Kool-Aid Man Video Game

This was one of the great games of the Atari 2600 era. Kool-Aid Man brought all the fun of powdered soft drink mix to your home video game console. You played as Kool-Aid Man and had to defend a back yard swimming pool from the evil Thursties.

You couldn't buy this game in stores. The only way to get your hands on a copy were to save up points from the back of Kool-Aid packages. But this game was so special you couldn't even order it from the Kool-Aid catalog (which my mom did a lot of shopping from.) You had to get a special order form for the video game from a comic book. I remember standing in High's at the comic book rack looking through several books to find the special ad. We ended up buying a Return of the Jedi comic. Saving up the points to order the game was not a problem, as we went though Kool-Aid like Donald Trump goes through hair gel. My mom had an envelope bursting at the seems with Kool-Aid points, so we were able to send for our game right away.

The game itself is pure video game goodness. It starts out with a very quick intro of Kool-Aid Man busting through a wall...just like he did in all his commercials. Then you maneuvered Kool-Aid Man around the backyard and tried to stop the Thursties from drinking all the water out of the swimming pool. You couldn't touch the Thursties unless they dropped a straw into the pool and started sucking out the water. Every-so-often Kool-Aid Man could grab a packet of sugar which made him invincible for a few seconds.

As with all good video games, the objective never changed. You just kept grabbing Thursties until all the water in your pool was gone. The Thursties would move faster and faster, but the levels never changed! Eventually everything would move so fast the game would be over in a matter of seconds no matter how good a Kool-Aid Man you were! They really ought to update this game for the XBox 360 or PS2! I'm sure it would be a big seller!

By the way, have you seen Kool-Aid Man lately!? He's wearing a Hawaiian shirt and jeans now!?! Sure Kool-Aid Man, you're a giant glass pitcher of fruit punch...you don't need to accessorize!