![Kool-Aid Man [Model 4675] screenshot](images/game/60901_1.png "Kool-Aid Man [Model 4675]")
Kool-Aid Man © 1983 Mattel Electronics.
It's the next best thing to two games in one! Except that you must play your way up through the first part before starting the second. There are 13 skill levels... including a super-easy level for the very young.
In PART ONE, two children are trapped in a haunted house. A pair of insatiable THIRSTIES keeps trying to catch them. You must help the children collect the makings for a batch of KOOL-AID... sugar & pitcher, plus a packet of KOOL-AID soft drink mix. When the children bring the makings to the kitchen sink, KOOL-AID MAN comes to the rescue!
PART TWO begins when KOOL-AID MAN breaks through a wall of the house! Now, you control KOOL-AID MAN. Points are won for making KOOL-AID MAN catch PHANTOM FLAVORS and the two THIRSTIES!
Model 4675
YOUR CONTROLS
KEYPAD 1, 2, 3, DISC: Select game speed
ANY KEYPAD KEY (1 through 9, CLEAR, 0, ENTER): Switch between boy & girl
ANY SIDE ACTION KEY: Pick up and set down
DISC: Move the children
On December 6, 1982, all of the programmers and graphic artists were herded into a conference room and shown a series of TV commercials -- the new Kool-Aid ad campaign. It was announced that Marketing had made a tie-in deal to release Intellivision and M Network Atari 2600 Kool-Aid Man cartridges. The games were scheduled to be ready in about 6 months, which meant that programming had to begin immediately. Worse, they wanted game-screen mockups to appear in the 1983 Mattel Electronics catalog at the Consumer Electronics Show -- one month away. A two-week contest to come up with the best game concept was announced. Separate ideas were developed for Intellivision and Atari 2600.
This led to a confrontation with Marketing. The programmers' viewpoint was that the features of a game should be tailored to the system it would be played on, to take full advantage of the system's strengths. Marketing, on the other hand, wanted games designed for multiple systems, with the features being the same on each system. If a game couldn't be ported to other systems, it shouldn't be done on any system.
The programmers argued that this meant all games would have to be designed for the lowest common denominator -- the Atari 2600. Marketing argued that keeping the features the same would make games easier to advertise and make word-of-mouth among customers more favorable.
This was the programmers' chance to make a stand, insisting that because of the tight schedule, the Intellivision and Atari versions of Kool-Aid Man would have to be developed independently and differently -- there was no time to create a design that could be implemented on both systems.
Reluctantly, Marketing agreed, and two entirely different versions of Kool-Aid Man were developed, designed to take best advantage of each system. The winning design for the Intellivision version came from programmer Vladimir Hrycenko. Steve Tatsumi did the design and program for Atari Kool-Aid Man.
Programming won the battle, but Marketing won the war -- they never again allowed different versions of a game tailored for different systems.
| All scoring happens in Part Two! | |
| * ALL PHANTOM FLAVORS worth | 10X NUMBER ON GAME CLOCK |
| * BOTH THIRSTIES work | NUMBER ON GAME CLOCK |
| Score is DOUBLED at the end of Part One if neither child has been immobilized by a THIRSTIE. | |
| All points are MULTIPLIED by the SKILL LEVEL of play when they were earned! (For example, if the SKILL LEVEL is 5 -- FIVE TIMES your point total for that round.) That GRAND POINT TOTAL is added to the points you've earned during lower levels of play. | |
* Use TWO hands. One on the DISC, The other on a SIDE-ACTION KEY. That way you're ready to MOVE the child and PICK UP the pitcher, sugar, etc.
* Complete Part One FAST! Then you'll have MORE SCORING TIME during Part Two.
* At HIGHER Skill Levels STAY AWAY from the THIRSTIES. As difficulty increases, THIRSTIES get smarter!
* In Part Two, keep KOOL-AID MAN close to the MIDDLE FLOOR of the house! This is the best place to catch the most PHANTOM FLAVORS!
Design: Vladimir Hrycenko, Mark Kennedy
Program: Mark Kennedy
Graphics: Monique Lujan-Bakerink
Game's ROM.
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