History Platform / GameAndWatch

When ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' came out, there was a strange character that nobody except the most hardcore of Creator/{{Nintendo}} fans recognized. His name was [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Marth]].

''[[{{Beat}} ...]]''

[[BaitAndSwitch No, the other one]]. We're talking about the guy that NOBODY recognized, or at least remembered. He was Mr. Game & Watch, a [[CompositeCharacter representation]] of one of the first popular handheld video game consoles: ''Game & Watch''.

[[BaitAndSwitch No, the other one]]. We're talking about the guy that NOBODY recognized, or at least remembered. He was Mr. Game & Watch, a CompositeCharacter representation]] of one of the first popular handheld video game consoles: ''Game & Watch''.

Dozens of different models were produced, with later series trying concepts such as a [[Platform/NintendoDS DS-like]] two-screen clamshell ("Game & Watch Multi Screen") or two attached controllers for multiplayer games ("Game & Watch Micro Vs.") The Game & Watch sold ~43 million units, helped popularize handheld video games, started Nintendo's near-monopoly on handhelds, and contributed to Yokoi's ascent within Nintendo, where he would be instrumental to many well-known projects.

* ''Ball'' (1980): The very first game. The player has to juggle a number of balls in the air. Re-released in ''Game & Watch Gallery 2'', ''VideoGame/GameBoyCamera'', and on UsefulNotes/DSiWare, and was a reward offered through Club Nintendo.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' (1982): Practically the same as the arcade game. Playable in ''Gallery 2'' and ''4''. The D-Pad was created especially for this game, and would be used in virtually every game system, Game & Watch and otherwise, afterward.
* ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' (1982): Appears in ''Game & Watch Gallery 3'' and ''4''.

For information about the series' gameplay, go [[VideoGame/GameAndWatch here]]. The ''VideoGame/GameAndWatchGallery'' series has its own trope page.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Ball'', the first of the Game & Watches.]]

[[BaitAndSwitch No, the other one]]. We're talking about the guy that NOBODY recognized, or at least remembered. He was Mr. Game & Watch, the ''Smash'' [[CompositeCharacter representative]] of one of the first popular hand held game series: ''Game & Watch''.

Back when Nintendo was in its early days of video game making, Creator/GunpeiYokoi saw a businessman playing with his LCD calculator on his way home. This inspired him to make a watch that doubled as a game to kill time with. Thus the Game & Watch, a small[[note]]the earliest models were 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.2 cm (3.7 x 2.5 x 0.5 inches) and weighed 48 grams (1.7 ounces)[[/note]], portable video game console that could also display the time, was born. The games were simple even by '80s standards, but this was a huge innovation, and it sold well. The Game & Watch was Nintendo's first major video game success (there was the long-forgotten Platform/ColorTVGame home console and a few arcade games, but with [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong one exception]], nothing came out of them.) Dozens of different models were produced, with later series trying concepts such as a [[Platform/NintendoDS DS-like]] two-screen clamshell ("Game & Watch Multi Screen" or two attached controllers for multiplayer games ("Game & Watch Micro Vs.") The Game & Watch helped popularize handheld video games, started Nintendo's near-monopoly on handhelds, and catapulted Yokoi to a high position in the company.

Later, various games were remade into the ''VideoGame/GameAndWatchGallery'' series for Nintendo Game Boy, and there have been further remakes as well.

* ''Ball'' (1980): The very first game in the series. The player has to keep a number of balls in the air. Re-released in ''Game & Watch Gallery 2'', ''VideoGame/GameBoyCamera'', and on UsefulNotes/DSiWare, and was a reward offered through Club Nintendo.

* ''Greenhouse'' (1982): Playing as a gardener, the player guards precious flowers from insects. Playable in ''Gallery 3''.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI Zelda]]'' (1989): Another condensed version of the console game; the only Game & Watch title featuring Link, a definite ending and the ability to continue should the game be over as a result of the player character's death. Appears as the final game in ''Gallery 4''.
* ''Mario the Juggler'' (1991): The very last game in the series. A remake of ''Ball'' with Mario in it.

When the Game & Watch celebrated 40 years in 2020, the same year ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' celebrated 35 years, a new Game & Watch system released which contained ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' as well as a special version of ''Ball'' starring Mario. One year later, another new Game & Watch would release for the 35th anniversary of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' which was bundled with ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', the original Game Boy version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', and a special version of ''Vermin'' starring Link.

