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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@nate38 Yeah, I kinda feel the same way. I mean, on the boss of level 2, I admit that I died a couple of times just because I didn't realize what to do, but I think there's a better way than telling me exactly what I need to do. I mean, once I read the sign I beat him in literally 30 seconds. It was a pretty clever boss fight, so it's a shame they kind of spoil it for you. I hope this isn't the case throughout the whole game.

Good god I wish the Monster World IV had gotten that kind of participation.

When I heard about the game coming to the eShop, I decided to buy the original cartridge. This game was actually already on my master list of games that I plan to get at one point or another, even though I don't remember hearing about it. But I must have at one point. I got the cartridge so that I could play it on my Super Game Boy and bask in its nifty features, which are sadly missing from the eShop version. I've been playing it off and on since then so I'm a ways into it, but there's still more to go.

I had to participate to help with backlaugust withdrawal.

@Mop it up What are the Super Game Boy features, other than color?




Okay, so...the Jinbe statues are definitely peeing into their fountains, right? Am I seeing that right?

@PogueSquadron

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it more! I definitely agree about the game having more of an adventure feel than I initially expected. The puzzles are generally still self-contained (which is sort of a relief, as they can get challenging enough just being contained in their own rooms!) but the moments where you can traverse underground into another room are fun little bits of variety that give the game a slightly less linear feel without it getting too overbearing. Apparently this game uses the Link's Awakening engine.

@nate38

It's a surprisingly long game, especially after one expects all the stages to be about the length of the first one. The most recent stage I beat (6) took me over 3 hours! Thankfully, it keeps up the quality regarding the puzzles, although I do have one minor complaint about some of the later rooms that I'll mention once people get a little further.

@Guillaume

For me personally, the last few months were unusually busy (hospital visits, marriage, moving out), but if I had to guess why Mole Mania is getting more activity, it's probably the price. I admit that I'm a little bit of a cheapo and more willing to take a chance on a 3-4 dollar GB game than an 8-9 dollar Wii VC title. Then again, taking chances with games is how I stumble upon gems that I really like, such as ActRaiser, PiCTOBiTS, and Mole Mania. I enjoyed Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis) as well.

@TriforceBun

True, it's a bit much to ask people to pay $9 for a game that's very much like Adventure of Link, especially when they hate that game.

I... Adventure of Link? I'm not sure that I ever thought of that connection. I guess it is kind of similar... "overworld", 2D dungeons. Albeit the overworld is 2D, not map style.

But it is well worth $9. It's not just the best RGC game I've played (And I think I've done them all except 1 or 2?) but it's become one of my favorite games from that generation of games. I know it's not on SNES, but it feels like it should have been... an awesome SNES classic.

Still, can you really blame people for not recognizing it's greatness? I'd never heard of it before, and I'm not sure how such an awesome game exists that I'd never heard of. Other than the fact that I really just stuck to SNES back in those days.

@Zero

You can't see the relation despite 2D sidescrolling dungeons and the various moves the characters share?

No I said I never thought of it before. I kind of see it now. Hmm. I actually liked Zelda II, but I doubt I will ever finish it. This game does a better job of not starting you at the beginning of the game every time you die, which is to say it never does that at all.

Anyway I don't want to hijack this Mole Mania discussion thread...

@Guillaume Honestly I probably would have participated, but it happened at a time when I wasn't doing much gaming at all. I definitely plan on downloading it based on the AoL comparison alone (also a shit ton of praise about it).

So I finished the "Level 1" uh...world. I beat the first boss. I got that far. The game is alright. Not sure if I'm digging it (pun not intended) but I don't hate it. I'm looking forward to what the rest of the game has to offer.

I might fire it up again after 'Breaking Bad' tonight.

Stuck on the third boss, no idea what to do. Also, three squares on the map, including the bonus stage, seem to be inaccessible. I'm stumped!

@anon_mastermind What a coincidence, there's a sign giving a hint about the boss in the areas you haven't found.

There's an underground path to those three squares.

I looked in every adjacent square but I didn't see an underground path...I guess I'll have another look.

@Renjaku
I'm adding you to my friend list right now (my code's in my profile as well).

Edit: how did I miss that... *smacks self*

Alright, finally got a chance to start this game up, not knowing exactly what to expect the little I've seen, though I have wanted to play this game since it initially came out for Game Boy.

Just made my way through level 1 with 100 points, and I'm very impressed! What a clever concept this game has. Once the rules clicked in, the game became very interesting. I love the little peek move when you are underground. I also realize you can't just go digging holes everywhere since it can screw up your progress when you're dealing with those black balls.

The cut scenes are pretty funny, and Janbe is a strange villain indeed. Watching him pluck Muddy's kids out of the hole after bashing Muddy's wife...

@nate38
Those are definitely Jinbe pee fountains. YAY!

This may sound kind of strange, but I'm kind of eager to get the family back just for the sake of helping out Muddy. He seems pretty distraught about losing his wife and kids, and his tearful reunion with the kids at the end of each stage seals the deal for me. There's sort of a simple, charming little element there displayed in the animations and such.

@TriforceBun

You know we'll all be expecting Muddy to show up in a future BITF strip now, right?

Muddy needs to be an assist trophy in Smash Bros 4. Screw Resetti and his annoyingness, Muddy's the mole we need.