Lately, I've been hearing a lot about how companies want to sneak more advertising into video games. That sucks, but it wouldn't be the first time games have been used to sell products. Back in the 1990s, we saw a lot of these so-called advergames, including everything from McDonalds to Chester Cheetah. Today, I want to take a look at three different variations on this trend, including Cool Spot, the unreleased Fido Dido game and Yo! Noid from Capcom. Yeah, those are definitely characters used in advertising, but are any of these games actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, Video Games & Computer Entertainment and more classic magazines that reviewed these games back when they first came out. I promise, 7up is definitely not a sponsor in this sell-out episode of Review Crew.


Now, here's a pop culture relic that probably won't make much sense to anybody under 30. For a few years in the 1980s, the Noid was the official mascot of Domino's Pizza. Using a fun claymation approach, the Noid was one of those annoying characters you hate to love. He was on a mission to destroy the world's pizzas, prompting the announcer to suggest that you should “avoid the Noid.” All this ended in a crazy hostage situation where a guy got into a five-hour long stand-off with police inside of a Domino's. While that unfortunate situation may have put an end to the popular ad campaign, it didn't stop Capcom from releasing Yo! Noid in 1990. This was a reskinned version of Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru, which came out in Japan only eight months before Yo! Noid. While the graphics and presentation were obviously changed, the game mechanics remained the same. Even with the wild story and partnership with a major pizza chain, Yo! Noid has always been overshadowed by Capcom's higher profile releases. Is there a reason for this? Let's see what the critics said.

We're going to kick things off with Electronic Gaming Monthly, who ended up giving Yo! Noid a low average of 5.75 out of 10. The critics were all over the place with this one, with scores ranging from 4 all the way up to a 7. Sushi-X gave it the lowest marks, asking us this question: “What's worse than stale, cold pizza? Answer, this uneventful, uninteresting and NO fun wonder! I wonder why? So will you. The pizza eating contest will turn your stomach faster than you can say Ninja Turtles. Yonnoying!” Martin, on the other hand, gave it a 7, acknowledging that it's made for a younger audience: “While it seems Noid is targeted at a younger age group, it has a high level of challenge that can be appreciated by experienced gamers. Nothing really special as far as concepts go, but solid gameplay and cute graphics produce another good game from Capcom.”

I have good news and bad. On one hand, EGM's score was the lowest of the bunch. Unfortunately, the rest aren't much better. GamePro ended up giving the game a 3 out of 5, concluding that “the long and short of it is that Noid is average. It's not the fieriest cart to date, but it's not, by any means, the worst either. The Noid's cartoony animated look and movement is fantastic, and the challenge is definitely there. Maybe the sluggish enemies just better lay off the pizza!”

Moving up the scale, we have Nintendo Power giving the game a 3.1 out of 5, While Video Games & Computer Entertainment found the game's ceiling – a 7 out of 10. This is an interesting review that comes at it from a slightly different perspective: “Activists who are concerned about the increasing use of advertising in entertainment media will surely take a close look at Yo! Noid, and the obvious tie-in will probably be criticized by some. But it should be said that the game doesn't beat you over the head with a Domino's Pizza sales pitch at every opportunity. In fact, the Noid seems to have become much bigger than the role he was created to play, and Domino's isn't afraid to let him stand on his own without the advertising connotations. Most important, if you stripped Yo! Noid down to the essentials of gameplay and replaced the Noid with a newly created character, it would still be an entertaining contest.”

In this day and age where everything is an advertisement for something, it's honestly a little refreshing to hear somebody seem concerned that maybe this isn't a good thing. I don't feel like I say this enough, but the reviews in Video Games & Computer Entertainment are genuinely great. But, in this case, they were clearly the outlier, as the overall average is a mere 63%. I agree, this is not one of Capcom's classics.

Unlike the other mascot characters we're going to talk about today, Fido Dido started out as a simple doodle that, years later, would become famous for his connections with TV commercials. First it was PepsiCo, which used Fido to sell 7up to a young and hip generation. Around the same time, CBS was using Fido as bumpers for Garfield & Friends and other Saturday morning cartoons. All this led to a Fido Dido video game developed by Bits Studio that would have come out in 1994 ... had Kaneko not shut down their U.S. branch that very same year. While Genesis owners weren't able to play it, there were a number of magazines that reviewed the game in 1994. Here's what they thought.

