Dian Shi Ma Li ("Television Mari") is a Famicom game based on the Taiwanese "Xiao Ma Li" gambling machines, apparently made by "Namco Corporation" (although this is more than likely to be by Bit Corp. based on the quality and its similarity to Jackpot) in 1989. It is well-known for featuring Fortran (who is based strongly on Mario) and the phrase "Push Start To Rich".
Overview
Dian Shi Ma Li's Gameplay
The objective of the game is to gain as many credits as possible, mainly through betting on the numerous icons you'd find on a slot machine. The control system is awkward and like several Atari 2600 games such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, requires two controllers to play properly. Each button on the first controller (including the D-pad) is assigned to putting bet on a certain icon (i.e. The A button puts bets on the cherry icon) with the exception of Bar, which is done by pressing A on the second controller. Pressing B on the second controller will start the machine, which can also be done by betting 180 credits. Winning a bet triggers a primitive rendition of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and Fortran hitting a block. If the item that the pointer landed on appears above the block fortran hit the amount of credits won will be doubled. During or after this, pressing down on the D-pad will start the next round, while pressing up the game switches over to a card game where you have to guess whether the next card will be high or low, with 8 and lower being small and 9 and above being high. The player can gain double the amount of money they won if they guess right.
If the pointer lands on the coin item then the phrase "Push Start To Rich" flashes near the bottom of the screen and the timer (on the right of the gameplay image) is set to a certain amount of seconds, where tapping the start button makes Fortran jump into the block, gaining 10 credits everytime he does this. This part (as well as a high-resolution version of Fortran's idle sprite, and the normal sprite of Fortran) became a minor internet meme.
Trivia
- The unhacked release claims to be called "Big TV Mary Bar", made by Namco Corporation in Taiwan in 1989. It also includes the message "For Amusement only", which appears in Jackpot, made by Bit Corp.
- The main board looks somewhat similar to the one from Press Your Luck.
- The name of the game can be translated to "TV Mario".
- Idea-Tek released another Famicom adaptation of Xiao Ma Li, simply titled Xiao Ma Li.
- The dumped version of this game is a pirated version which removes the text on the title screen.
- Unused tiles within the game reveal the text "Fortran", assumed to be the name of the strange Mario ripoff. Fortran is one of the earliest programming languages that was "portable", or one that could be used on multiple machines.
- Fortran appears on the title screen of Super Mario IV, Grand Dad 7 and Mario Fighter III.