[[BaitAndSwitch No, he's not the guy we're talking about today]], we're talking about the guy that NOBODY recognized, or at least remembered. He was Mr. Game & Watch, the ''Smash'' [[CompositeCharacter representative]] of one of the first popular hand held game series: '''[[CharacterTitle Game & Watch]]'''.

Back when Nintendo was in its early days ([[LongRunners early for video games]], at least), Creator/GunpeiYokoi saw a business man playing with his LCD calculator on his way home. This inspired him to make a watch that doubled as a game to kill time with. Thus the Game & Watch, a watch and a game that looks slightly like a calculator, was born. It helped popularize handheld video games, started Nintendo's monopoly on handhelds, and catapulted Yokoi to a high position in Nintendo. From that position, Yokoi would create the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/DrMario'', and ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', before the... [[ObviousBeta unfortunate mistake that the executives made with the]] UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy. In fact, the Game & Watch was Nintendo's first major success in the world of gaming (there was the long-forgotten Platform/ColorTVGame home console and a few arcade games, but with [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong one exception]], nothing came out of them). Also, one of the templates for the Game & Watch was used in UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. So, if you ever owned a handheld, you know who to thank now.

* ''Mario the Juggler'' (1991): The very last game in the series. ''Ball'' with a ''Mario'' twist.

Back when Nintendo was in its early days ([[LongRunners early for video games]], at least), Creator/GunpeiYokoi saw a business man playing with his LCD calculator on his way home. This inspired him to make a watch that doubled as a game to kill time with. Thus the Game & Watch, a watch and a game that looks slightly like a calculator, was born. It helped popularize handheld video games, started Nintendo's monopoly on handhelds, and catapulted Yokoi to a high position in Nintendo. From that position, Yokoi would create the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/DrMario'', and ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', before the... [[ObviousBeta unfortunate mistake that the executives made with the]] UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy. In fact, the Game & Watch was Nintendo's first major success in the world of gaming (there was the long-forgotten UsefulNotes/ColorTVGame home console and a few arcade games, but with [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong one exception]], nothing came out of them). Also, one of the templates for the Game & Watch was used in UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. So, if you ever owned a handheld, you know who to thank now.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Ball'', the first of the Game and Watches.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Ball, the first of the Game and Watches.]]

Back when Nintendo was in its early days ([[LongRunner early for video games]], at least), Creator/GunpeiYokoi saw a business man playing with his LCD calculator on his way home. This inspired him to make a watch that doubled as a game to kill time with. Thus the Game & Watch, a watch and a game that looks slightly like a calculator, was born. It helped popularize handheld video games, started Nintendo's monopoly on handhelds, and catapulted Yokoi to a high position in Nintendo. From that position, Yokoi would create the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/DrMario'', and ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', before the... [[ObviousBeta unfortunate mistake that the executives made with the]] UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy. In fact, the Game & Watch was Nintendo's first major success in the world of gaming (there was the long-forgotten UsefulNotes/ColorTVGame home console and a few arcade games, but with [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong one exception]], nothing came out of them). Also, one of the templates for the Game & Watch was used in UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. So, if you ever owned a handheld, you know who to thank now.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' (1986): A condensed version of the NES game. Introduced the AutoScrollingLevel to ''Mario'', which would be embraced by future games in the main series.

* ''Ball'' (1980): The very first game in the series. The player has to keep a number of balls in the air. Re-released in ''Game & Watch Gallery 2'', ''VideoGame/GameBoyCamera'', and on UsefulNotes/DSiWare, and has been recently re-released through Club Nintendo.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1100412-game_and_watch_super_8101.jpg]]

!!!!Some of the popular Game & Watch games:

[[BaitAndSwitch No, he's not the guy we're talking about today]], we're talking about the guy that NOBODY recognized, or at least remembered. He was Mr. Game & Watch, the ''Smash'' [[CompositeCharacter representative]] of one of the first popular hand held game series: '''[[CharacterTitle Game & Watch.]]'''

