YMMV / Mario '85

• Awesome Music: The frantic chase theme, remixed from Doki Doki Panic/Super Mario Bros. 2.
• Broken Base: The decision to have the victim be a child. On one hand, there are people who are fine with this as it shows how dangerous MX is. On the other hand, there are people complaining that having an 8-year-old character be the victim is going way too far.
• Cliché Storm: Non-fans tend to have this opinion of the game, as it was released at a time where many people considered the Mario.EXE formula (as well as the .EXE games in general) to be outdated, overdone, and no longer scary, and this game unfortunately plays too many of its tropes straight for a lot of said people not to lump it in with the rest.
• Crosses the Line Twice: In the April Fools update, Nekoamon's extreme juggernaut nature should normally make him intimidating, but the extremely over-the-top nature of what he does to reach Lucas (such as destroying an entire section of the ground, uppercutting a pipe off Lucas' body, falling on Lucas at impossible speeds when he's below him while he's jumping) make him hilarious to watch. Makes sense, since he's a Syobon Action character and the update was for April Fools.
• Fanfic Fuel: Considering MX targets only children, how would the game's events play out if the victim was an adult?
• Fan Nickname: MX is commonly referred to as "Lord MX", calling back to Lord X from the Sonic PC Port.
• Fridge Sadness: Let's just say Uncle Mark is not going to be happy when he finds out about what happened to his nephew.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With Sonic PC Port due to MX and Lord X canonically being good friends. The fact that Mario 85 was originally based on Sonic PC Port also helps.
  • With Friday Night Funkin', as several mods of Friday Night Funkin’ for MX have been made.
• Funny Moments: MX falling into a pit, only to leap right back out unharmed to continue the chase? Terrifying. Him punctuating this by cheerfully yelling out "WAHOO!"? Hilarious.
  • Although the April Fools demo ends with the player falling off the level just as they reach the pipe, the end screen shows them and Nekoamon playing a game.
  • A mod of the original game with MX Promoted to Playable has the pre-chase cutscene play out as normal, only for the iconic catchphrase to be interrupted by a Record Needle Scratch as it pans to the real MX, who is just upset that the buildup was ruined, before just transforming immediately.
  • Newer demos of the first level allow Lucas to fight back against MX to an extent by using the game's inertia physics against him, and even let you jump on him to punish his approach. The creators have likened it to Lucas crossing-up MX on a basketball court until MX's ankles shatter from the strain.
• Memetic Molester: Considering that, according to Word of God, he targets ONLY children and isn't interested in adults, MX was bound to be hit with audiences interpreting him as a pedophile.
• Narm Charm: The cheery music from the original game plays at times that kills the scary atmosphere, yet is also out-of-place enough to take on its own creepiness, such as when the "low time" sound effect plays when you're told to "RUN!" from MX, or when the original "game over" music plays as you see Lucas's head on a stake.
• Signature Scene: The entire chase sequence, but especially MX’s “Innocence won’t get you far” line and the grisly display that quickly follows.
• Tear Jerker: Lucas' eighth birthday basically ends up getting ruined as soon as he starts up the game he received, getting killed by an elliptic seizure, having his soul stolen by MX, and being forced to die over and over, with no way of escaping, and he's only an innocent child...
• The Woobie: Lucas. He gets his soul stolen by MX and stuck in a twisted, nightmarish realm with no way of escaping, and it's confirmed that he died of epilepsy right before that. Not only that, this all happened on his eighth birthday. The poor kid just wanted to play a video game...

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