Once again, Electronic Gaming Monthly is at the very bottom of the pack, giving Fido Dido a low score of 5.4 out of 10. They were not impressed, concluding that “Fido Dido has an interesting idea, but it is buried in a game that has poor control and unappealing gameplay. The graphics are very well done, but the control gets very frustrating as does the game with each mandatory hit taken.”

I think it's fair to say that EGM was the outlier here, as the rest of the reviews are actually pretty good. GamePro ended up giving Fido Dido a score of 3.5 out of 5, while Sega Power went a few ticks higher, giving it a 75%. They liked the cartoony graphics and the original bits, but argued that there wasn't enough to it. “Although not a classic by any means, Fido Dido is a worthwhile purchase for platform fans.”

The one magazine to full-heartedly recommend Fido Dido was the rebooted Electronic Games, who ended up giving the game a surprisingly high score of 85%. Ross argues that “Fido Dido is fun, but no picnic. There are hints, but as is so often the case, their meaning becomes clear more or less after the fact. There will be times when a leap of imagination will be required, and frustration will be part of the player's experience. Go for it!”

Yeah, really dive into that sea of frustration. Or don't, because you can't. At least, you couldn't back then. Now you can, thanks to the ROM being leaked online, so at least you can see if you side on the Fido side or on the opposing Dido side. The overall average was 71%, which is a lot higher than I was expecting for an unreleased game.

When you hear the younger generation talk about Cool Spot, it's often positioned as this strange, obscure little blip in gaming's bizarre past. This was not the case in 1993. What may have started as a mascot for 7up's TV commercials quickly turned into a major 16-bit game. It was on magazine covers and flying off both rental and retail shelves. Cool Spot was having a real moment. And the hype was justified, as this kicked off a great run of games from David Perry, who would go on to work on Disney's Aladdin on the Genesis and a couple of Earthworm Jim games. We're going to focus our attention on the Super NES version in this episode, but look for the Genesis version to pop up again at the end.

While it's true that the critics gushed over Cool Spot, there was one magazine that was a little less enthusiastic. That magazine was Nintendo Power, who gave the game a 3.8 out of 5. They liked the game's “fantastic animation and high energy gameplay,” making “Spot a great action game choice.” However, “if there's a weakness to Cool Spot, it might be that it isn't particularly challenging. A good player might whip through this game rather quickly.”

If that's the worst review, then Cool Spot doesn't have anything to worry about. The next lowest comes from Hyper, who gave the game an 82%. Video Games & Computer Entertainment went one tick higher, giving it an 8.3 out of 10. That's the same score as Super NES Buyer's Guide, who went with an 83%. However, it's Electronic Gaming Monthly that I want to dive into. Giving it an average score of 8.75 out of 10, they loved Cool Spot. Martin said that the Super NES version was even better than the Genesis one. “What makes this better is the enhanced gameplay, more colorful graphics and excellent music and sound. You can even shoot in any of eight directions while in place. There is also more animation. This is cool, Cool, COOL!” Steve was the one hold-out, giving it an 8: “Just when I thought the Genesis version was the best it could get, here comes the Super NES version which outdoes its Sega counterpart! The only problem: The whole ‘Spot thing' is beginning to wear thin. Still, it's a good game.”

As we continue to climb up the scale, we see SNES Force give the game a 90%, while Super Action went all the way up to a 94%. It was one of their highest scoring games in 1993. However, the magazine with the highest score was GamePro, who went with a perfect 5 out of 5. “Cool Spot's only drawback is one that most gamers won't mind: 7up's game is more frustrating than Pepsi up your nose. Limited continues and a lack of passwords mean you have to finish the game in one sitting. Get the picture? Even so, you'll find this game fun, and a real challenge to boot. Bet on the red this time and save yourself a Spot.”

Now, as Electronic Gaming Monthly pointed out, this was not the first version of Cool Spot. The Genesis version launched a few months before this Super NES port, so many of these magazines were reviewing the game for the second time. That said, there wasn't a huge difference between review scores. While the magazines that reviewed both games ended up preferring the Super NES version, the two averaged the same 86% score. In the end, it doesn't really matter which version you play, because both are a whole lot of fun.