This ultra-rare game is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen on an Atari 2600. The word “mangia” (pronounced mon’ ja) is an Italian word meaning “to eat”. This unusual game is set in a kitchen, where a mother is serving pasta to her kid. The characters are huge and detailed, but somewhat creepy-looking. Each time the mom returns to the table, she heaps more food on the kid’s plate. As the kid, your job is to dispose of the food – any way you can! Sure, you can eat it, but if you eat too much your stomach will expand and eventually explode. That’s right – the game actually depicts the poor kid’s stomach bursting into a pixilated mess! Can you believe it? I’m telling you, Mortal Kombat has nothing on Mangia! Anyhow, to prevent this gruesome tragedy for occurring, periodically toss some of the food to the cat in the window or the dog under the table. The problem is, these pets only appear intermittently, and you can only toss the food when mom’s back is turned. If caught, she’ll bring THREE helpings of food at a time, and too much food will break the table legs, costing you a life. Doesn’t this game sound like a twisted nightmare? It reminded me a bit of the movie Seven. The controls utilize the joystick only (no fire button), with Street Fighter-like joystick sweeps used to sling food. Sound effects include an irritating ring that blares whenever the cat appears. A nice Italian song is played between levels, but you’ll soon get sick of it. Mangia’s gameplay held my attention a while, but after you get the hang of it, it gets really long and repetitive. I’ll give the game credit for being original (and somewhat disturbing), but it’s more novelty than anything else.

(from The Video Game Critic’s Atari 2600 reviews… sounds pretty good to me)