Back when Nintendo was in its early days ([[LongRunner early for videogames]], at least), Creator/GunpeiYokoi saw a business man playing with his LCD calculator on his way home. This inspired him to make a watch that doubled as a game to kill time with. Thus the Game & Watch, a watch and a game that looks slightly like a calculator, was born. It helped popularize handheld video games, started Nintendo's monopoly on handhelds, and catapulted Yokoi to a high position in Nintendo. From that position, Yokoi would create the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/DrMario'', and ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', before the... [[ObviousBeta unfortunate mistake that the executives made with the]] UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy. In fact, the Game & Watch was Nintendo's first major success in the world of gaming (there was the long-forgotten UsefulNotes/ColorTVGame home console and a few arcade games, but with [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong one exception]], nothing came out of them). Also, one of the templates for the Game & Watch was used in UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. So, if you ever owned a handheld, you know who to thank now.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' (1982): Practically the same as the arcade game. Playable in ''Gallery 2'' and 4''. The D-Pad was created especially for this game, and would be used in virtually every game system, Game & Watch and otherwise, afterward.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' (1989): Another condensed version of the console game; the only Game & Watch title featuring Link, a definite ending and the ability to continue should the game be over as a result of the player character's death. Appears as the final game in Gallery 4.

When the Game & Watch celebrated 40 years in 2020, the same year Franchise/SuperMarioBros celebrated 35 years, a new Game & Watch system released which contained ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' as well as a special version of ''Ball'' starring Mario. One year later, another new Game & Watch would release for the 35th anniversary of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' which was bundled with ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', the original Game Boy version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', and a special version of ''Vermin'' starring Link.

When the Game & Watch celebrated 40 years in 2020, the same year Franchise/SuperMarioBros celebrated 35 years, a new Game & Watch system released which contained ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' as well as a special version of ''Ball'' starring Mario. One year later, another new Game & Watch would release for the 35th anniversary of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' which was bundled with ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', the original Game Boy version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', and a special version of ''Vermin'' starring Link.

When the Game & Watch celebrated 40 years in 2020, the same year Franchise/SuperMarioBros celebrated 35 years, a new Game & Watch system released which contained ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' as well as a special version of ''Ball'' starring Mario. One year later, another new Game & Watch would release for the 35th anniversary of ''Series/TheLegendOfZelda'' which was bundled with ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'', ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'', the original Game Boy version of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', and a special version of ''Vermin'' starring Link.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This page is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1609335312016075600&page=1 under discussion]] in the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1597830869030327400&page=1#1 Trope Repair Shop]].]]]]]]

The ''VideoGame/GameAndWatchGallery'' series has its own trope page.

Back when Nintendo was in its early days ([[LongRunner early for videogames]], at least), Creator/GunpeiYokoi saw a business man playing with his LCD calculator on his way home. This inspired him to make a watch that doubled as a game to kill time with. Thus the Game & Watch, a watch and a game that looks slightly like a calculator, was born.

Think it's boring? Think again. It was so entertaining, the success of this game helped popularize handheld video games, started Nintendo's monopoly on handhelds, and catapulted Yokoi to a high position in Nintendo. From that position, Yokoi would create the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/DrMario'', and ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', before the... [[ObviousBeta unfortunate mistake that the executives made with the]] UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy. In fact, the Game & Watch was Nintendo's first major success in the world of gaming (there was the long-forgotten UsefulNotes/ColorTVGame home console and a few arcade games, but with [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong one exception]], nothing came out of them). Also, one of the templates for the Game & Watch was used in UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. So, if you ever owned a handheld, you know who to thank now.

The games consisted of you controlling some guy doing some simple task, whether it was rescuing people jumping out of a burning building with a trampoline in ''Fire'' (you had to bounce them three times before they'd get to the ambulance), or moving a single manhole cover in ''Manhole'' to make sure people don't fall down as they walk across holes. Points were awarded each time you prevented disaster (such as when someone successfully walked across the gap in ''Manhole''), and should you fail, you were marked with a miss. After three misses, your game was over. The game would [[DifficultyByAcceleration speed up and get more difficult as you went on]], but there were methods to clear your misses, usually [[EveryTenThousandPoints after two, five, and seven hundred points]] or similar. The Game and Watch Gallery series would usually throw you a heart you'd have to catch once you broke the point marker.

