Okay, I'll admit that it's almost not fair to make fun Atari 2600 advertising. Of course this is a bad advertisement, but then again ALL advertisements were bad back in 1982. But fairness be damned, because this MEGAMANIA commercial is so awesomely terrible that I can't help but talk about it. I'm having a hard time trying to decide if this is a game about gambling, taking LSD, escaping from Cuba or all three. The problem with this commercial is that it's impossible for the game to live up to this ad. This advertisement promises exciting boat action, casino games and a space nightmare. Wait ... a space nightmare?? Yeah, there's no way this game can live up to this commercial's hype!

But at the same time it's impossible to not be impressed with the amount of action going on in this advertisement; it's as if the ad wizards decided to just throw every idea they had into this commercial, no matter how much it conflicted with the rest of the artwork. So there's this guy lost at sea ... but wait, let's have him clutching a gigantic Atari 2600 joystick. Oh, and let's throw magic dice and poker chips at him. And then, even though all of this is happening in the middle of the ocean, let's confuse everybody by calling it "A Space Nightmare." Apparently 1982 was the year Activision was smoking crack.

So what is MEGAMANIA? Is it a fun mini-game collection featuring water sports? Could it be a casino simulator? Perhaps it's a game where you bet on people doing dangerous things in the water? No, it's none of the above. In fact, MEGAMANIA is a 2D shooter! That's right, it's a shooter. Not that you would get that from this advertisement, since there's nothing in the artwork to suggest that you would actually be shooting anything. When it comes right down to it this artwork could have been used with any game. Come to think of it, that name could have been used with just about any game, too. I can see it now, MEGAMANIA: The Lost and the Damned.

FROM: Will Work For Bad Advertising