Mario Net Quest (found IBM browser game based on Nintendo franchise; 1997)
Title screen.
Status: Found
Date found: 14 Apr 2023
Found by: WaifuGroove
Mario Net Quest is an Adobe Shockwave browser game developed by C3 Incorporated and published by IBM in 1997, considered to be the first official Mario browser game. The game was made during a partnership between IBM and Nintendo for a contest, promoting the IBM AS/400 servers.[1][2]
Gameplay
The game resembles a "whack-a-mole" game. The player controls Mario inside a room full of tiles, getting as many points as they can in a minute. Points can be obtained by clicking on Coins, Red Coins, and Power Stars coming up from the tiles. However, the player also needs to avoid enemies like Goombas, Bully, and Boos which will remove points. However, Bowser will occasionally appear near an entrance. Clicking on Bowser will cause games to end immediately. His appearance is preceded by a Power Star sound, which can trick the player into clicking on Bowser and ending the game immediately. However, if the player can click on the star fast enough before Bowser, they can receive 5,000 points. The game allegedly has a second phase that led players through a "qualification round", which a reddit user said was a web-based quiz.
Availability
The game was available for a limited time before it was shut down, becoming lost for 26 years. It wasn't until April 14th, 2023 when reddit user, WaifuGroove made a long post on r/lostmedia about their story of discovering Mario Net Quest and saying that they had found the game, making it playable after 26 years.
Gallery
Images
Gameplay photo
Newspaper article of the browser game.
