Mole Mania ($2.99): Join Muddy Mole in a race to defeat the evil farmer, Jinbe. Work your way through each puzzle by pushing, pulling, or throwing black balls to defeat or trap enemies. Blast strategic exits and burrow into soft soil to tunnel your way through underground paths to the next action-packed level. Defeat the bosses and solve all of the puzzles in Jinbe Land to reunite Muddy Mole with his beloved wife and kids. You'll dig the fast pace and challenging fun of Mole Mania!

Why not add Mole Mania to your collection, and indicate that you are currently playing it? And don't forget to rate it when you're done!

Negative Worlders who pledged to participate (will be bolded and colored once they post progress)
DrFinkelstein
rebonack
Renjaku
Triforcebun
anon_mastermind
Jargon
roykoopa64
nate38
Mop it up
Zero
GameDadGrant
HammerLord
Guillaume

Negative Worlders playing despite not pledging
chrisbg99
Poguesquadron
Ploot
kgtennispro
VofEscaflowne

List of Awesome (finish the game)
Renjaku
nate38
chrisbg99
ploot
roykoopa64
Triforcebun
Jargon
Mopitup
Rebonack

List of Awesomest (finish the game 100%)
Renjaku
nate38
chrisbg99
ploot
roykoopa64
Triforcebun
Jargon
Rebonack

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You know that mole is lucky the farmer didn't just do what they usually do with troublesome moles.

Haha, you can use the surrender item to finish the level, but it won't be "cleard". I'm glad to know that even by 1997 we were still getting bad translations.

I just finished the first level. This game is pretty cool! Very simple compared to other games Nintendo was making at the time. I'd love to see Miyamoto make something like this for the eShop. Not necessarily a Mole Mania game, but something smaller scale, and completely different from everything else Nintendo's been doing.

I got the game back when it released on VC and have completed a few levels so I could probably join in on this and try to finish it up.

Good luck, guys! I've 100%'d this one already, and it's fun! Some puzzles really make you think.

Good, this was my number one pic. I want to find out why mole mechanics wormed their way into skyward sword.

Cool, a game I voted for actually won! I hope to start playing this one soon.

I forget if I voted for it but I'm down for this one.

Cool, I've been playing this in short bursts since it released on the shop. It's quite fun! I'm a little over two hours in and near the end of the third level.

I don't think I like this game.

Excellent game! I've already played a big chunk of it but I've been holding off lately in hopes that it'd be this month's RGC title. If you ask me, games like Mole Mania are what RGC is all about--obscure, yet creative, high-quality games you don't hear much about. I'm eager to finish it 100% and discuss it with everyone. At 3 dollars and what might end up being nearly 20 hours of filler-free, quality gameplay, it's one of the best deals on the entire eShop.

PRO-TIP: Use the B Button while underground to poke Muddy's nose above ground and survey the area without digging an extra hole. Very useful, and from what I can recall, it's one gameplay feature that the game itself doesn't tell you about.

@TriforceBun I discovered that by accident, and it's definitely really useful.

@TriforceBun
THAT is the most helpful thing ever. I've messed up numerous puzzles jumping out of holes. I suppose I can go back to this now. YES! I guess I just didn't try that. So strange.

Hey Seph, May I be added to the pile?

@ploot Me too! I got it today. It's...I don't know. It's a good time waster type game. Something I'd spend time with before bed or while I'm at work.

And tomorrow I'll be playing it on my red 3DS XL! Woo!

I played through the tutorial stages. It seems ok. Have to play more.

Played through the first stage, got 100%. Neat top-down puzzle game, and I've already scratched my head once or twice (though mostly because I'm still learning what the game rules are).

Count me as another newcomer joining this

Kangaroon is toast. I love the little cutscene when you reunite with a baby. I wonder if they all play out differently a la Super Mario World.
Hmm, seems I have a choice in the next level I tackle. I think I'll just do them in order.

@PogueSquadron




Edit - HAHA! Level 2 actually teaches about the B button peeking mechanic. The sign says "Be a Peeping Tom." Good times.

Whoops! I must've missed the peeking mechanic sign somewhere. That or I zoned out upon finding it.

I really enjoy the quick little scenes after you beat each stage too. The game has a surprising amount of charm to it, from the fun Treehouse dialogue to the quirky bosses/characters, to the animations and little "cutscenes" and such.

I think it was sometime around the second stage or so where the game really came together for me. Most of the first stage is essentially learning the controls, but the worlds get significantly larger after that, and it very quickly becomes standard that every room (minus the break rooms and such) contains a puzzle. It definitely reminds me a lot of Adventures of Lolo, a solid NES title, although Mole Mania has quite a few more puzzles than Lolo ever did, and some neat exploratory aspects in the scorekeeping system.

Be warned--the game gets surprisingly challenging. I'm in the later stages right now, and there've been quite a few rooms (ROOMS, not worlds) that have had me stumped for over half an hour. There're a lot of different levels to the mechanics of the game, but they're all introduced gradually so as not to overwhelm the player. The main overworld/underground concept alone takes a bit of time to get used to, which is probably why Level 1 has so much of a focus on that particular gameplay element.

Might as well put me on the playing list.

First level 100%'d. I can't wait for these puzzles to get more challenging

Oh and for an amusing little surprise you should try pestering the old mole after he gives you the heart if you haven't already, heh.