Mario Clock
- Not to be confused withNintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo.
| Mario Clock | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 For alternate box art, see therelated gallery. | |||||||
| Developer | Nintendo Software Technology Corporation | ||||||
| Publisher | Nintendo | ||||||
| Platforms | Nintendo DSi,Nintendo 3DS | ||||||
| Release dates | Nintendo DSi (DSiWare): April 1, 2009[1] June 15, 2009[2] July 3, 2009[?] July 3, 2009[?] January 21, 2010[3]Nintendo 3DS (eShop): June 6, 2011[?] June 6, 2011[?] June 6, 2011[?] June 6, 2011[?] | ||||||
| Languages | English (United States) English (United Kingdom) Japanese Chinese (Simplified) French (Europe) German Italian Spanish (Europe) | ||||||
| Genre | Educational | ||||||
| Ratings |
| ||||||
| Mode | Single player | ||||||
| Format | Nintendo DSi:  Digital downloadNintendo 3DS: Digital download | ||||||
| Input | Nintendo DS: Nintendo 3DS: | ||||||
| Serial code | KWBJ | ||||||
- Everyone
- All ages
- General audience
Mario Clock is aDSiWare alarm clock application styled afterSuper Mario Bros., released in 2009 for 200 DSi Points. It was also available on theNintendo 3DSeShop for $1.99 (USD). The application requires 24 blocks (3.0 MB) to be installed.
Up to three alarms can be set to playmusic themed to theSuper Mario franchise. For each alarm, the player can set its volume, which overrides the system volume, and whether to snooze, automatically cycling between one minute of alarm and four minutes of silence for an hour. Alarms will only work whileMario Clock is open, but they can play while the system is flipped close or otherwise placed into sleep mode. Alarms can be set for up to 23 hours 59 minutes ahead. If an alarm is set to for example 16:22 while the clock shows 16:22:15, the alarm sounds immediately.
The clock can be set to analog, 12-hour digital, and 24-hour digital display modes, all of which also show seconds. The default time is taken from the system settings. The application also shows the current date, day of the week, and battery charge; when the system is on very low power (blinking red LED on Nintendo 3DS), the graphics tint red.
The bottom screen will go dark after 30 seconds of no input, while the upper screen will also go dark after either five minutes, one hour, or never, depending on the "Energy Saving" setting in Settings. Both screens will resume displaying after touching the touch screen or pressing any buttons.
Gameplay[edit]
Mario Clock's gameplay takes the form of an auto-runner game based around accumulatingcoins. The player character canjump,dash, and grab coins,Super Mushrooms, andPoison Mushrooms. They will only stop running briefly after hitting ablock containingmultiple coins or a mushroom. For every 100 coins collected,Mario swaps out forLuigi, or vice versa, and their sprite appears over the numbers on the clock. When 1,200 coins are collected, they will arrive atWorld 8-4, andPrincess Peach will thank the player and introduce them to another quest. If the player does not press anything for a set amount of time, the application goes into an Energy Saving mode, turning off the Touch Screen, and the player character will stop to look around. Upon exiting to the system menu, the game shows totals of coins collected in the current game and across all games.
Controls[edit]
The player uses
to jump,
to dash, and the
to make selections on the Touch Screen. For an alarm in snooze mode, they must hold to cancel snoozing.
Stage themes[edit]
The stage theme changes for every 15 minutes that pass in real time. AFortress appears on every hour, and will play a level finish theme unless the system volume has been turned off.
- Ground: A normal ground stage, based onWorld 1-1 ofSuper Mario Bros.
- Ground (Night)
- Snow
- Snow (Night): A snow stage with a dark background, based onWorld 3-1 ofSuper Mario Bros.
- Coin Heaven: A Coin Heaven with many coins in it.
- Coin Heaven (Night)
- Underground: A dark underground stage, based onWorld 1-2 ofSuper Mario Bros.
- Bridge: A stage with many bridges and a ground made ofHard Blocks.
- Castle: Acastle with Bowser bridges and many coins.
- Princess Peach's stage: Based on World 8-4 ofSuper Mario Bros. Only appears upon collecting 1,200 coins in one game.
Characters[edit]
Playable[edit]
Supporting[edit]
- Princess Peach: Damsel in distress. Cameo appearance on the alarm screen.
Alarm screen[edit]
Items[edit]
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Coin | Collect 100 to change the player character. Collect 1,200 to save Princess Peach. |
 | Super Mushroom | Makes the player characterSuper. Only appears when they areSmall. |
 | Poison Mushroom | Makes the player character Small. Only appears when they are Super. |
 | POW Block | Collects every coin on the screen, and briefly knocks down the numbers on the clock. |
 | Starman | Displayed only on the alarm screen. |
List of alarm music[edit]
- Mario:Ground BGM
- Starman:Invincibility BGM
- Cheep-Cheep:Underwater BGM
- Sounds saved to Nintendo DSi Sound or Nintendo 3DS Sound
Staff[edit]
- Megumi Kurata
- Yoshinori Katsuki
- Masaaki Sugino
- Taiju Suzuki
- Tetsuya Sasaki
Profiles[edit]
Nintendo DSi Shop[edit]
- Nintendo DSi Shop description:
- English (United States):
Turn back time and enjoy a bit of classic game play based on the original Super Mario Bros. with Mario Clock. Help Mario and Luigi collect more coins than ever (POW block anyone?) while they run through a variety of stages. Gather enough coins and you'll be treated to another scene bound to bring back fond memories for many. Mario Clock includes both analog and digital clocks that use the system's internal clock or allow you to offset the time however you like. Program up to three alarms (with snooze functionality for those that need it) and assign them a Mario-related sound or use one created in the Nintendo DSi™ Sound application. You'll find yourself thinking "Just a few more coins..." in no time! - English (United Kingdom):
With Mario Clock, you'll always have the time wherever you go! Wake up with classic Mario music, or simply use the Nintendo DSi system as a desktop clock complete with a Super Mario Bros. background. You can even make Mario jump, bash blocks and collect coins!
