Mangia is a video game for the
Atari 2600 developed by Spectravision and released in 1983. In the game the player must eat plates of pasta placed in front of him by his mother who will keep eating until his stomach explodes. He also has the option to throw plates of pasta to a cat in the window or to his dog that runs across the floor. If he is caught feeding pasta to the animals his mother punishes him—by giving him more pasta! Too much pasta piled up on the table will collapse the table, also ending the game.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Why is the boy's mother trying to feed him so much pasta?
- All There in the Manual: The cat is named Frankie and the dog is named Sergio, and the only place you see their names is in the manual.
- Big Eater: The boy, though he can't eat too much pasta before his stomach literally explodes!
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: The boy's punishment if he is seen feeding his pasta to the dog or cat is to receive three times as much pasta.
- Death by Gluttony: What happens to the boy when he eats too much pasta.
- Endless Game: The game only ends when you lose all your lives.
- Gory Discretion Shot: If this game was on a system more advanced than the Atari 2600, the game-ending scene of the boy's stomach exploding would be one of gaming's most violent Game Over scenes.
- Gratuitous Italian: "Mangia" is Italian for "eat".
- "Pop!" Goes the Human: Eating too much pasta will cause your stomach to explode.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: The game begins and ends with a chiptune version of the generic Italian song Tarentella Napoletana.
- Video-Game Lives: You lose a life if you stomach bursts from overeating or if the table collapses.
