Release: June 16, 1982
Sales: >1, 000, 000
Model Number: ML-102
Mario’s Cement Factory is a Game & Watch game released as a part of the Table Top series on April 28, 1983 and as a part of the New Wide Screen series on June 16, 1983. It was the first game in the Table Top series. It is a single-screen single-player Game & Watch. Hirokazu Tanaka composed the game sounds.
Mario’s Cement Factory was a game developed by Nintendo R&D1 and first released in 1983 for the Game & Watch Tabletop series. The game was soon after released as part of the Game & Watch New Wide Screen series, and also as part of the Mini-Classics series in 1998 (a set of four Game & Watch games ported to small keychain-bound handhelds). It was also released as part of the Game & Watch Gallery series for the Game Boy and has a DSiWare release.
In this game, the player assumes the role of Mario, working in a cement factory. The player must empty cement from the hoppers into the cement trucks below. A conveyor belt at the top moves cement into hoppers which can only hold three loads at a time. An alarm sounds when one has been filled to capacity. To move Mario around the screen, the player must use elevators located at the center. If the player moves to the center when an elevator is not present, Mario falls to the bottom and loses a life. Losing a life may also occur if the player stays on the elevator too long, in which case Mario will either fall or be crushed.
There are safe zones at the top and bottom of the elevators allowing Mario to hang without danger of being hurt.
The game includes two game modes, Game A and Game B. By selecting Game B, the player begins at a higher difficulty level than Game mode A. It was also the 7th Mario game.
Mario’s Cement Factory was recreated in Game Boy Gallery for Game Boy and Game & Watch Gallery 4 for Game Boy Advance. It was recreated as a DSiWare game that was released for Nintendo DSi on August 19, 2009 in Japan, on March 22, 2010 in the United States, and March 26, 2010 in Europe; and for Nintendo 3DS on July 7, 2011 in Europe. It was also rereleased as part of the Nintendo Mini Classics.
In the Super Smash Bros. series, Mr. Game & Watch grabs opponents with a similar pose to how Mario grabs levers, referencing Mario’s Cement Factory.