Mario's Time Machine (SNES)
This time, Bowser hatches a plan to steal some of history's most valuable artifacts for his collection. Mario gets to play temporal plumber in Mario's Time Machine, patching the holes Bowser makes in the space-time continuum so that time itself can flow naturally.
Interestingly, the aforementioned artifacts come from Earth's history, not the Mushroom Kingdom's. I guess that having such a game would detract from Mario's Time Machine's edutainment value that kids have been craving since Donkey Kong Jr. Math. I digress.
Once Mario returns fifteen artifacts to their proper owners, he almost makes it to Bowser. Bowser, who would rather run than confront Mario Polo (Marco Polo made Mario a member of his family), takes off in his time machine. But the time machine overloads!
Somehow, the developers figured this game needed two endings. If you return the artifacts in a random order, Bowser gets transported to the age of the dinosaurs, confused and panicking. Text comes up, telling you to return the artifacts in the proper order to see the real ending. Damn.
Returning the artifacts the way the powers that be intended still causes Bowser to return to the dinosaur era, only a massive dinosaur leg squishes him, and you get properly congratulated. Bowser pancakes, anyone?
