Mario's Game Gallery is an MS-DOS game released by Interplay in 1995. As the name suggests, it's a compilation of games you play with Mario. There's five to choose from: Checkers, Go Fish, Dominos, Backgammon and Yacht.
In 1997, a Windows 3.1 and Macintosh version called "Mario's FUNdementals" was released under Interplay's "Brainstorm" division.
This game shows examples of:
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: The game is infamous for using this trope.
- In Go Fish, the game knows what's in your hand. More often than not, when you draw from the deck, the AI will call for what you just drew.
- Continue Your Mission, Dammit!: If you take too long on your move, Mario will get impatient and start complaining.
- Continuity Nod: The suit Mario wears on the title screen is reminiscent of the suit he wears on the box art for Super Mario All-Stars, minus the top hat.
- Couch Gag: Mario will always recommend a different game to play at the title screen.
- Covers Always Lie: The jewel case for FUNdamentals has a checkerboard with circular checker pieces. In the actual game, you play as either Yoshis or Koopas.
- Idle Animation:
- Mario taps his foot every once in a while on the title screen.
- During checkers, Mario will sweat if you're close to winning.
- Just Eat Him: In Checkers, Yoshis will eat Koopas alive when they jump over them.
- Luck-Based Mission: The entirety of Yacht.
- Luck Manipulation Mechanic: The entirety of Yacht.
- Malaproper: Mario (aside from the thick Italian accent) has a rather tenuous grasp on the English language in this game, leading to strange turns of phrases. For example of one such quirk, he'll often use "I'm-a" when he should be using "I" "I'm-a like-a [game of choice]" "I'm-a lost". Tellingly, this aspect of the way Mario talked was largely abandoned in the years to come.
- No Fair Cheating: Mario will say this if you try to cheat:Hey! That's not a legal move!
- Oh, Crap!: Mario will sometimes go "Uh-oh" when you jump one of his pieces in Checkers.
- Pun-Based Title: FUNdamentals, The word "fun" is in all caps to lampshade this trope.
- Tyop on the Cover: Bowser is misspelled "Bowzer" in the subtitles.
- Updated Re-release: Mario's FUNdementals has more polished graphics, new voice clips, and fixes a few bugs such as slowdowns.
- Viewers Are Geniuses: The game expects you to understand how to play Dominos and Backgammon, both of which are uncommon board games. The help menus don't help either.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Yacht is obviously Yahtzee, just renamed because it's the only game included to be trademarked. Mario even calls the game "Yacht-ee" hiding the trademark violation behind Charles Martinet's faux Italian accent.