Oddly enough, they were [[AmericansHateTingle a major hit in Japan but relatively unsuccessful in the US]], to the point where they never became as popular or widespread overseas. Part of this was due to bad marketing (Nintendo of America used their own employees in commercials) and part of it was due to Nintendo not understanding how the toy industry worked, since they had marketed the Game & Watch machines as toys rather than consumer electronics. This was a mistake they made only once -- their next attempt at American video games was with the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, and we all know how well that went. On the other hand these games became [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff a smash hit in the]] [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]], where the localized versions was license-produced as UsefulNotes/ElektronikaIM. [[labelnote:Very interesting fact:]]While Nintendo bought rights from Elektronika to make ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'', Elektronika grabbed the Game & Watch concept, so it's not exactly known if it was done with Nintendo's permission or not.[[/labelnote]]

The games were rereleased on a series of UsefulNotes/GameBoy games called the ''VideoGame/GameAndWatchGallery'' series. These games featured several ''Game & Watch'' games in sets of four with both the old unaltered version and a new better looking version featuring the staple ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' cast as well as a couple of bonus features. These games tracked high scores separately for either version. This was actually one of the first {{video game remake}}s for a console game (albeit handheld), long before the days of the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] and UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance. Several ''Game & Watch'' games (in their original forms) were later released as part of UsefulNotes/DSiWare, with much more faithful graphics than the Game Boy editions thanks to the DS's increased capabilities. Two ''Game & Watch Collection'' compilations were also released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS through Club Nintendo, each featuring three games from the series, including an original mix of ''Parachute'' and ''Octopus''.

The mascot himself is a bit of an enigma. Still, we have some information due to his role in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games. [[FlatCharacter As far as we know, he has no personality]]. Because of this, he's Nintendo's first [[TheEveryman everyman]], as Mario's a year younger than him. By WordOfGod, he's TrueNeutral, as he has no understanding of good or evil. He may be a DiscoDan, as he still speaks [[TheUnintelligible in calculator beeps]] (with the exception of the "present" section in ''Game & Watch Gallery 4''), he uses LimitedAnimation and he and his tools remain two-dimensional (except for a manhole cover). This probably isn't his fault; no game designer wants to be the one who updates him and [[TheArtifact gets attacked by his fans]]. His fighting style is, more or less, a mix of ConfusionFu and {{Hammerspace}}. And that's all we know about the monochrome enigma. But if you'd like to apply some tropes to him, head on over to his ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' character page [[Characters/SuperSmashBrosMelee23To26 here]] and add them there.

Recently, the brand name has had talk of being revived in yet more crossovers, one known as ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'' and another called ''VideoGame/GameAndWario'', both for the UsefulNotes/WiiU. Also, a new, fully-playable MiniGame in the style of the originals is present as one of the visualizations available in the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS's "Nintendo 3DS Sound" app, which involves a Mr. Game & Watch darting around to bounce a soccer ball off of its head. In 2020 a Game & Watch would release of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' which also included ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' and a Mario-skinned version of ''Ball''.

