Mary-Kate and Ashley: Magical Mystery Mall

They Thought I Was You

DISCLAIMER: We had an audio malfunction while recording, so the quality of the audio in this episode isn't great. But the conversation is, so please bear with us!
On October 27, 2000, Mary-Kate and Ashley released their first video for PlayStation, Mary-Kate and Ashley: Magical Mystery Mall. They already had some success with their Gameboy games The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley and Get a Clue, and Dance Party of the Century for PC, and this game ushered in a wave of games for more advanced systems.
Neither Lani nor Becca has a PlayStation, so we couldn't play this game ourselves, but luckily we found a playthrough of the entire game on YouTube. So today, we review this game from its promising opening scene to its nonsensical final game. We also talk about how companies poorly marketed video games to girls in the early 2000s, the prevailing tendency to make low-quality games for girls, and how that fed into the toxic gaming culture of following decades.
Ultimately, there are parts of Magical Mystery Mall that are genuinely lovable and hilarious like any good Mary-Kate and Ashley movie, and parts that completely missed the mark and left us disappointed and frankly a little sad. But most of all, even through the terrible graphics and cringeworthy soundbites, Mary-Kate and Ashley's je ne sais quoi that makes everything they touch turn to gold still comes through.
You can watch all of the playthrough and the full video version of this podcast by subscribing to our Patreon here.
Find us on Social Media!
Instagram: @theythoughtiwasyou
TikTok: @theythoughtiwasyou
Becca: @beccaroth
Lani: @laniharms
Did you play Mary-Kate and Ashley's video games? Email us at: [e-mail]

Support the show