Play Mario's Strange Quest Online

I picked up Mario's Strange Quest a few years back, a 2012 release for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by a developer called Pickle. It's one of those late-era homebrew titles that makes you wonder what else was still being made for the console long after its official lifespan had ended. The game doesn't try to reinvent the platformer, but it definitely warps the familiar into something else entirely.

You control Mario through a series of disconnected, screen-by-screen levels, each with a clear exit pipe or door to find. The main goal is simply to progress, but how you do it is the real draw. Signature mechanics include blocks that change Mario's physics, turning him into a bouncy rubber ball or letting him walk on ceilings, and a bow that shoots arrows to hit switches or stun enemies. The pacing is deliberate, almost puzzle-like, and the difficulty comes from learning each screen's new rule rather than pure reflex. It feels like navigating a playful, slightly unhinged experiment in game design.