Mario has died and ended up in Hot Evil Lava Land. The land's ruler, Flamington, explains that Mario ended up there because his bad deeds of knocking out his foes' minions greatly outweighed his good deeds of rescuing the Princess.
Flamington gives Mario a chance to leave Hot Evil Lava Land by going on several mock Princess rescue missions to tip the scales in a more favorable direction for him. Will Mario be able to escape?