Original airdate: October 19, 1991
The cave people are hooked on King Koopa's new fast food stand, oblivious that he has slipped a secret ingredient that turns them into Chickadactyls.
Tropes:
- Balloon Belly: Yoshi, Luigi, and Mario get distended bellies after they first visit Koopa's stand. The princess puts the three of them on a diet.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Koopa actually seemed to have a profitable, legit business going, which impresses the Mario Bros. Of course, Koopa just had to go turn everyone into Chickadactyls For the Evulz. The transformation was a side effect of the egg sandwiches Koopa sold, as he wasn't quite sure what to do when his customers changed.
- If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You: Mario says it outright when he, Luigi and the Princess are eating lunch:Mario: How come everything I don't like is good for me and everything I do isn't?!
- Karma Houdini: While his business gets ruined by Mario and Toadstool, Koopa still keeps all the money he conned from everyone.
- Nutritional Nightmare: The food from King Scoopa Koopa's fattens up anyone who eats it within minutes, and gets them hooked to the point where they're willing to spend every coin they have to obtain more.
- Only Sane Woman: Princess Toadstool, as per usual in this series, is the only person in Dome City who realizes that something's up with Scoopa Koopa's and refuses to touch a single bite of the restaurant's food.
- Properly Paranoid: Princess Toadstool is suspicious of Koopa doing honest work and refuses to eat his food. Turns out she made the right call when she learns of his actual plan involving secret sauce for his egg sandwiches. Mario, meanwhile, has only eaten the fries instead of the eggs, so he is not affected like his friends.
- Restaurant-Owning Episode: Koopa opens up a fast-food restaurant called Scoopa Koopa's and makes a lot of money from the cavepeople, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi. Unfortunately, anyone who eats the Egg Scoopa Koopa sandwiches gets turned into a Chickadactyl, and this gives Koopa the idea to open a Fried Chickadactyl restaurant, using his own customers as the food. Since Mario and Princess Toadstool didn't eat any of the Egg Scoopa Koopa sandwiches due to the former not liking eggs and the latter not eating Koopa's food at all, it's up to them to shut down Scoopa Koopa's and save their friends.
- Shout-Out: After Mario and Princess Toadstool defeat Koopa, the former tells everybody to eat some vegetables: "Dr. Mario’s orders!"
- Space Whale Aesop: Stay away from fast food or you'll turn into a crazed chicken-zombie thing.
- Stupidity-Inducing Attack: The egg sandwiches from Scoopa Koopa's turn those who eat them into Chickadactyls; one of the side effects is making them incredibly dimwitted, to the point where they become Third Person People.
- Team Rocket Wins: Although Koopa's restaurant gets shut down, he still gets away with the money he made off his restaurant.
- Too Dumb to Live: Mario, who's spent three series dealing with Koopa's evil schemes, thinks that he's trying to "make an honest buck for a change" with his Scoopa Koopa restaurant.
- Very Special Episode: On nutrition and obesity. This also touches on addiction when Luigi and Yoshi resort to desperate measures to pay for Koopa's food.
- A Weighty Aesop: Subverted. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi gain weight eating Bowser's fast food with the princess forcing them to diet. Then the episode turns into a Space Whale Aesop where the victims of Koopa's food turn into Chickadactyls.
