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Mario Teaches Typing
A Walkthrough by Michael Gray
AKA The Lost Gamer ([email protected])
Copyright 2011


For a list of all my various guides, check
http://the_lost_gamer.tripod.com/guides.html


Table of Contents:
001.  General information
002.  Menus and Options
003.  Video Walkthrough
004.  Walkthrough
  004a. Level One: Outside
  004b. Level Two: Underwater
  004c. Level Three: Underground
  004d. Level Four: Practice
  004e. Level Five: Progress Report
005.  Credits



001-General Information
---------------------------------------------------------

This is a walkthrough for the 1992 educational game called 
Mario Teaches Typing. This game is designed to teach 
children how to type on a computer keyboard, and it stars 
the Nintendo mascot, Mario.

To contact me, use my email address,
[email protected]

002-Menus and Options
---------------------------------------------------------

This game has three menus, with various options and 
functions. You can either access these menus manually, with 
the computer mouse, or you can press a button.

The file menu has these options:

About [a]
Help [f1]
Demo [d]
Keyboard [f2]
Music [m]
Sound effects [s]
Speech [g]
Quit [q]

About shows you the game credits.
Help gives you information about the game.
Demo will let you watch one of four demos for the game, one 
for each of the four levels. Press 1 to see the demo of 
level one, press 2 for the demo of level 2, and so on.
Keyboard lets you see a picture of the keyboard.
Music turns the background music on or off.
Sound effects turns the sound effects on or off.
Speech turns the speech (brief sound clips of Mario's 
voice) on or off.
Quit lets you quit the game.

The student menu has these options: 

New [w]
Load [l]
Edit [e]
Lesson Times
Certificates

New lets you create a new student file.
Load lets you load a saved student file. The game 
automatically saves every time you complete a level.
Edit lets you change characters. You can also change your 
WPM goal.
Lesson Times tells you how long each level is.
Certificates lets you print out certificates. If you beat 
any of the first three letters, you can print out 
certificates for them. 

The lessons menu has these options:

Home Row
Add Top Row
Add Bottom Row
Add Numbers
Add Symbols
All Keyboard

These control which typing lessons you will go through 
during the game. They determine which part of the keyboard 
you will focus on, during the first two levels.

003-Video Walkthrough
---------------------------------------------------------

Do you want to see this game being played, instead of just 
reading about it? Then check out my video walkthrough for 
the game, here: 

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6195A629CE9BDA5F

The video walkthrough comes complete with my live 
commentary.

004-Walkthrough
---------------------------------------------------------

On the right-hand side of the screen, there are five 
different levels for you to choose. If you haven't logged 
on as a specific student, then all five levels are open to 
you.

If you're playing as a specific student, levels one, four 
and five are always open to you. You have to unlock levels 
two and three through the power of good typing!

004a-Level One: Outside
---------------------------------------------------------

The outside level takes place outside, where Mario runs 
over the ground, jumping to smash blocks and land on 
Koopas.

There will be a star over a block or a koopa. Your goal is 
to press the key that corresponds with the letter 
highlighted by the star. For example, if the star is over a 
"C" block, press the "C" key to destroy it.

At one time in the level, a special block will appear, 
floating on the screen. Press the key for that special 
block to see a scene of Mario getting some coins in the 
sky.

The first time you go through level one, you will only have 
letters from the middle row of the keyboard. The next time, 
letters from the top row are added. The time after that, 
the bottom row is added.

You can adjust which parts of the keyboard you will see 
through the lessons menu. There are six lessons in all, and 
each time you beat the level, you progress to the next 
lesson.

Level one lasts for two minutes, and the WPM goal is 5. If 
you don't type over five words per minute, Mario loses the 
level.

The way to progress to Level Two is by beating Level One, 
on the "All keyboard" lesson. If you really want to breeze 
through level one, use the lesson menu to start off on this 
lesson, instead of playing through the other six lessons to 
reach it.

004b-Level Two: Underwater
---------------------------------------------------------

In Level Two, Mario is swimming while being chased by an 
enemy. Level two differs from level one, in that you have 
to type out short words, not just random letters. Type the 
words as they appear on the screen.

Level Two lasts for five minutes, and the WPM goal is ten. 
If you don't type over ten words per minute, or one word 
every six seconds, you fail the level.

Just like in Level One, there are six different lessons, 
which focus on different parts of the keyboard. If you want 
to get through this level as quickly as possible, start off 
on the final lesson, the "all keyboard" lesson. When you 
beat the level on that lesson, you unlock level three.

004c-Level Three: Underground
---------------------------------------------------------

Level Three takes place in Bowser's Castle. Mario has to 
run past Whomps and quicksand to get through this level. He 
runs under a Whomp whenever he finishes a sentence, and the 
Whomps fall if you make too many typing errors.

There are still six types of lessons for this level, but 
you should probably set it to "all keyboard", the final 
lesson. To be honest, it doesn't matter which of the six 
lessons you play, because they are all exactly the same. No 
matter what, you will have to write out several sentences.

This level lasts for five minutes, and the goal is 30 WPM. 
If you don't type over 30 words per minute, or one word 
every two seconds, you fail the level. Beat this on the 
"all keyboard" level to win the game.

004d-Level Four: Practice
---------------------------------------------------------

Level Four is available at all times, during the game. It 
lasts for ten minutes, and it repeats the typing challenge 
for the lesson you are currently on. The only difference is 
that it lasts longer. 

Depending on how well you type, the picture of Mario will 
either be smiling or frowning.

004e-Level Five: Progress Report
---------------------------------------------------------

This technically isn't a level, but it is a progress 
report. Click on this, and you will see your various 
statistics, such as your average WPM total, your accuracy 
percentage, and the keys that you have the most problems 
with.

005-Credits
---------------------------------------------------------

This FAQ is copyright of The Lost Gamer, 2011.  If you want 
to use any part of this FAQ, ask me first (instructions 
under general information).