It's pretty rare for a Mario game to never leave Japan. The Italian-American plumber is Nintendo's most iconic mascot, and one of the most recognizable fictional characters in history. Over the years, some Super Mario spin-offs have been strange and even flopped commercially - but very few games haven't made it to the United States at all. Mario & Wario released in 1993, and its biggest claim to fame is that it was the first Mario game to never make it to the U.S.
Releasing on the Super Famicom in Japan, Mario & Wario was a puzzle game with slight platformer mechanics, and it had a strange premise. Players didn't actually play as Mario or Wario, despite the name of the game. Instead, Mario and his friends would have objects dropped on their heads from an airplane by Wario, who serves as the game's antagonist. With these buckets and other objects over their eyes, Mario and company couldn't see anything. Players controlled a fairy named Wanda, who had to lead Mario and the others safely through obstacles in order to advance levels.
The game's premise wasn't why Mario & Wario never made it stateside, though. Nintendo actually promoted the game in a 1993 issue of Nintendo Power, and through a cross-promotion with Kellogg's. However, the game never released in the U.S. or other Western countries like Canada and the UK (where it had also been promoted already). Years later, and now that Super Mario Bros. is celebrating its 35th Anniversary with releases like Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Mario & Wario is still one of the only Mario games to never get a localized release in the United States.
Why Mario & Wario Never Released In The United States
It might seem strange that Nintendo would spend money promoting Mario & Wario and then never release it. Even now, the only way to play it is on a Japanese Super Famicom, which makes it one of the toughest Mario titles to find and play. So, why exactly did Nintendo nix the whole thing? Officially, there isn't an answer, but the packaging and gameplay could hide the truth.
Developed by Game Freak, who went on to find immense success with its Pokémon franchise, Mario & Wario didn't use a regular controller for its gameplay. Instead, it used the SNES Mouse to let players click and drag their way through the game's various levels. In Japan, Mario & Wario came packaged with the SNES mouse, which wasn't very cost efficient. More than likely, this kind of unique packaging meant it wasn't financially worth localizing Mario & Wario in other countries. Shipping out a game with a new controller would really dig into profits, which is probably why Nintendo cancelled international releases of it.
Over the years, Nintendo systems like the 3DS, Wii U, and even Switch could've taken advantage of Mario & Wario's gameplay by using their touchscreens. However, no port of the game exists, and chances are slim Nintendo will ever re-release Mario & Wario on a modern console. For now, it's just simply remembered as the first Mario game to never come to the United States.