Mario's Cement Factory[a] is a 1983 LCD game developed and published by Nintendo under their Game & Watch series. It follows earlier Mario games, like the arcade and Game & Watch versions of Donkey Kong. Players control Mario as he navigates elevators and funnels cement through a factory, while trying to prevent the cement from crushing his fellow workers. Two versions of the game were released — a Table Top unit and a handheld game akin to most other Game & Watch titles. Development was headed by Nintendo R&D1, led by engineer Gunpei Yokoi.
Mario's Cement Factory puts players in control of Mario, who works at a cement factory where he funnels cement into cement trucks. Mario must navigate two dangerous elevators and avoid falling or being crushed and losing a life. He must also continually empty cement into the trucks, or else the cement will overflow and crush one of the workers below, which costs players a life. There are two game modes: A and B, the latter being faster paced and more difficult.[2][3][4]
Mario's Cement Factory was developed by Nintendo R&D1, which at the time was led by Gunpei Yokoi, and published by Nintendo.[5] Like all Game & Watch releases, each unit is a standalone portable device that doubles as a clock and can only play the one game.[6]Hirokazu Tanaka composed the game sounds.[1]
Two versions of the game were released. The first is part of the Game & Watch Table Top series and debuted on April 28, 1983. It has a full color illuminated screen, and approximately 250,000 models were produced.[7] The Table Top series did not sell as well, leading to Mario's Cement Factory being one of only four Table Top units ever produced.[8] A smaller handheld version was later released on June 8 that year as part of the New Wide Screen series. It has a monochrome screen with a color overlay, and approximately 750,000 units were produced.[9][10][11]
The game was released the same year that Nintendo's Famicom system debuted in Japan, and two years after the first Mario title (the arcade game Donkey Kong).[12]
Mario's Cement Factory has been re-released in various forms. It was included in the 1995 Game Boy Gallery for Game Boy, featuring updated graphics.[13][14] It was also re-released in the Nintendo Mini Classics line, which repackaged Game & Watch games in small Game Boy-like devices.[15][16] Both the New Wide Screen and an updated version were included in the 2002 Game & Watch Gallery 4 for the Game Boy Advance.[13] In 2009, the game was re-released for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare download service (along with other Game & Watch games).[17][18] The DSi version was released in Japan on August 18.[19] It was released in North America and Europe in March 2010.[17][20] The DSi version was also given as a reward on Nintendo's now-defunct Club Nintendo service.[21]
Mario's Cement Factory received generally positive reception, called one of the best Game & Watch games, and praised for its relative complexity and fun factor.[3][22][23] It was identified as a favorite by Wired writer Andy Robertson, and in a preview of Game & Watch Gallery 4, NintendoWorldReport writer Ben Kosmina expressed that he loved Mario's Cement Factory.[4][24] Staff for the magazine Video Games regarded it as a more difficult game than many before it.[25] It was also named the 10th best Game & Watch game in a survey of ITMedia readers.[26] Despite this positive reception, it received some criticism, considered primitive by the standards of today,[3][27] In a review by IGN writer Lucas M. Thomas felt that the controls were too "picky and precise".[28]NintendoLife writer Corbie Dillard noted it as being among the most popular Game & Watch titles, feeling that it's more playable and enjoyable thanks to the diversity of its gameplay. He noted that there may be nostalgia involved in the enjoyment of Game & Watch games, he legitimately had fun with the game.[29] It has been called one of the stranger entries in the Mario series.[30][31][32] Mario's role as a cement factory worker has been mentioned in multiple articles that cover the array of professions Mario has undertaken.[33][6]
The original units have become collector's items and, like many Game & Watch titles, a complete-in-box unit can sell for over US$100.[30][23] The game was featured in a Gunpei Yokoi exhibit in Harajuku in 2010.[34]
