Let's Look at Some Game Commercials Part 2

Having a look at game commercials was so much fun that I've decided to post Part 2 much sooner than expected. Here's more gaming commercials from the gaming eras gone by and some more recent. If you missed part one, you can view it here.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

Mario and Sonic were fierce rivals in the 16-bit days but when SEGA left the hardware business, Nintendo welcomed their formal rival with open arms with SEGA showing support for each Nintendo machine the company has released since the GameCube. Seeing Mario and Sonic star in a game together got a lot of people excited. Unfortunately, it wasn't a grandiose platform adventure, but a series of Olympic games. In these ads for the game that started the series, Mario and Sonic's rivalry gets started up again as the two constantly try to one-up each other during TV interviews. This collection of commercials shows Sonic getting Mario with an air horn and Mario too slow to stop him. Later, Mario challenges Sonic to a race. It doesn't go over as well as you'd think.

Mega Man 3

No matter what Keiji Inafune says, Mega Man 3 is a fantastic game and it will always be my favorite game of any Mega Man series. I only wish it had a decent commercial to go along with it. No gameplay scenes are even shown during the American TV spot. In fact most gamers that saw this didn't even know it was a gaming ad until the very end where Mega Man 3's box art is revealed. This is one of those old commercials that's just flat out strange.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Widely considered to be the greatest game of all-time, Link's first 64-bit outing was given stellar ad treatment. There's tons of gameplay scenes shown while moving music plays. There are a few different versions Ocarina of Time's TV ad and one changes the final wording. Originally the last words were "Willst thou soar? Or willst thou suck?" This was changed to "Willst thou get the girl? Or play like one?" You can see that version here.

Wave Race 64

"Water turnin', tide turnin', sun burnin' Wave crashin', head bashin' Ridin', glidin', collidin', high flyin', fish fryin' Eye crossin', cookie tossin' Snakin', quakin', booty shakin' Strollin', controllin', rock and rollin' Wave Race 64, The first jettin' , sweatin' in your face race for Nintendo 64 Strap on that sea horse and ride." What can I say? It was the 90s and I love this commercial for that.

Kirby's Adventure

Like Kirby's Dream Land before it, the American TV ad for Kirby's Adventure was very much Americanized. And you know what? I don't have a problem with that. You can see some early shades of American Kirby is Hardcore in the commercial with Kirby using his angry eyes. I quite liked the fencing segment even when I was a kid. Sword ended up becoming my favorite Kirby Copy Ability.

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

At an animal adoption show, a lady describes the types of animals they have to offer. Among the critters is Kirby and he promptly shoots a missile out of his month. Can your pet do that? I didn't think so. I love how Kirby doesn't show an ounce of pity for injuring that cat. I'd so adopt Kirby in a second.

Tekken Tag Tournament

A kung fu student asks his master if he's the greatest fighter in the world. The master says he's strong but the Tekken fighters are far above him. Even after he lists the fighting strengths of the Tekken combatants, the student still insists that he'll defeat him. His master just laughs in his face.

Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition

Nintendo had a good port of Street Fighter II on the SNES. SEGA was fortunate to get the tweaked update, Champion Edition on the Genesis. The highlight of this ad comes when a hand reaches out of the case and crushes the game next to it, which happens to be Mortal Kombat.

Aladdin

Aladdin on the Genesis and SNES were two drastically different games. The SNES version was made by Capcom while the Genesis version was developed by Virgin Interactive. I haven't played a great deal of either so I can't say which version I prefer, but I always remembered the Genesis version's commercial. Kid gets three wishes so he wishes for Aladdin. And for his next two wishes? Turning his friends into a dog and a fire hydrant. While comical, the kid really did screw himself with his last two wishes.

Streets of Rage 2

I'm pretty sure this one wasn't the first Streets of Rage 2 ad that hit TV, but it amused me so much that I just had to feature it here. Bobby is being harassed by two punks in his class. Solution? Get a Sega Genesis with Streets of Rage 2. Play it, beat, love it. Get respect and ladies. If only real life were that simple.

Part 1