. It’s the truth: The video arcade slowly began dying years ago and probably won’t ever return to the levels of popularity seen during the age of Street Fighter II and the various Neo-Geo fighters.

In any case, I’ve recently realized that not only has my life been lacking in arcade action but also that the lives of my fellow Americans have been sorely deprived of various Super Mario games in arcades. There’s more than I thought.

Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party
(known informally to Americans as Mario Party Arcade)

A six-player installment of Mario Party that makes with the bells and whistles on the cabinet like no other machine I’ve ever seen. As I've understood it, the game uses all six sides of the machine, with each player at their own screen. Additionally, the mini-games involve both on-screen action and actual physical games, Price Is Right-style. Winners get capsule prizes — actual little trinkets that drop out of the machine, not unlike the ones that the characters themselves can buy in the game to help them win.

As near as I can tell, this version of Mario Party seems to have a lot in common with Mario Party 6, what with Donkey Kong apparently not playable and Toad, the Koopa Kid and Boo being playable. Also, I think I can see the Star Spirits adorning the cabinet.


There's apparently a sequel that came out, Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2. As little information as I can find about the first one, there seems to be even less on the second. Both were released by Capcom, oddly, and not Hudson Soft, which developed all the other Mario Party games.

Not to pile on the obscurity, but there's actually one more game that appears to be related to these arcade games: Super Mario Fushigi no Janjan Land. Also developed by Capcom, the game is one-player, though I have no idea if its also a mini-game romp like Fushigi no Korokoro.

If anyone can find any more information on any of these, I'd be happy to hear it.

Mario Roulette

Seems pretty straightforward — and not unlike something you might play in a Mario game to win extra lives. And no wonder we wouldn't get it stateside, what with negative perceptions of gambling and all. Some explanatory art nonetheless.





Mario Roulette, for whatever reason, was developed by Konami.

Mario Unkurukai

My vote for most obscure Mario game ever. Want proof? Check for yourself. All I can find is the Mario Wiki's spurious-sounding claim that one of the characters appearing in the game is a "ninja piranha." If that's true, the shoot — now I really want to play it.

Donkey Kong: Jungle Fever

A sort of sequel-remake-port to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Donkey Kong Jungle Fever offered parts of the Gamecube title in arcades. I'd imagine the advantage here is that players who didn't want to drop money on the DK Bongo controller for Jungle Beat would get a chance to see why the game is worth it. Some elements of the gameplay were modified to include the collection of medals into the title, though I have no idea how or why.

Pictures!

doesn't the title look a little like the logo from survivor?

From what I can see in the promotional art and screenshots, the game seems to use the same characters and bosses as Jungle Beat, so I'd guess it leans more heavily toward "remake" than out-and-out sequel. Also, I'd have to imagine that Nintendo would have retitled this for an American release, given the racist implications of the phrase "jungle fever."