Mascots in Videoland

[vovat]

It's weird when a video game is a blatant commercial. And I'm not talking about simple product placement like the Pizza Hut billboards in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, or the can of Pepsi in Maniac Mansion. I mean a character or idea from commercials getting an entire game made around them. I remember when my brother rented the Cool Spot game, based on a 7-Up mascot that was omnipresent at the time. The Spot didn't really last that long as far as mascots go, especially when you consider that Lucky the Leprechaun has had the same shtick for almost fifty years. Since it and the Super Nintendo were both prominent around the same time, however, the Spot got a game. I don't remember it being either particularly good or bad, but simply a generic side-scroller. I do recall that it played on the use of the term "1Up" to refer to an extra life, and there was an item that would net you seven lives in one go. More recently, the Burger King and M&M's have featured in sports games. But this idea really goes back a long time, at least as far back as 1983, when a Kool-Aid Man game was released for the Atari 2600.

While the beginning does show the Kool-Aid Man crashing through a wall, I don't think he does that within the game itself, which seems like kind of a gyp. Isn't that like a Mega Man game without Robot Master weapons, or a Wolverine game where you can't use the claws? Then again, that probably WOULD have been the case if those games had been released on the 2600.


The Angry Video Game Nerd did a review of another mascot-centered video game, McKids:

Watch on YouTube

I'm sure plenty of people have pointed this out by now, but CosMc actually was in some commercials, I think in either the late eighties or early nineties. Still, I do think it could have used more classic McDonald's characters.


Also, don't forget about Yo! Noid, which I think I'm only aware of because I remember seeing it at a video store, but never rented it. It features the one-time Domino's Pizza mascot trying to save New York or something, even though he was an agent of destruction in the commercials. Actually, according to the Wikipedia article, this game has an interesting history. In Japan, it actually had nothing to do with pizza, but instead starred a ninja character. Why change a ninja into the Noid? I have no idea, but I guess Domino's had more disposable income back then.

I think, however, that there should be more games featuring long-standing mascots. Where's the video game about the dog with the record player, or the Morton's Salt umbrella girl? Actually, you know how they're coming out with a game involving Mickey Mouse in a cartoon wasteland, with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as the main villain? They should do something similar with commercial mascots. You know it would never happen, but who doesn't want the chance to stake Count Chocula and squeeze Mr. Whipple?

Comments

[burningofroissy.livejournal.com]

When you stake Count Chocula, does he turn into hot cocoa mix?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Probably. And I guess Fruit Brute must have been shot with a silver bullet, since you don't see him around anymore.

[eagledna.livejournal.com]

Just from the Noid video, I can tell that that music would have gotten very old very fast.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It definitely seems that way. Honestly, I found the video kind of tedious to watch.

[zimbra1006.livejournal.com]

I played the Cool Spot game and (believe it or not) really enjoyed Yo Noid as well as the SNES game with Chester Cheetah. Seriously though. I have a rom of Yo Noid on my computer. I still play it sometimes!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The actual stages of Yo Noid don't look too bad, but that card game looks pretty irritating. Or can you skip it?

I forgot that Chester Cheetah had a game. He actually seems like he'd make a better video game hero than most of these other mascots, since he has attitude and all that.

[zimbra1006.livejournal.com]

No, you could not skip the pizza tossing card game or whatever that was, but I don't think it went too excruciatingly long. I think it happened between every level. The levels themselves were pretty fun at times though, like this one carnival level.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It probably looks longer in the video, since the person who filmed it is playing it quite slowly.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

I've been waiting for Epic Mickey since I read about it in my brother's Game Informer. It sounds so... well... EPIC.

[revme.livejournal.com]

I remember having a actual computer version of the Noid game. Like, on floppies.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Which size floppies, though?

[revme.livejournal.com]

5 1/4", I'm almost certain.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I remember when we had a computer that only took that size of floppies. When software came on smaller floppies, my dad had to transfer the data over at work.