About Mario Is Missing!
Mario Is Missing! is an educational game from The Software Toolworks, which developed it and released it for MS-DOS in January 1993. The Software Toolworks published it in North America and Mindscape handled PAL regions. Donald W. Laabs designed it. NES and Super NES versions followed in June 1993 in North America and October 1993 in Europe, with the NES one developed by Radical Entertainment. A Macintosh release came in June 1994 and a Windows one in July 1996. It is a single-player game.
Bowser has captured Mario, and you play his brother Luigi, who travels around the world to find stolen treasures and return them as part of the search. The game belongs to a series of educational Mario games. It was Luigi’s second starring role in a video game, after Luigi’s Hammer Toss in 1990 and before Luigi’s Mansion on the GameCube in 2001. The Software Toolworks made it, not Nintendo, though Nintendo owns Mario.
How it runs in your browser
Press Play and the game’s DOS.Zone page opens in a new tab. The site emulates an IBM PC with js-dos, its open-source DOSBox build for browsers, and runs the MS-DOS version inside it. DOS.Zone loads the game files itself, so you don’t install anything, track down an old copy or create an account, and the site carries no ads.
The listing, titled Mario is Missing!, is tagged educational and rated 4.9 from 14 player reviews. Its description is generic, saying only that the game is free to play without registration and works on phones through virtual controls. It doesn’t say which release is included or how progress is saved.
DOS.Zone has taken games down before when rights holders asked, as it did with GTA 1 and 2 after a request from Take-Two. A listing like this one isn’t guaranteed to stay.
Controls and devices
The MS-DOS version was built for keyboard play. Click inside the game window after it loads so the emulator receives your input. DOS.Zone doesn’t list the controls, so look for them in the game’s own menus.
DOS.Zone shows virtual on-screen controls on phones, but a game designed around a keyboard works better on a desktop or laptop. We haven’t tested it on a phone, and Chromebooks haven’t been checked either.
Who it’s for
It suits younger players and parents looking for an educational game from the early 1990s, and Mario fans curious about one of Luigi’s first turns in the lead. The search for stolen treasures takes Luigi around the world, and as an educational game it was made to teach while you play. If you want more educational games from the same years, The Oregon Trail Deluxe, the 1992 edition of MECC’s pioneer journey, and The Incredible Machine, a 1993 puzzle game DOS.Zone tags as educational, both run on DOS.Zone.
Is Mario Is Missing! Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play Mario Is Missing! online for free?
Yes. DOS.Zone runs the MS-DOS version free in a browser tab, with nothing to install and no account. It isn’t made or endorsed by Nintendo, which owns Mario.
Is Mario Is Missing! a Nintendo game?
Not in the sense of being made by Nintendo. The Software Toolworks developed it as an educational game and published it in North America, and Mindscape published it in PAL regions. Nintendo owns Mario, but it hasn’t made or endorsed this browser version.
Does Mario Is Missing! work on a phone?
DOS.Zone’s page says it can be played on phones with virtual on-screen controls, but the game was built for a keyboard and we haven’t tested it on a phone. A computer is the better fit.
