Colecovision #1: Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Release Date: 1984

Sadly, it was also the last Cabbage Patch Kids Adventure game. Also, it's one of the first games with a female protagonist if dolls count.

 It feels like an act of desperation for Coleco to release a game based on their most popular property in 1984. In the darkest year for gaming in the US they tried to lob a Hail Mary and save the industry with a game based on the latest craze. Sadly, it didn’t do much for Coleco’s fortunes, and their console didn’t have much time left. This could be the story of a quick cash-in similar to E.T. for Atari. However, Adventures in the Park is a much better game than it has any right to be. I’m sure it helps that it was made by Konami who at the time was one of the best arcade developers around with classics like Frogger and Pooyan to their name. Stumbling onto a lost classic is always exciting, so when I played this game, I couldn’t wait to write about it.

I love those backgrounds

 I first played this game on my MSX emulator, but I think I might like the even smoother Colecovision version better. Adventures in the Park plays like a more complex Pitfall, and not only because you swing on vines. It’s an early side-scrolling platformer with a massive 100 different numbered screens. Some of them repeat, and a few early ones are just walking from one side to another, but it’s still an impressive amount of game for 1984. It uses just about every gaming mechanic available at the time outside of shooting aliens. You jump over obstacles, hop from platform to platform, ride on lily pads, and avoid giant bees among other things. It’s impressive how much skill it takes to master what should be a simple Cabbage Patch Kids game.

 

It's why they're called platform games

I also love that each screen is individually numbered. The counter and game start over after number 99 so it doesn’t truly have an ending, but the numbering gives each screen a unique feel. Sometimes I would get stuck on a particular screen, like that tricky jumping ball obstacle on screen 24, so the numbering gives a real feel of accomplishment. It’s a game based much more on progression than score which anticipates what games would become in the mid-80s. Of course, it’s also fun trying to get a high score as well. You get a massive bonus for completing each 10-level stage, so speed it key. I played this game over and over again just to try to raise my score by a couple hundred points, and every time I played I seemed to get a little better. It’s a game with a very high ceiling.

How could I ever forget scene 12?

 I know I sound like I’m gushing about, but I live for pleasant gaming surprises like this one. I don’t have much experience with Colecovision outside of the Flashback plug-and-play, but this is easily one of my favorite games on the console. It’s a shame that licensing issues keep this one off of compilations. Hopefully the console is full of pleasant surprises like this one. It’s a game that looks and plays great and makes me a little sad that the Colecovision had such a short life. Can you believe I am putting a Cabbage Patch Kids game in the top 25? Because that’s totally what I am doing. It’s my new #23 right below Alex Kid in Shinobi World. Not bad for a cash-in game designed for kids. If only every licensed game was made with this much care.

 

Colecovision Quality Percentage: 1/1

images are from mobygames.com