Editing Mario Takes America

{{italic title}}
{{game infobox
|image=
|developer=Cigam
|publisher=[[Philips Media]]
|release=[[List of unreleased media|Canceled]]
|genre=[[Genre#Platform|Platformer]]
|modes=Unknown
|ratings=N/A
|platforms=[[Philips CD-i]]
|format={{format|cdi=1}}
|input={{input|cdi=1}}
}} 
'''''Mario Takes America''''' is a [[List of unreleased media|canceled]] game that was developed for the [[Philips CD-i]].

==History==
[[File:Cdimag.jpg|thumb|100px|left|UK CD-i magazine article which announced the game.]]
A Toronto-based developer called Cigam approached [[Philips Media]] about making an edutainment game starring [[Mario]]. Impressed by their pitch, Philips immediately granted Cigam funds so they could begin to work on the project.

Footage was filmed, with some of the shots using vehicles such as helicopters, camera cars, and speedboats.<ref name="Assembler">[https://web.archive.org/web/20190531231704/https://assemblergames.com/threads/mario-takes-america-phillips-cd-i.12062/ ASSEMbler Games forum thread featuring posts from one of the developers (archived on the Wayback Machine)] (accessed July 27, 2014)</ref> The game was announced in an issue of the UK CD-i magazine, and early footage was shown at the New York CDi 3 conference and the 1994 Winter {{wp|Consumer Electronics Show|CES}}.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190402193648/http://vidgame.info/vid1994.htm vidgame.info (archived on the Wayback Machine)] (accessed August 8, 2011)</ref>

Though ambitious, development was difficult as the full-motion backgrounds taxed the capabilities of the CD-i,<ref name="Assembler"></ref>, with the first programmer quitting early in development due to the CD-i's limited capabilities. Near the end of the development, the producer comissioned a "backup" game which replaced [[Mario]] with his original character, a rock & roll star named "Metal" and his roadie sidekick "Heavy". Another "backup" had [[Sonic|Sonic the Hedgehog]] replacing Mario<ref name="Assembler"></ref> which was produced without express permission from SEGA.

Philips ended up being unimpressed by the progress of the project and cut funding. Left without any financial backing, Cigam canceled the game and went bankrupt in 1994.<ref name="Assembler"></ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190721083641/https://cdii.blogspot.com/2006/12/mario-takes-america-cd-i.html Interactive Dreams (archived on the Wayback Machine)] (accessed August 8, 2011)</ref>
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==Features==
According to the UK CD-i magazine announcement, the game would have featured Mario using multiple vehicles (mentioning truck, train, car, aeroplane, helicopter, and a motorbike as being usable) during  the game and that it would take place on [[Earth]] (in a manner not unlike ''[[Super Mario's Wacky Worlds]]'', another canceled CD-i project) and more specifically, the [[United States of America]]. The plot of the game would have Mario arriving at [[New York]] and travelling across America in order to reach [[Hollywood]] to star in his own feature film. 

A post made on the ASSEMbler Games forum made by a developer of the project sheds more light on the planned progression. According to him, the game would feature Mario traversing the [[New York]] skyline in an helicopter, the Niagara Falls upper rapids to Falls, the Niagara Gorge to a whirlpool, a car factory in Detroit, the Carlsbad Caverns, a space shuttle ride in Florida, Fort Knox, the Louisiana Bayou in a speedboat, a train fight atop a steam train in Texas, a highway motorcycle race in Monument Valley, a Neon Race in Las Vegas, and a car race in Los Angeles that takes place at night. The final sequence of the game would have taken place at Grauman's Theatre, in which Mario would have to defeat all of the enemies he encountered throughout the game.

The gameplay had a 2D sprite of Mario ("rendered as he was in [[The Super Mario Bros. Super Show|the cartoons]]") superposed over {{wp|Interactive movie|full-motion video}} footage of the location. The gameplay would vary for each level - the New York sequence was a 2D sidescroller while the Texas train fight had Mario standing atop one of the cars and watch enemies climb the forward car.<ref name="Assembler"></ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{unreleased media}}
{{Super Mario games}}
[[Category:Super Mario games]]
[[Category:Canceled games]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Platforming games]]
[[it:Mario Takes America]]