Hotel Mario is a puzzle video game developed by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media on the CD-i format on April 5, 1994. Players control Mario, who must find Princess Toadstool by going through seven hotels in the Mushroom Kingdom; each hotel is divided into stages, and the objective is to close all doors on each stage. Each hotel ends in a boss fight with one of Bowser's Koopalings, culminating in a battle with Bowser.
Hotel Mario was one of four games featuring Nintendo characters published for the CD-i; the others were three Legend of Zelda games. Another Mario game, Super Mario's Wacky Worlds, was never released while a third game, Mario Takes America was planned but eventually canceled. Nintendo licensed the characters after reneging on a deal for Philips to create the Super NES's CD-ROM add-on.
Hotel Mario initially received mixed-to-negative reviews; critics felt it was fun but had no lasting appeal. It has been retrospectively described as one of the worst video games, receiving criticism for its door-closing game mechanic, unresponsive controls, voice acting, and full-motion video cutscenes.
Gameplay
Hotel Mario is a single-screen puzzle video game. Controlling Mario, or his brother Luigi in two-player mode, the player must search the Klub Koopa Resort for Princess Toadstool, who has been kidnapped by Bowser.
The game comprises seven hotels, which each feature several stages. The player must shut every door in the stage by moving up and down elevators and avoiding enemies. Mario can step on most enemies, as in previous games, but some must be avoided by changing floors or entering an open door. At the end of each hotel, the player engages in a boss fight with a Koopaling; in the final hotel, the player battles Bowser. The game features various power-ups: the Super Mushroom allows Mario to take multiple hits, the Star Man makes him temporarily invincible, and the Fire Flower allows him to throw fireballs.
Development
In 1989, Nintendo and Sony agreed to develop a CD-ROM-based add-on for the Super NES (see Super NES CD-ROM), that would allow for full motion video (FMV) and larger games. However, Nintendo instead signed with Philips to make the add-on, and Sony redesigned their console as the PlayStation. By 1993, Nintendo had abandoned plans for the add-on. As part of dissolving the agreement, Nintendo licensed Philips to use some Nintendo characters for their CD-i console, resulting in three Legend of Zelda games as well as Hotel Mario. Another Mario game, Super Mario's Wacky Worlds, was canceled at the prototype stage. According to Stephen Radosh, Nintendo's only involvement in the development was ensuring that the source material was faithful to the Mario series. Nintendo was reported to be pleased with the finished project and Radosh stated that there were rumors that Nintendo considered bringing the game to their own platforms.
Hotel Mario was developed by Fantasy Factory. The developers and testers tended to be older in age; in an interview with The Black Moon Project, background artist Trici Venola noted one tester was "well past retirement". Since the target audience of children would have faster reflexes, the game was designed to play well for the testers, then sped up. Hotel Mario uses FMV cutscenes to tell its story. Feeling an early version was "mechanical" and "visually no fun", Venola and art director Jeff Zoern used elements from Disney and J. R. R. Tolkien to enhance the visual style. Illustrations of the stages were composed of several blocks, each with one detail. The first item Venola created for all hotels was the door. Each building took a week to complete and was designed with a specific theme; for instance, Bowser's hotel uses a gothic design. For voice acting, Marc Graue provided the voices of the Mario Brothers and Bowser, while Princess Toadstool was voiced by Jocelyn Benford. Graue was hired through an agency, while Benford was recommended by an employee of Phillips Media. She would later marry Michael Ahn, who was one of the producers of Hotel Mario.
Initially, jumping was not going to be a feature of Hotel Mario. According to Stephen Radosh in an interview with Samuel Clemens, jumping was added after a suggestion from Hollie Lohff. She was the daughter of one of the engineers, Thomas Lohff. She played Hotel Mario before its release, and criticized it for not allowing jumping like previous Mario games did.