Cookie Monster Munch (thing)

The Children's Television Workshop and Atari present the latest in their series of stupid games for stupid children. In Cookie Monster Munch you get to guide Cookie Monster and the "Cookie Kid" through a maze in search of cookies. It is just like Pac-Man, only without the fun. Only available for the Atari 2600!

This is a rather simple game designed for very young children. It requires the Atari Kid's Controller, although the Atari Keyboard Controller and the Star Raiders' controller will also work (but the overlay won't fit on them).

This entire game is basically a case of idiotic management combined with licensing game characters. I guess it would have been theoretically possible to come up with a good game about Cookie Monster, but not the way they did it.

1. It is basically just a Pac-Man rip off.

2. The "backstory" in the manual is totally unbelievable, it involves a garden where cookies grow on plants or something.

3. The game introduces (and trademarks) a character called "The Cookie Kid". Who is this kid, how come I don't remember him from Sesame Street?

4. They had the Muppet license for this game, yet did not use Fozzie Bear, who is second only to Bentley Bear in terms of cool bears.

5. The game purposely uses a specialty controller when there was no reason to do so.

6. The game is targeted towards the 4-7 year old market, yet comes with a special controller overlay, which is needed to understand the games. The overlay is a little piece of plastic, like that isn't going to get lost in about a day and a half.

7. Very few kids probably ever actually managed to play this game anyway. This is the kind of game that mom would buy for you (dad would have bought Berzerk or something). Most moms have trouble even getting games for the right console, and certainly couldn't be expected to get a game requiring a specialty controller, and the specialty controller.

8. Cookie Monster is a very poor role model for children (although not quite as bad as Britney Spears).

9. Completist collectors, noders, and the emulation scene will keep this dog of a title alive forever, even though it should have never been made in the first place.

10. The only scan of the instruction manual I could find was in French!

In this exciting game children help Cookie Monster and the Cookie Kid through mazes to collect cookies as fastas they can.

This game like all educational games was rather unpopular. It came with an overlay for the Atari Kid's Controller. This overlay is much harder to find than the cartridge is. The game alone is valued at around $8 USD. As always, games with boxes and manuals are worth more. There is really no reason to purchase this game unless you already own every other available Atari 2600 game. Also remember this, you might have a thing for terrible old Atari cartridges, but your children probably don't, so please do not subject them to this title.