History YMMV / MarioTheMusicBox

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[CatsAreMean Len Alwena Foska]], the [[WickedWitch Witch of Fate]], is a sadistic MadScientist responsible for most of the events of the game. Having given the witch-hunting clergyman Marchionne Evangelisti a brooch that would grant him a wish should he be on the brink of death, knowing he will soon face execution, Len in return made Marchionne a test subject in her study of human nature. Responsible for the curse of the Aduraice Estate and Evangeline Town, and thus having a hand in all the deaths that followed, Len took to luring Marchionne's reincarnation, Mario, to the mansion to commence her experiments. Manipulating various timelines so that Mario dies countless times, even owning a pit filled with the plumber's many corpses, Len is even willing to intervene in her own experiments for sadistic glee. Creating a Wonderland dimension against Marchionne's wishes, Len orchestrates a series of tragedies that plague the land, while preventing Mario from breaking the cycle to further indulge in her experiments for as long as she likes.]]

* ''SugarWiki/FunnyMoments'': In a desperate moment to get away from an Alice-possessed Mario, Riba has multiple methods of hiding himself... including, in an act of ''sheer'' [[TooDumbToLive lethal stupidity]], taking a lampshade off of a lamp [[LampshadeWearing to wear and hide his face]] so he can act in the light's place. What follows is Alice's uncharacteristically [[SarcasmMode sarcastic]] and [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] remarks upon seeing Riba's "hiding spot", topped off by the look on her (rather, Mario's) face as she grabs the lamp cord.

'''Alice!Mario:''' Nice try, Riba.

** Then there is the [[spoiler: "Omitted Memory" ending, where Mario is forgotten as he never existed.]] To "celebrate" the 35th anniversary games of Super Mario being out of circulation, the youtube channel Music/SiIvaGunner made a event where [[spoiler: Mario vanishes, including Grand Dad and the sliders rips.]] Even the viewers behave like how they should.

** [[spoiler:Marchionne. He may be a fundamentalist KnightTemplar who started multiple crusades against witches, but he was lonely for most of his life due to his [[AbusiveParents parents]] forcing him to study everyday and not allowing him to get close with Luciano, thus he didn't have any friend. He found happiness when he had Luciano and Aurora on his life but all of that was ruined thanks for Riba and Alice's machinations, leading him to betray his twin brother (An act that he clearly regrets). When he was being ready to be executed by the guillotine, he can only mourn about his life before being beheaded.]]

** Furthermore, the inclusion of the Mario characters at all places this game, and its twists, in the same universe as ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', and ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'', which all touch on elements that are related to core concepts present in this game. [[spoiler: It's hard to take a character who made a Faustian bargain seriously when A. a Satan analogue is known to exist in the setting by the name of Bonechill, B. you've seen Luigi obliterate that guy in all of two seconds, and C. going to Hell and back wasn't even their most harrowing problem THAT DAY.]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Has been known to happen. If you're aiming for the "Missing" ending, which triggers the ''ARC'' Expansion, the story eventually becomes so relentless and depressing that it can turn people off. [[spoiler: Since it's based in the Bad Ending of the original Music Box game, Mario is fated to suffer in all endings. Even the happiest thing to a happy ending, the "No Save Ending" (where Mario manages to break the GroundhogDayLoop Len had trapped him in and lives happily with Luigi and Peach) feels bleak.]]

** A particular example are the Boos, particularly [[VileVillainSaccharineShow King Boo]]. The entire plot revolves around the Mario Bros. exploring [[HauntedHouse a ghost-infested mansion]], exactly the sort of scenario you'd expect to find Boos, and the game's DarkerAndEdgier take was noted by a few to be a perfect fit for a KnightOfCerebus such as King Boo. Much to said fans' dismay, the Boos are no-shows.

** [[spoiler:Marchionne. He may be a fundamentalist KnightTemplar who started multiple crusades against witches, but he was lonely for most of his life due to his [[AbusiveParents parents]] forcing him to study everyday and not allowing him to get close with Luciano, thus he didn't have any friend. He founded happiness when he had Luciano and Aurora on his life but all of that was ruined thanks for Riba and Alice's machinations, leading him to betray his twin brother (An act that he clearly regrets). When he was being ready to be executed by the guillotine, he can only mourn about his life before being beheaded.]]

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: A relatively humorless ExplorerHorror with extremely disturbing content, that just so happens to star [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Luigi]]. It's not everyone's cup of tea, with adults decrying how the ''Mario'' cast made it [[{{Narm}} impossible to take seriously]], and children being frightened away by it not going the DefangedHorrors route that ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' did, resulting in the game becoming a relatively obscure CultClassic.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: An relatively humorless ExplorerHorror with extremely disturbing content, that just so happens to star [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario and Luigi]]. It's not everyone's cup of tea, with adults decrying how the ''Mario'' cast made it [[{{Narm}} impossible to take seriously]], and children being scared away by it not going the DefangedHorrors route that ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' did, resulting in the game becoming a relatively obscure CultClassic.

