Are You Smarter Than Mario?

Are You Smarter Than Mario?
Developer	Mike Dobbins
Platform(s)	Adobe Flash
Rating(s)	N/A
Mode(s)	Single player
Input	Mouse

Are You Smarter Than Mario? is an online Adobe Flash game. It was created for internal use at Nintendo in 2008. The game tests players' knowledge of Nintendo trivia and promotes upcoming games for the Nintendo DS and Wii.

Gameplay

The game is a quiz game inspired by the game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?. The player chooses one of five categories: Games, Characters, Nintendo History, People, and Places. The game is themed as a Nintendo DS quiz game, featuring the questions and answers on a DS, and replacing the player's cursor with a Nintendo DS Stylus.

Once the player chooses a category, they are presented with a question from that category. On the left, there is a column of blocks with numbers ranging from 1,000 to 1,000,000, emulating another game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where the player has a chance to earn more money or stop with what they have. Each time the player answers a question correctly, one of the blocks turns opaque, starting at the bottom and moving towards the top. The game is completed after the player correctly answers eleven questions in a row and fills in all of the blocks. If the player gets a question wrong, however, they are presented with a Game Over message and sent back to the title screen. The Game Over theme from Super Mario Bros. also plays, which is notably a MIDI arrangement, rather than the original game audio.

On the right of the DS is a picture of Mario with a block beneath him saying "Ask Mario?", referencing the part of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? where the contestants can ask one of the kids for help. If the player clicks on this block, Mario says "Okey-dokey!", but offers no actual help pertaining to the question.

Each category contains 6 questions, except for the Places category, which contains 7 questions. If the player answers all of the questions in a category, that category is no longer selectable. If the player gets a question wrong or wins, the game does not refresh the selection of questions, meaning that if a category was emptied during the game, it will not be selectable during the next game. The only way to refresh the questions is to click the "Start Over" button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

Questions

The following list of questions is sorted by category, with each category sorted by the order in which questions from that category appear. This is dictated by the order of the questions in the XML file main_us.xml, which is used by the game to store the questions. Answers formatted in bold are the correct answers.

Games

1. Q: Which Fall title for Wii will allow you to speak to your friends through Nintendo Wi-Fi connection?

A. Mario Super Sluggers

B. Wii Speak

C. Animal Crossing: City Folk

2. Q: What game is this song from?

A. Ice Climbers

B. Wrecking Crew

C. Kid Icarus

3. Q: What do you use to capture Pokémon^a in Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia?

A. Poké Ball^b

B. Capture Stylus

C. Ranger Capture

4. Q: Which set of DS titles would be the best recommendation to a non-traditional gamer?

A. Clubhouse Games, Mystery Case Files, Brain Age 2

B. Grand Theft Auto DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Advance Wars

C. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart DS, Kirby Superstar^[sic] Ultra

5. Q: What activity is not included in the new seasons feature of Animal Crossing: City Folk?

A. Catching Fireflies in the summer

B. Trick-or-Treating on Halloween

C. Snowshoeing in the winter

6. Q: How many instruments does Wii Music offer?

A. 60+

B. 2

C. 756

People

1. Q: Who is the developer behind the Mystery Case Files series?

A. Big Boi

B. The Notorious B.I.G.

C. Big Fish Games

2. Q: Who is the Nintendo Executive known for saying "I'm about kickin' [___], I'm about takin' names"?

A. Reggie Fils-Aime

B. Chuck Norris

C. Cammie Dunaway

3. Q: Wii Music will be one more Holiday hit to add to which designers^[sic] portfolio?

A. Justin Timberlake

B. Shigeru Miyamoto

C. Mugatu

4. Q: Gamers first heard the iconic voice of Mario in Super Mario 64 as voiced by Charles Martinet. Where would gamers have heard Charles' voice prior to the launch of Mario 64?

A. As the announcer on the game show, Let's Make a Deal

B. As Michael Douglas's father in the movie, The Game

C. As the M.C.P. in the movie, TRON

5. Q: Who plays the most important part in expanding the gaming audience?

A. Oprah

B. Chuck Norris

C. The Game Crazy Associate

6. Q: According to Twin Galaxies, who is the current record holder for most points in Donkey Kong?

A. Billy Mitchell

B. Steve Wiebe

C. Mario

Nintendo History

1. Q: The Nintendo DS launched in which year?

A. 2006

B. 2004

C. 2008

2. Q: Nintendo has long been in the business of making games. What is the name of the type of game that Nintendo was originally associated with?

A. Hanafuda

B. Donkey Kong

C. Mario Bros.

3. Q: Since the series' beginning on the PC in 2005, Big Fish Games estimates that this many people have downloaded a trial version of Mystery Case Files?

A. 1 million

B. 100 million

C. 10 million

4. Q: What was the code name for Wii while it was in development?

A. Best Selling System Ever

B. Pay Day

C. Revolution

5. Q: What was Nintendo's first home console named in Japan?

A. The Family Computer

B. Nintendo Entertainment System

C. Nintendo

6. Q: In the Legend of Zelda series, the three pieces of the Triforce are

A. Justice, Strength and Wisdom

B. Wisdom, Power and Courage

C. Magic, Wisdom and Bravery

Characters

1. Q: Which Character is starring in his first side scrolling adventure on Wii this Fall?

A. Wario

B. Yoshi

C. Luigi

2. Q: How many games has Mario appeared in?

A. 150+

B. 200+

C. 471

3. Q: Which Holiday Music Title features Mii's^[sic] as the characters?

A. Wii Sports 2

B. Wii and You

C. Wii Music

4. Q: What is the name of the Nintendo character pictured

A. Pit

B. Captain Olimar

C. Kid Icarus

5. Q: Name this Character?

A. Jiggly Puff^[sic]

B. Kirby

C. Pinky

6. Q: Which of the following characters is playable for the first time in Super Smash Bros Brawl?

A. Pikachu

B. Wario

C. Donkey Kong

Places

1. Q: Coming in November you will be able to explore the region of Almia in which game?

A. Almia 64

B. Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

C. Almia Crossing

2. Q: Where is Nintendo of America's headquarters located?

A. Redwood City, CA

B. Redmond, WA

C. New York, NY

3. Q: In Animal Crossing: City Folk, what is the unique area you can now visit called?

A. Tacoma

B. Wilsonville

C. The City

4. Q: In which level of Super Mario Bros. can you earn nearly infinite lives?

A. 3-1

B. 5-2

C. 3-2

5. Q: In Mario Kart Wii, which track do you need to navigate around cows?

A. Udder the Bridge

B. Moo Moo Meadows

C. Heifer Highway

6. Q: In Super Mario Bros, where in the Mushroom Kingdom do you hear this music?

A. The Overworld

B. The Underworld

C. The Fortress

7. Q: Where in the United States can you use your DS to order a hotdog?

A. The Nintendo World Store

B. Safeco Field

C. Weinershnitzel

^aErroneously displayed as "Pok魯n" in-game; however, the 魯 character is not supported by the in-game font, and is simply omitted, making instances of "Pokémon" appear as "Pokn".
^bErroneously displayed as "Pok頂all" in-game; appears as "Pokall".

Gallery

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  Sample question

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  When the player gets a question correct

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  When the player gets a question incorrect