----
!!Tropes that apply to the original handhelds:
* AirborneMook: ''Climber'' has bat bird things called eyeroms.
* AllThereInTheManual: The plot to later games such as ''Zelda'' and ''Climber'' are hidden in their manuals.
* AmusingInjuries: A miss in a game that involves people usually results in this.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: In ''Mario Bros.'', if you fill the truck or drop a case the game pauses for a quick animation (of the brothers on break until the truck returns, or the foreman reprimanding the brother that dropped the case, respectively). When the game resumes, any cases that were close to falling off the conveyor belt mysteriously disappear, giving you slightly more time to get back into your rhythm.
* ArtShift: The designs varied from game to game, from ultra-stylized (''Helmet'', ''Fire'') to comparatively detailed (''Fishbowl'', ''Snoopy Tennis''), and from monochrome with a white background to a black background and simple color in the tabletop and panorama series.
* AttractMode: Time Mode, when the game's ''just'' being a watch, plays animations from the game. This is absent in the ''Gallery'' series, but present in the [=DSiWare=] releases. The Game & Watch Soccer visualization in ''Nintendo 3DS Sound'' works the same way, the game playing itself until controls are initialized.
* BalloonBelly: If you drop food in Chef, it becomes a large meal for a mouse who gets fatter upon eating it. Misses are also represented by bloated mice.
* BookEnds: The first game in the original line was ''Ball''. The last was its UpdatedRerelease, ''Mario the Juggler''.
** ''Ball'' would later be re-released via Club Nintendo in 2010, making it, technically speaking, both the first and last Game & Watch game ever made.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: ''Helmet'' was released as ''Headache'' in the United Kingdom due to vulgar connotations with the former title in that country.
* CanonDiscontinuity: Unsurprisingly, the Game & Watch variant of ''Zelda'' is not a part of the ''Zelda'' timeline.
* CatsAreMean: The one in ''Chef'' who shows up only to shove a fork in one of the falling food items and mess up your timing.
* CigarFuseLighting: A hazard in ''Mario's Bombs Away''. [[SarcasmMode That guy lounging in the corner is a real help]].
* CleverCrows: One appears in Game B of ''Rain Shower'' [[{{Jerkass}} just to tug on your clothesline]].
* ClumsyCopyrightCensorship: The Tabletop version of ''Mario's Cement Factory'' originally had [[Music/{{Queen}} "Another One Bites The Dust"]] as its opening jingle. Later revisions swap this out for a generic jingle.
* ContinuingIsPainful: ''Gold Cliff'' and ''Zelda'' each have a Continue button that lets you pick up from a game over. However, your score resets to zero.
* CoveredInGunge: Results in a miss in the following games.
** Letting pedestrians fall in an open sewer in ''Manhole''.
** Throwing oil onto customers in ''Oil Panic''.
** In ''Mario's Cement Factory'', letting one of the mixers overflow and drop cement on one of the truck drivers.
* CowardlyLion: The player character of ''Climber'' is clearly scared out of his wits, but is fully capable of making it through his circumstances.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: ''Climber''[='=]s manual calls the Condor "the mysterious bird Hentori". "Hentori" is Japanese for "strange bird".
* DifficultyByAcceleration: As you progress. Then it slows back down to the first level when you get your score high enough, likely throwing off your tempo.
* DifficultyLevels: This is typically the difference between Game A and Game B. The [=DSi=] remakes even have a Score Select feature to play at any [[DifficultyByAcceleration speed]].
* DolledUpInstallment: ''Egg'' and ''Donkey Kong Circus'' have Disney-fied versions starring Mickey Mouse, both simply having his name as the title.
* DoWellButNotPerfect: Keeping the cats subdued is easier but you can only get points in ''Lion'' by stopping them right on the verge of escape.
* DropTheHammer:
** ''Vermin'' has you dropping two hammers.
** ''Judge'' awards points for either hitting the other player with your hammer or dodging theirs, depending on whether or not they drew a higher number.
** Bluto has a hammer when appearing from the left side in ''Popeye''.
** Hammers are literally dropped in ''Helmet'' and you must dodge them alongside other discarded tools.
** A hammer is used to bash attackers and knock away their projectiles in ''Fire Attack''.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Applies to the ''Silver'' series of games which have limited LCD capabilities. Some of them have odd rules as well.
** ''Ball'' gives you no second chances; if you drop a ball, the game is over. Also, catching a ball in Game A is worth one point, ten in Game B.
** ''Flagman'' is two different games: In A, you repeat a sequence the flagman gives you. In B, you are given limited time to press the same number as the one shown on the screen.
** In ''Vermin'' and ''Fire'', misses can't be cleared.
** In ''Fire'', points are awarded only if you bring a victim safely to the ambulance. In the wide screen remake, catching someone with the life net is worth one point, and misses are cleared at 200 and 500 points.
** ''Judge'' ends when one player reaches 99 points. Game B is the only two-player ''Game & Watch'' title outside of the ''Micro Vs.'' series.
* EndlessGame:
