Play Mario's Epic Adventure Online

Mario's Epic Adventure is one of those weird, wonderful SNES games that feels like it shouldn’t exist—but I’m so glad it does. It’s got all the tight jumps and secret pipes you’d expect from a Mario game, but then you stumble into a level where the gravity’s flipped or you’re suddenly tossing boomerangs instead of fireballs. The cape power-up from Super Mario World comes back, but now you can dive-bomb enemies like some kind of feathery wrecking ball.

The sprite work is pure 16-bit eye candy, all bright colors and smooth animations. And the music? There’s this one underground theme with a bassline that’s been stuck in my head since 1994. Rumor is some rogue developers made it as an unofficial sequel, which explains why it’s got that mix of polished Nintendo feel and bizarre, off-the-wall ideas (I won’t spoil the ice cream power-up, but trust me). If you’ve ever wanted more Mario World with a side of delightful weirdness, this is your game.