* {{Narm}}: the fact that ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] characters'' are arbitrarily involved in story makes it somewhat laughable. Many people even question why Mario characters are involved in this game in the first place, commenting that nothing would change if they were original characters instead.

** Then there is the [[spoiler: "Omitted Memory" ending, where Mario is forgotten as he never existed.]] To "celebrate" the 35th anniversary games of Super Mario being out of circulation, the youtube channel [=SiIvaGunner=] made a event where [[spoiler: Mario vanishes, including Grand Dad and the sliders rips.]] Even the viewers behave like how they should.

* HilariousInHindsight: The shot of [[spoiler:a possessed Mario wearing a white gown]] brings to mind the Bridal Dress costume from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', a game which came out two years after this one and also features copious amounts of possessing other creatures and people (though this time Mario is the possess''er'' instead of the possess''ee'').

* HoYay: Between Mario and Riba, especially in the ''ARC'' Expansion, when it's revealed Mario is [[spoiler:the reincarnation of Marchionne, Riba's liege and ally. Riba recalls how orchestrating Marchionne's death was one of his biggest pleasures he ever felt. If Mario is kind to Riba, it results in the "Continueance" 3 and 4 endings, where Riba pulls a HeelFaceTurn and learns to care for Mario, becoming a true friend to him. Also, when Mario dies of an illness in the "Continueance 3" ending, Riba mourns him and comments how he came to care and love for Mario as much as he loved Elizabeth (his first wife.)...]]

* {{Narm}}: the fact that ''Mario characters'' are arbitrarily involved in story makes it somewhat laughable. Many people even question why Mario characters are involved in this game in the first place, commenting that nothing would change if they were original characters instead.

* MoralEventHorizon:
** Alice's massacre of the mansion residents, starting with Alfred, cemented her into the irredeemably evil person she is in-game. Also in the ''ARC'' Expansion, when she murders Riba's wife out of jealousy and tried to kill baby Anna as well.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The very execution of this game when it comes to depicting the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' characters (like Mario being able to die more easily compared to his canon depiction) and the {{Animesque}} [[OriginalCharacter original characters]] and artwork pretty much drive even ''Mario'' series fans away. Many people question why Mario characters are involved in this game in the first place, commenting that nothing would change if they were original characters instead.

* {{Narm}}: Going along with the AudienceAlienatingPremise, the fact that ''Mario characters'' are arbitrarily involved in story makes it somewhat laughable.

* SequelHook: [[TheStinger The "No Save Ending" of the ''ARC'' Expansion]], which sets up the plot of a future installment, titled "Mario: The Pocket Watch."

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Has been known to happen. If you're aiming for the "Missing" ending, which triggers the ''ARC'' Expansion, the story eventually becomes so relentless and depressing that it can turn people off. [[spoiler: Since it's based in the Bad Ending of the original Music Box game, Mario is fated to suffer in all endings. Even the happiest thing to a happy ending, the "No Save Ending" (where Mario manages to break the GroundhogDayLoop Len had trapped him in and lives happily with Luigi and Peach) feels bleak.]]

* FoeYay: [[spoiler:Alice seemed ''way'' too obsessive when it came to stealing Mario's body from him. Even after she was exorcised from him in "Omitted Memory", and the perfectly serviceable Luigi was present, she only shows an interest in taking the unconscious Mario's body. In the "Sealed" ending, she goes as far as to drag Mario's soul with her after having been successfully sealed back into the music box. Of course, she could have done that out of spite for losing, but it's definitely eyebrow-raising, seeing as how Mario would have been of no use to her by then unless she planned on devouring his soul.]]

* HoYay: Between Mario and Riba, especially in the ''ARC'' Expansion, when it's revealed Mario is [[spoiler:the reincarnation of Marchionne, Riba's liege and ally. It borders almost in FoeYay, with Riba recalling how orchestrating Marchionne's death was one of his biggest pleasures he ever felt. If Mario is kind to Riba, it results in the "Continueance" 3 and 4 endings, where Riba pulls a HeelFaceTurn and learns to care for Mario, becoming a true friend to him. Also, when Mario dies of an illness in the "Continueance 3" ending, Riba mourns him and comments how he came to care and love for Mario as much as he loved Elizabeth (his first wife.)...]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: This game is packed with surprisingly good art, especially the full-screen pictures.

** Then there is the [[spoiler: "Omitted Memory" ending, where Mario is forgotten as he never existed.]] To "celebrate" the 35th anniversary games of Super Mario being out of circulation, the youtube channel [=SiIvaGunner=] made a event where [[spoiler: Mario vanishes, including Grand Dad.]] Even the viewers behave like how they should.

** Then there is the [[spoiler: "Omitted Memory" ending, where Mario is forgotten as he never existed.]] To "celebrate" the 35th anniversary games of Super Mario being out of circulation, the youtube channel SiivaGunner made a event where [[spoiler: Mario vanishes, including Grand Dad.]] Even the viewers behave like how they should.