Old Mario Advergame - which was it?

[Grandy02]

A memory of my childhood that still floats through my head, and I hope to clear it up here.

I remember that around 1996, my father and me (about 7 years old) walked along a street and stopped at a display window because there was a Nintendo console (?) and a screen behind it. On the window, there was a stylized, larger-than-life (and, of course, flat) SNES "controller". By touching the "buttons" of it, you could play the game behind the window.



Well, it was a Mario game, but I don't know which one, maybe a special Mario advergame. The graphic style was like Super Mario World, if I remeber right, but it had a level I newer saw in SMW. When I started to play, I just let Mario walk to the right, there was a flat path. On the top of the screen, there was a large platform where a lot of Koopas went along, but I just proceeded. But then there was a very large pipe, too high to jump over it (I think I didn't let Mario jump at all, there was nothing to jump over). I didn't know how to continue, so my father and me just went.



Does anybody know something about this (adver)game? Or does anybody know at least about the existence of those giant "controllers" on display windows? I hope you can solve this mystery of my childhood.

[TV Eye]

Those controllers are normally on display at conventions, I hear. Seems the one you saw was a prototype.

There is an NES one with working games like Punch-Out and Super Mario Bros.

Check this out

[Grandy02]

Thanks for the answer. Hm, I think "my" controller was even "flatter", it was actually a part of the window. Anyway, that's so long ago that my memories may fool me a bit. Now know I at least that things like that really existed. But that Mario game remains a mystery...

[Fryguy64]

Yeah, my memory plays tricks on me too. One thing I know is that there was a Nintendo gameshow hosted by the dude who played Luigi in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show live action skits. I know this for sure, because it's how I learned how to get 5000 points on the flagpoles. I saw it when the only game I had played with the original SMB... so it was a loooong time ago.

But there was a game where the whole background was a waterfall. I swore it was a Mario game... but it wasn't. It was probably Mega Man or something. Does anyone else remember if this show really existed? I saw it at my dad's house.

I also remember there was an arcade Super Mario Bros. in a big store nearby. I suspect it may have been VS. Super Mario Bros. But I can't double-check that

[BeamClaws]

I remember a level like that in a PC mario game, It used kind of those graphics along with no music or sound and when you lose it goes to ASCII DOS and says "Fall of something-or-other land" Something like that. Then the program terminates. BTW the game sucked.