Customise the clock to your liking: choose from analog or digital displays, 12-hour or 24-hour modes, and set up to three separate alarms with different NES-style Mario tunes or use your own saved sounds from the Nintendo DSi Sound application.
- English (United States):
Reception[edit]
Mario Clock received aGameRankings score of 35.00% from 2 reviews, and did not have enough critic reviews to receive a Metascore onMetacritic.
Corbie Dillard of Nintendo Life called the application "[a] waste of time", finding it "a bit more practical than the Animal Crossing Clock" but ultimately still redundant to the clock on the Nintendo DSi Menu.[5]
Craig Harris of IGN was extremely critical ofMario Clock, saying it is "not worth even the budget 200 points." He mainly criticized the application's uselessness in comparison toMario Calculator, and stated that "to have these two as individual 200 point downloads instead of combining them into one is just flat-out greedy." Harris called the gameplay "mostly stupid, pointless, and completely unnecessary, but at the very least it's sort of funny to see the numbers on the clock scatter when you hit a POW block."[6]
| Reviews | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release | Reviewer, Publication | Score | Comment |
| DSiWare | Corbie Dillard,Nintendo Life | 4/10 | "It's tough to criticize anything that features our beloved Mario, but as with the previous clock applications for the DSi you have to wonder what the point is in releasing a separate clock program, especially one that has to be launched in order to be used when there's a perfectly suitable clock on the DSi main menu that pops up as soon as you start up your DSi system. Sure, the Mario theme is cool and the ability to actually have some interaction with the experience makes it a bit more practical than the Animal Crossing Clock, but ultimately it's still not enough. Maybe at some point Nintendo will wise up and allow DSi owners to put these themed clocks on their DSi main menu screen, but until then, you'd be better off using the 200 Nintendo Points for something a bit more useful and fun." |
| DSiWare | Craig Harris,IGN | 3/10 | "I'm really hoping this is the last time I have to review something from the DSiWare store that's existence is absolutely pointless. I've already gone through the whole song and dance with the Animal Crossing Clock, and luckily Lucas agreed with me when he was put to the task of reviewing the Photo Clock, but now the same thing has to be said one more time: Mario Clock, not worth even the budget 200 points. The Mario Calculator is much more worthy of the premium, though there'd be far less room to complain if Nintendo just combined the two instead of making them individual purchases. Would it have killed you, Nintendo, to give us two things for the price of one?" |
| Aggregators | |||
| Compiler | Platform / Score | ||
| Metacritic | N/A | ||
| GameRankings | 35.00% | ||
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Mario Clock.
Gameplay
Active alarm
Analog clock
12-hour Digital clock
24-hour Digital clock
Multimedia[edit]
 Ground Theme - Used for theMario alarm | File info |
| Starman Theme - Used for theStarman alarm | File info |
| Underwater Theme - Used for theCheep Cheep alarm | File info |
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ニンテンドーDSi時計 ファミコンマリオタイプ[1] Nintendō DSi Tokei Famikon Mario Taipu | Nintendo DSi ClockFamicom Mario Type | |
| Chinese(Simplified) | iQue DSi时钟 红白机马力欧款[3] iQue DSi Shízhōng Hóngbáijī Mǎlì'ōu Kuǎn(Mandarin) iQue DSi Sìhjūng Hùhngbaahkgēi Máhlihk'āu-fún(Cantonese) | iQue DSi Clock Famicom Mario Edition | |
| French | Horloge Mario[7] | Mario Clock | |
| German | Mario-Uhr[8] | Mario Clock | |
| Italian | Orologio di Mario[9] | Mario's Clock | |
| Spanish | Reloj Mario[10] | Mario Clock |
References[edit]
- ^abニンテンドーDSi時計.Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Japanese). Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- ^Nintendo.com – Mario Clock – Game Info.Nintendo of America (American English). Archived June 19, 2009, 16:06:26 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- ^abiiQue DSi时钟.iQue (Chinese). Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^"This is an alarm clock application in which players can keep time, set an alarm clock, and view background images of the game Super Mario Bros." –Mario Clock - ESRB.ESRB. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
- ^Dillard, Corbie (June 16, 2009).Mario Clock Review (DSiWare).Nintendo Life. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^Harris, Craig (June 15, 2009).Mario Clock Review.IGN (English). Retrieved May 31, 2024.
- ^Horloge Mario™
- ^Mario™-Uhr
- ^Orologio di Mario™
- ^Reloj Mario™
External links[edit]
 | The Cutting Room Floor has an article onMario Clock. |
- Official Japanese website
- Official American website (Wayback Machine Archive)
- Official Chinese website
[Edit] Mario Clock | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Mario •Luigi •Princess Peach •Bloopera •Bowsera •Bullet Billa •Buzzy Beetlea •Cheep-Cheepa •Goombaa •Hammer Bro.a •Lakitua •Red Koopa Paratroopaa •Toada |
| Items and objects | ? Block •Brick Block •Bridge •Cloud Block •Coin •Coin Block •Fortress •Hard Block •Poison Mushroom •POW block •Super Mushroom •Starmana |
| Other | Gallery |
a Cameo appearance | |