** The extreme simplicity of a Game & Watch game meant that there's no story or a victory condition. Only an aim for the highest possible score until you failed three times.
** Averted with ''Judge'' and ''Zelda''. The former ends when one player reaches 99 points, and the latter is won once Zelda is rescued.
* {{Engrish}}: The majority of the instructions; this [[http://www.gameandwatch.com/screen/widescreen/fireattack/images/screen.gif scan]] provides a good enough example. Averted with games launched after the NES, as their marketing became more global, the translations improved.
* EpicFail: There are plenty of ways to get a miss and defy common sense in the process, given that the situations are rather bizarre. A good example is in ''Bomb Sweeper'': accidentally blocking the path to the bomb will make the player wait until the bomb goes off and kills him!
* EurekaMoment: Meta example; Gunpei Yokoi watching a bored businessman play around with a calculator.
* ExplosiveStupidity: Not only can the smoking soldier [[CigarFuseLighting blow up the bomb in your hands]] in ''Mario's Bombs Away'', but Mario also has to dodge the oil spill he keeps setting ablaze.
* FiremansSafetyNet: You have to move one around in ''Fire''.
* FloatingLimbs: Due to system limitations, limbs on characters are not always fully attached in the earlier games, most obviously with ''Ball''.
* ForeignRemake: Some of the UsefulNotes/ElektronikaIM titles, most famously ''Nu Pogodi'', of ''Egg'', as detailed above.
* {{Golem}}: ''Climber'' has brick monsters called blockmen who fill in gaps in the path you can jump or fall through, namely by deposing of themselves to become new brick path.
* HitPoints: In ''Boxing''.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In ''Safebuster'', you're a bank guard defending against a bank robber trying to blast open a vault door. If you dump the robber's bombs into the furnace rather than into the empty bunker, you can send some nasty cinders up the chimney and into the robber's crate of unlit bombs. This will set off all the bombs and send the crook flying away.
* InNameOnly: ''Mario Bros.'', which took place a factory with conveyor belts rather than a sewer that could be run through.
* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Of the twelve titles released after 1985, eight of them have only one game mode: the last two Multi-Screen games ''Gold Cliff'' and ''Zelda'' and both Crystal and New Wide Screen versions of ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''Climber'' and ''Balloon Fight''. ''Gold Cliff'' and ''Zelda'', two of the last games in the series, are the only ones with a Continue option.
* LimitedAnimation: The handhelds used the same architecture as a calculator, so animation in any real sense was not supported at all, only fixed frames which "filled in" at different times.
* LockedDoor: Most of the difficulty of ''Helmet'' comes from not being able to manually open the door and it not staying open very long.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: High-speed acrobatics just to keep your clothes dry in a rain storm? Taking care of garden pests with a giant mallet? Yes, please.
* MythologyGag: ''Mickey and Donald'', with Mickey and WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck tasked with putting out a fire in a burning building, is strongly reminiscent of the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts cartoon ''"Mickey's Fire Brigade"''. To further drive this home, Mickey's sprites are based on his classic 1930's design.
* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: Mario has been a packager, cement factory worker, soldier in Vietnam, [[UpToEleven a lot more things than he even normally is]]. That's not even taking the ''Gallery'' series into consideration.
* NoEnding: As simple as the games are, did you really expect one? ''Judge'' and ''Zelda'' are the two exceptions.
* NoNose: The sailor giving you instructions in ''Flagman'', the exterminator the player controls in ''Vermin''.
* NoOSHACompliance: Where do we start...?
** ''Helmet''[='=]s entire premise is that careless construction workers are just casually dropping their tools. You're a fellow worker who can hardly get from one office building to another without getting his head smashed in because of it.
** ''Manhole'' has massive gaping holes in busy bridges that anyone can [[TooDumbToLive and does]] just fall through to the water system below. You and the manhole cover you carry are the only reason why everyone there isn't soaking wet.
** The kitchen in ''Chef'' has a cat and a mouse who have sneaked inside.
** ''Oil Panic'' has a gas station that has a big enough structural fault to where gasoline is constantly leaking from the ceiling. Oh yeah, and it immediately catches fire if it hits the ground. And the disposal crew is just above the customers.
** The titular cement factory in ''Mario's Cement Factory'' functions thanks to its open elevator shafts that barely stay in one place long enough for the worker to get on. They're lethal if you misstep.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: The Condor of ''Climber'' that carries you to new areas should you reach it. Sometimes you have to catch a sword to chase away a dragon first.
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Fail to catch a civilian on remakes of ''Fire'', and they just storm off in a huff. On the original ''Game & Watch'' games, it's all but said that the civilians die if you fail to catch them.
* OlderThanTheNES: By five years. In fact, by a month it's older than ''VideoGame/PacMan''.
* OneHitPointWonder: Mr. Game & Watch and his few fellow playable characters, with few exceptions.
