Follow this link for info about the review system. 1 = Terrible, 5 = Awesome!

After playing this, you know why there was a crash. Pitiful.

Graphics: 2 Sound: 2 Replay Value: 1 Notes: 1-player game; just awful. Did we really need this 'game'? Screen Shots

In the case of Kool‑Aid Man, we have a game whose Atari VCS version is truly better than the Intellivision version. In this game, which ostensibly you could only get by drinking an ocean of Kool-Aid and sending in a boatload of points, the goal is to... make a pitcher of Kool-Aid. OK, it's a bit more than that...

You and your sibling need to explore the house to locate a pitcher, the Kool-Aid mix, and some sugar. Take these things to the sink and mix up a batch of Kool-Aid. Whilst doing this, the vile, nasty, Thirsties try to catch you. After you mix up the Kool-Aid, you are treated with a dramatic animation of Kool-Aid Man crashing though a wall (one in your house?). Then you steer Kool-Aid Man himself to devour the Thirsties and other fruity treats.

Folks, this game is a lousy, stinky dog! The graphics are mediocre for the time (1983), and the sound as well. Gameplay is sad. The one interesting thing is the attempt at a slightly 3-D world, in that the house is drawn in a cross-section and you can move 'around' some objects and through doorways. That's it, IMHO. Otherwise, this game has no redeeming value. Games like this contributed to the crash.

OK, there's one slightly redeeming quality. If you wear the right 3-D glasses, the game is 3D!

As to the alleged rarity of this game, I don't know. Given that this title is relatively easy to pick up, I'm curious to know how many copies were made, and whether they were dumped into the market later on. I've never seen a white label version of this (can't imagine why Intellivision, Inc. would have paid to renew that license), but they did manage to make two versions of the manual. Has anyone out there spotted any non-Mattel releases (e.g. DigiPlay, I.I., Bandai)?

Only one version of the box has been found for Kool-Aid Man.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	4675-0210	1983		Origin is not printed on box, but generic copyright info printed on back; opens on bottom flap—not a book-style box; has barcode on back

A total of two Kool-Aid Man manual variants have been documented.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	4675-0920	1983	U.S.A.	Note erroneous FOR 1 OR 2 PLAYERS on the front—Kook-Aid Man is a 1-player game
	Mattel Electronics	4675-0920-G1	1983	U.S.A.	Number of players on front cover fixed; also note the L001-A on the back—was this one of the earlier manuals to adopt this?

Seems that for awhile, Mattel didn't notice that their default template for instruction manuals said 'FOR 1 OR 2 PLAYERS'. Numerous games (Night Stalker, Sub Hunt, and others, including this one) were released with this tag boldly printed on the cover. For many of these, the manuals were later revised to correct the problem. Frankly, I'm surprised that Kool-Aid Man was revised, since it was supposedly a mail-away game. Did they really give away enough of them to need more than one production run?

Once again, thanks to Hankster for pointing out the differences between these two versions of the manual. As far as we can tell, these are the only changes.

Only one version of the overlay has been found for Kool-Aid Man.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	4675-4289	1983	U.S.A.

Only one version of the label has been found for Kool-Aid Man.

Image	Vendor	Part Number	Year	Origin	Description
	Mattel Electronics	N/A	1983	Singapore	Origin upper left; © M.I. 1983 to right of origin; © 1983 General Foods Corp. upper right; ™ upper right; small label, rounded corners; not sure if any other variants exist

	Oooh! Black background for this title screen! You know things have gone too far when General Foods is involved in video games.
	Although this game is awful, I am an Intellivision apologist. So, the bone I'll throw is that the 'game world' was a decent redering of a 3-D-ish cutaway view of a house. But yeeks! It needs some color!

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