Awesome Retro Game Magazine Ads, Vol. 1!

Anyone who read video game magazines in the 1980s and 1990s probably have specific memories of a few game ads that they saw. Before promotional resources were dumped into online advertising, one of the most effective ways to reach your audience was through print. In the first chapter of this series, I want to take a look at some great ads.

Let's look! Click through to see what we have.


Dino City

I don't think I even need to say anything about this one. I've never played this game, but I don't think a single image exists that encompasses the early 1990s as well as this. Dinosaurs were really popular, so were "rad" things like the sunglasses + leather jacket combo, Walkmans and skateboards.

Handy Boy for Game Boy

This monstrosity was a relatively popular Game Boy peripheral at the time, but boy is it ugly to look at. It featured a screen magnifier (why were those ever a "thing?"), nightlight, a joystick and STEREO AMPLIFYING speakers. I would suggest you head on down to Sears and pick it up as the ad suggests, but Sears hasn't sold anything fun in years. Also, the bad jokes about a product coming from a company called "STD" write themselves.

Doom for PlayStation

Doom is available on virtually every platform that exists. This is an ad for the PlayStation edition of the game, which featured new content in addition to the levels from first two Doom games on PCs. Not much to say about this one other than I like how it captures the feeling of progression in enemies as you make your way through Doom, which is still one of the best FPS games ever.

Zoop

Zoop, the puzzle game with the tagline "America's largest killer of time" continued to own up to that phrase in its advertising. With the design of something that you may see plastered on the wall inside of a doctor's office, it treats the game as if it is something that will overtake your body and be a detriment to your health. The only way to cure yourself of this disease is to "learn its moves, understand its thinking and anticipate its next move."

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition

Even though the 16 bit Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers fighting games weren't anything to write home about (my personal favorites are the two sidescrolling action games on SNES), it is hard to deny that this ad is awesome. It isn't much beyond the Thunder Megazord punching that asshole Lord Zedd in the face, but does it really need to be anything else?

That's all for this edition. Byeeee!