Mole Mania

Released in 1996, Mole Mania is an original Shigeru Miyamoto IP that has been largely forgotten over time. It was one of my favorite childhood games, and to this day I think the reason it failed to spawn a series is that it never got a console release, much like Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru several years prior. It doesn’t help that Mole Mania came out near the end of the Game Boy’s life, after the PlayStation and N64′s releases.

In Mole Mania, you play as Muddy Mole, who is on a quest to rescue his seven children and wife from an evil farmer named Jinbe. Muddy is not a fighter, and can only achieve his goal by pushing and throwing objects. As a mole, he is also able to burrow underground. Burrowing proves to be the factor that separates this action/puzzle game from others in its genre. Mole Mania contains puzzles that range from insultingly easy to half hour-draining levels of complexity, all based around unearthing in the correct spot and throwing iron balls such that they can reach the stage’s goal and advance you to the next puzzle. This sounds pretty simplistic, but replaying the game today, I am floored by how novel some of the challenges are.

One of the game’s few flaws is that even though some enemies look different, they are mostly functionally the same. This problem could have been addressed in a sequel, but it was never to be. On the bright side, the game’s boss fights are pretty abnormal and test you on Muddy’s techniques in interesting fashions. The Mad Wrencher, for instance, requires you to trace the path of his thrown wrenches and redirect them using pipes, then burrow underground to avoid bomb blasts. Good stuff.

All in all, I think what sells the title so much for me is its unique quality. You’ll notice right away the care that went in to designing the game’s world, even if we ultimately don’t learn much about it. Mole Mania also has a very memorable chip-tune soundtrack and used the Super Game Boy’s color effectively; it looks great after all this time thanks to the simplistic art style. I still had as much fun playing Mole Mania now as back then, even though block pushing puzzles are normally the bane of these kinds of games for me. If that doesn’t mean it’s a good game, I’m not sure what does.

You can still buy Mole Mania today. It’s on the 3DS store for a few dollars. I’d say it’s one of the better ways you can kill 6-8 hours.