structural:scholar_edition, information:extraction
Puzzle games

Mario has also starred in a variety of multiple puzzle games, but sometimes only makes an appearance and is not playable. The first of which to release was Wrecking Crew, designed by Yoshio Sakamoto. Surprisingly, in this game, Mario can't jump because of hammer's weight. After which, three main series and a variety of spin-offs were released starring him, including Dr. Mario, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, and Mario Picross.

The original game in the Dr. Mario series, also titled Dr. Mario, was designed by Takahiro Harada and had Mario assume the role of a doctor instead of a plumber. His appearance and role have generally remained the same; to celebrate his 30th anniversary in the series, an 8-bit rendering of his original appearance was made unlockable in the most recent game, Dr. Mario World. Mario vs. Donkey Kong is centered around "Mini Marios", wind-up toys that resemble Mario. The Mario's Picross series was an attempt by Nintendo to capitalize on the popularity of Mario and the success of puzzle games in Japan at the time. Released in 1995, the game was popular and was followed by two sequels, Super Mario Picross and Picross 2, but the first game was only made available to American audiences in 2020.

Due to the abandonment of the SNES-CD hardware in the 1990s, a project developed by Nintendo and Phillips, as part of Nintendo's dissolving agreement with Philips, they gave the licensing rights to Mario and The Legend of Zelda property to release games on the CD-i. Multiple games were developed by the inexperienced Fantasy Factory, which included the puzzle game Hotel Mario in 1994. Via Animation Magic, Hotel Mario had various cutscenes of Mario and Luigi, which borrowed animation elements from Disney and J. R. R. Tolkien. Mario was voiced by Marc Graue as the game was released prior to Charles Martinet receiving the role of voicing the character.