Mario Teaches Typing

Mario Teaches Typing is a licensed edutainment game developed and published by Interplay Productions. It is one of the few licensed Mario computer titles. Mario Teaches Typing was originally released for MS-DOS in 1992, and stored on. It was later released on for  and Macintosh in 1995. It is a typing tutorial game, as the name suggests. Mario Teaches Typing eventually spawned a sequel in 1996, Mario Teaches Typing 2.

The MS-DOS version is the very first Mario game in which Mario has lines. In that version, he was voiced by Ronald B. Ruben. He is voiced by Charles Martinet in the Windows/Macintosh port, and has remained Mario's voice actor since.

Gameplay
Most of the gameplay involves the player typing in a sequence of keys in correspondence to what the computer screen displays. When the game starts, the player is taken to a main menu. There are three dropdown menus, "File", "Student", and "Lesson".

The File menu has four main options, including the option to activate or deactivate sound effects and music: About, Help, Demo, and Quit. The first mode provides a single screen of the in-game credits, the second mode is essentially a summarized version of the manual, the third mode shows a gameplay demo for each mode. The last option is self-explanatory: it allows the player to exit the game (which is also doable with the 'q' key).

The player can create a new profile from the "New" option of the "Student" dropdown menu. Here, they must enter their name, select a playable character (otherwise known as their "teacher" from the report card): Mario, Luigi, or Princess Peach. However, none of the characters have unique abilities. Each profile has a "GOAL " parameter, which is five by default. The player can change the value to a different number, which is necessary to unlock some later modes. By default, these modes are inaccessible if the user does not log on to their profile. The "Student" menu also has the "Load" option for entering a student profile, the "Edit" option for editing their profile information, the "Lesson Times", which show the length of each lesson, and lastly "Certificates", which displays their certificate if they have earned one. The player can earn a certificate by completing every challenge; it displays the message "Congratulations!" with an ASCII art of Mario and the mode they most recently completed.

The third menu, "Lessons", has six options, all of which alter the keys that appear during gameplay. This especially occurs in the first mode, Outdoor World. The options include: "Home Row Only", "Add Top Row", "Add Bottom Row", "Add Numbers", "Add Symbols", and "All Keyboard". The latter most option adds the largest variety of keys during gameplay.

The main menu has five playable modes, each represented by an icon on the right side. To access a mode, the player can either click on the icon or type in the corresponding number displayed on it. The second and third mode are only playable if the player either has a high goal or reaches it. The fifth mode simply provides information of the player's in-game performance.

The first four modes have a dashboard on the bottom screen (except the fourth mode, Practice, which displays it on the top). It calculates the time, average WPM, incorrectly pressed keys, and the total of keys typed. The information on the fifth option's report card is based on the player's most recent performance per mode. In the first three modes, the player's character (Mario, Luigi, or Peach) cannot advance unless they hit the correct key. Each mode has a time limit which, when reached, redirects the user to a screen displaying their results. The screen shows Mario in a scholar outfit pointing a stick to the results on the chalkboard.

Story
A story was added into the CD-ROM release, which is missing from the original MS-DOS version. It is even shown from various animated cutscenes.

Mario and Luigi were walking by Bowser's Castle one day when they come across the Magical Typewriter floating in the air. Curious, Mario attempts to type on it. However, he proves to be a terrible typist:


 * Nok ix is tge the tine flfo4 for alll godd men to coome 2 too

Before Mario can go on any further, the Magical Typewriter explodes. In place of the typewriter is a scroll, which is also floating in the air. Mario takes the typewriter and sees a picture of three pieces of the Magical Typewriter and the words, "FIND ME..." Mario and Luigi decide to recover all of the pieces and improve Mario's typing skills.

As Mario stomps a Koopa Troopa, a Mushroom falls from the sky, then poofs into the first piece of the typewriter, which is added into the scroll. Mario and Luigi then walk up to the bridge over the river, only to find that there's a large gap in the middle of the bridge. As the brothers watch Cheep Cheeps leap from the river, Mario shrugs his shoulders and dives into the river, only to end up being chased by the Cheep Cheeps. Luigi eventually jumps on the Cheep Cheeps and dives in after Mario.

Mario and Luigi get chased by a larger group of Cheep Cheeps, disturbing a snoozing octopus. The octopus swims up and captures the Cheep Cheeps, saving Mario and Luigi. Mario and Luigi emerge at the other side of the bridge, and the octopus gives them the scroll, which now has the second typewriter piece.

Mario and Luigi then walk up to Bowser's Castle. They are surprised when the castle turns out to be alive, and swallows them. Inside Mario and Luigi run into a green ! Block that falls before them. Mario jumps on it, revealing the final typewriter piece, which is then added to the scroll. The Bros. then escape from the castle and find a piece of paper floating down towards them. Mario lets it drift into the scroll and the paper lands in the restored typewriter. The scroll turns back into the Magical Typewriter, and Mario types on it:


 * Now is the time for all good men to come to our aid and...

Mario pauses, and after a moment of glancing at Bowser's Castle, resumes:


 * ...destroy Bowser's castle!

A giant green ! Block suddenly falls from the sky and destroys Bowser's Castle.

Differences between versions
Aside from a story, the MS-DOS and CD-ROM versions have some differences but retain the gameplay features. A handful of additions and changes made to the CD-ROM release were made to accommodate its significantly larger storage size over a 3.5" floppy disk.

One notable change with is that the CD-ROM version features a rap song, "Practice Makes Perfect", playable from the main menu, under File. The user can also press "R" to play it. Practice Makes Perfect is stored on an audio CD portion of the disc. The player can also listen to the song by inserting the disc into a CD player.