Mario’s Rampage

My name is Tyler. I was 6 years old and the year was 1997. I was always into Mario games back then, especially Super Mario World, one of my favorite games ever. But something made me hate Mario. An incident that happened. So here’s the incident.

I was in a Walmart with my 19 year old brother Luke looking in the game section for what game to buy. Then my eyes touched upon a SNES cartridge saying: “Mario’s Rampage.” I called my brother over to tell him that’s what I wanted. He went to the cashier and told him.

When the cashier walked over to us, he opened the glass and got the game and said: “This is what y’all want?” We said yes. “Where did this game come from? We don’t even sell this game here!” The cashier said. “Uh what?” Luke said. “This game was never in the truck when the guy who collects the games!” The cashier said. “I still want that game!” I said. “Ok then, that will be $5.00.” Cashier said. We bought it and went home.

After we got home, there was a note on the door saying: “Tyler and Luke, we are out of town to meet your grandma in the hospital, please don’t make a mess while we’re gone. From your mother and father. P.S. The key is under the mat below you.” We got the key and unlocked the door and took the note so we don’t get anyone trying to bust in.

We went into the living room and put the cartridge in the SNES and turned the console on. When it got to the title screen, it said: “Mario’s Rampage.” It was the same title screen as Super Mario World. “Huh?” Luke said. “Why is it the same one as Super Mario World?” “I don’t know.” I said. I started the game. The message above Mario said: “Princess Peach has been taken from the evil Bowser! Help Mario Save Peach and murder bowser!” “Huh, strange...” I said. “Murder Bowser? I thought this was a kids game!” Luke said. Luke then turned off the SNES and looked at the cartridge. The rating was E Everyone. “E rating?!” Luke said. “Mario is gonna murder bowser!”

“Put the game back in please.” I said calmly. Luke did what I said. Fast forward to starting the game. I went to Yoshi’s House first. It was empty. There wasn’t even a ground or background. Just a plain white background with Mario looking like he’s floating. The only thing here was the block message. I hit the block and the message said: “I hate you Mario.” Signed by Yoshi. “What the hell?!” Luke shouted. “That’s just cruel!” I left Yoshi’s House and started on the first stage. But when I started, I was startled by a loud glitch noise. “What’s wrong?” Luke asked. “That noise made me jump.” I replied.

The level had the world 1-1 music in reverse. There was no hill, no enemies, and Mario looked like he had a mushroom. I ran and ran until it got to the end. The goal music didn’t play. When it got to the world map, the backgrounds looked distorted. Then Mario went North to the yellow switch place. I started and everything went fine until the message telling that all empty yellow spaces have turned into yellow blocks, instead said: “Mario will die soon.” “WTF?!” Luke screamed. “THAT’S A HORRIBLE THING TO SAY IN A KIDS GAME!” “Ok! I’ve had enough of this now! Take the cartridge out!” I yelled. Luke tried to eject the cartridge, but it wouldn’t eject. “Damn it!” Luke muttered.

Luke sat back on the couch and I continued playing. When I went to level 2, it just took Mario to the castle right to the boss. The disturbing part was: the boss had blood on his shell. I defeated the boss and then the cutscene with Mario rescuing Yoshi’s egg went normal, but the text said: “Mario has murdered Larry Koopa, now he’s planning to kill his next victim, please, player, stop playing this and break the cartridge.” Luke got up and said: “Well let’s try to break it! It did tell us to destroy it!” So me and Luke went to get a hammer from the garage and try to break the cartridge and SNES. But nothing happened. It had no scratch no anything. It just looked like it was untouched.

Then we saw the tv screen go black. After 23 seconds, Mario showed up on the screen. He had black eyes and red pupils. He walked closer to the screen. For about 30 seconds, he just stared at us while we were shaking in fear. Then he spoke in a demonic deep way: “I am Mario. I will kill everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom. And y’all too. Tyler and Luke.” Me and Luke gasped. How did Mario know our names?

Then it cut to a castle with every Super Mario World character there tied up and gaged. They try to scream. Then Mario walked onscreen and said: “Time to die.” Then the screen went black. Me and Luke wanted to cry. After 55 seconds of blackness, it cuts to Mario staring at mangled corpses of the characters, ripped open stomachs with intestines falling out of them. Mario has the same eyes as before. He looked at us. Me and Luke have had enough and tried to unplug the SNES, but nothing. We unplugged the tv. Nothing. Mario laughed and said: “You two can’t do anything. Y’all are stuck here with me.” Then a feather appeared from the ceiling. Mario grabbed it. And then he had a cape on. He flew to the screen and punched the screen causing the screen to crack. Me and Luke screamed. The tv cut to static. We saw what looked like hands pressed against the screen pushing the television. Me and Luke tried to run out the door but the door knob broke off. We tried to open the windows. But they wouldn’t open. They weren’t even locked. Then broken glass flew from the tv. And me and Luke ran upstairs. We went into my room and closed and locked the door. We tried to break my window. After the 8th attempt, the glass finally broke. But then the door bust open and we jumped out the window before looking to see who or what was at the door. We landed on the grass head first and then we blacked out.

The next thing that happened, was me waking up in a hospital bed with Luke beside me in another bed. My mom and dad looked worried. A doctor was looking at me saying: “Yes, he’s waking up.” I rubbed my head to see that it had bandages on it. “W-W-Where am I?” I asked. “You’re in a hospital.” My dad said. “We found you and Luke in the backyard with your heads busted open.” Luke woke up. He asked what happened. My dad said him and my mom found us in the backyard. Now me and Luke remembered what happened. I told everyone what I wanted to say. I explained everything that happened. The doctor said that we must’ve had a hallucination. Luke said we didn’t, everything that happened was true.

Me and Luke were in the hospital for about 2 weeks. When we got home, we saw that the tv looked normal. The cartridge was gone. I felt confused. “Where is the cartridge?” I asked. “What cartridge?” My mom said. “The cartridge that was in the SNES!” I replied. “We don’t know what you are talking about.” My dad said. “What we remembered was seeing the tv off and the SNES off as well. And seeing y’all outside through the kitchen window when y’all busted your heads open.” Me and Luke will never forget about everything that happened. If you see a copy of Mario’s Rampage, destroy it immediately. I don’t want any of this happening to you.