* PaletteSwap: Sort of. ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Egg'' are the exact same game bar the unit's colours and the character you control, and they were even released on the same day.
* ParachuteInATree: A definite possibility in ''Parachute'''s Game B.
* PlayerVersusPlayer: Whenever it didn't adjust DifficultyLevels, Game B started a multiplayer game, such as in ''Judge'', ''Donkey Kong 3'' and ''Boxing''.
* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The panoramic games ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Donkey Kong Circus'' open with "Pop Goes the Weasel".
* RuleOfFun: Most of the premises of the games have {{Mundane Solution}}s to them. But then there wouldn't be a game to play.
* RuleOfThree: Getting three misses in most titles will cause your game to be over!
* TheSavageIndian: With torches, trying to burn down your fort in ''Fire Attack''.
* ScavengersAreScum: The mouse waiting to steal your food in ''Chef''
* ScoringPoints: Almost all of them have this as their primary goal.
* SideView: Almost all of them, with few exceptions. [[PaperPeople Mr. Game & Watch HAS no front side, after all]].
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: In ''Oil Panic'', one way to get a miss is by dousing a female customer with oil.
* SpikesOfDoom: Thorny/brambly vines/roots hang down in climber.
* SpiritualSequel: ''Climber'' is basically a simpler sequel of ''VideoGame/IceClimber''.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: The magic sword in ''Climber''. It's an endless game like the rest, so you'll end up getting it several times.
* TemporaryPlatform: The ''Turtle Bridge'' turtles dive if a fish swims under them, resulting in you falling in the water if you remain standing on or jump where they once were.
* TentacleRope: This is how you lose divers in ''Octopus''.
* TentacledTerror: The antagonist of ''Octopus'' is terrifyingly huge, or should be [[{{Greed}} but]] your divers keep going back in the water with it and refuse to return to the boat if they are not holding treasure.
* TheDragonslayer: The player character in ''Climber''.
* ThreateningShark: In ''Parachute'' and ''Life Boat'', people who fall in the water get eaten by a shark. In the former, grinning sharks represent your misses.
* TooDumbToLive: The civilians in ''Manhole'' will walk right into an open pit. That's why it's your job to make sure that they don't.
* UpdatedRerelease:
** ''Mario the Juggler'' to the original ''Ball''.
** The earlier ''Wide Screen'' series were mostly just variants of the ''Silver'' and ''Gold'' line up with some nicer visual touches and a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin bigger screen]]. These include ''Fire'' and ''Manhole''.
** The ''New Wide Screen'' and ''Crystal'' models, launched later in the Game & Watch's lifespan, are re-releases of some of their more popular and in-depth games, such as ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''Manhole'' and ''Climber''. They typically incorporated newer technology for the screen as well as making it bigger.
** The Mini Classics line-up, again taking the most popular games and putting them in a scaled-down Game Boy style casing with a key-chain. They were first released back in 1998, although Nintendo ''still'' allows companies to produce them to this very day.
* UnwinnableByMistake: In ''Squish'', you control a character who is trying to avoid getting squashed by randomly generated moving walls. The walls will sometimes spread across the entire screen, rendering misses unavoidable.
* UrExample: Of the handheld video game console, of the D-pad (''Donkey Kong'')...
* UseYourHead: Your player character uses his head in the lower left corner of ''Manhole'' to keep pedestrians from falling.
* WhackAMonster: ''Vermin'' is a variation of the ever popular whack a mole.
* WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath: How misses in ''Fire'' are represented. ''Gallery'' remakes change this to the fallen person walking away and the miss icon becoming a bandage.
* WormSign: You get a miss if you fail to stop a mole in ''Vermin''. Thankfully you can see them coming.
* WrapAround: You can and often have to do so in ''Climber''. Bluto uses this against you in ''Popeye''.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In ''Safebuster'', you're a bank guard defending against a bank robber trying to blast open a vault door. If you dump the robber's bombs into the furnace rather than into the empty bunker, you can sent some nasty cinders up the chimney and into the robber's crate of unlit bombs. This will set off all the bombs and send the crook flying away.

* NoEnding: As simple as the games are, did you really expect one? 'Judge'' and ''Zelda'' are the two exceptions.

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Of the twelve titles released after 1985, eight of them have only one game mode. The last two Multi-Screen games ''Gold Cliff'' and ''Zelda'' and both Crystal and New Wide Screen versions of ''Super Mario Bros.'', ''Climber'' and ''Balloon Fight'' all have no Game B. ''Gold Cliff'' and ''Zelda'', two of the last games in the series, are the only ones with a Continue option.

* ContinuingIsPainful: ''Gold Cliff'' and ''Zelda'' each have a Continue option where you can pick up from a game over, but your score resets to zero.

* ThreateningShark: In ''Parachute'', grinning sharks represent your misses.

* ContinuingIsPainful: ''Gold Cliff'' and ''Zelda'' each have a Continue option where you can pick up where the game ended, but your score resets to zero.