Monday Box Review! (Mythicon)
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Entry posted by DoctorSpuds
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Mythicon was a pool of optimism for success in the videogame market that ran dry quicker than it took for me to type this sentence. These guys were a blip on the radar, they came, and they went and were never seen again. I suppose it is rather remarkable then that so many copies of their games can be found in the wild, perhaps it was due to how Mythicon distributed their games, it seems they were sold in non-traditional retail outlets like grocery and department stores. The prices of the games may have also had something to do with their overall commonality, ten bucks in 1983 for an entire videogame would have been an absolute steal, and since they were in unconventional retail environments I’m sure they were the subject of more than one impulse purchase. The three games released are commonly hailed as being some of the worst on the system, and I can honestly see where they’re coming from, but I would lump the three Mythicon games in with my personal least favorite Atari game Skeet Shoot. The programmer of the three games has stated that Star Fox was the first game he ever programmed on the 2600 while having only a small amount of knowledge about the basic architecture of the hardware. Let’s be fair here, I’m pretty sure most of us would have produced far worse games if we were in the same situation as him. But the one thing you’d notice before ever even playing the game is the packaging it came in, and my goodness it really is something else.
The boxes are small, well economical would be a better way to put it, they are about a centimeter shorter than a standard 2600 box and about an inch and a half narrower, actually it’s the width of a cartridge on its side now that I think about it. The box has one unique design choice that stands above all others and I think it’s actually a very good one; the hang tab is built into the box, which gives it an edge when it comes to saving space on the rack and with durability. Because there is no way that thing is falling off the rack by being jostled, you’d have to intentionally pull the thing down with force to get it to rip, which I think is incredibly clever. The box does have some downsides, mainly the color, I personally hate the color orange, and how you actually get the cartridge out of the box is a bit of a hassle too. The box is completely glued shut, there is no way of resealing it once it’s been opened, and usually people will open the wrong side first. Just like with INTV games the cartridges are housed in the bottom of the box, not the top, and when it comes to Mythicon’s boxes being glued at both ends it’s not uncommon to find a box with the top torn open or otherwise damaged. In order to keep my boxes presentable I had to open them with a razor blade cutting away the glue so as not to damage the box too much, and let me tell you, this is some thin cardboard. The artwork used by Mythicon on the games is actually quite good, in a sci-fi/fantasy novel cover sort of way, though I do think Sorcerer has the best of the three. The rest of the packaging design is fairly standard, there’s a blurb on the back, no pictures to be seen, and the name of the game plastered in at least five or six different locations on the box. Honestly if the boxes weren’t orange I’d really like the design, but as it stands they’re still quite decent, about on the same level as Froggo’s boxes but still a few steps above Zellers boxes.
The manuals are the Mystique style space-saver design, which is usually tri-folded on slightly glossy paper that is slightly smaller than the cartridge. Just because the manuals are small doesn’t mean they aren’t packed with extremely tiny text, each manual has approximately 1,000 words or more which is about the same amount as one of my mid-length reviews which is quite impressive. The design is fairly Spartan with very few graphics to be seen, usually just the box art and small graphics representing the different game modes, there really is very little else to be seen here. There is one other insert that can be found inside these boxes which is a combination advertisement/warranty card for the purchaser to register themselves with Mythicon and join the exclusive Mythicon Inner Circle, I’ll include a transcript since it really is quite funny to read.
A Special Invitation from the Star of Mythicon™
Welcome to the exciting world of Mythicon! We hope you've found this video adventure to be as challenging
and fun as any home game you've ever played.
To add to your enjoyment, we're extending this special invitation to join the ranks of the Mythicon Inner Circle.
As an honored Inner Circle member you will be entitled to all the following privileges:
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You'll receive preview of exiting, new Mythicon Video Games before they're released to the general public
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You can quality for special Inner Circle Achievement Awards by sending your best scores to the Mythicon Star Council
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And... you might be asked to help the Star Council create a brand new video game!
When you join the Mythicon Inner Circle, you'll receive absolutely free:
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An official Certificate of Membership to display proudly in your home.
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A wallet-size Membership Card which will identify you as an Inner Circle member wherever you travel in the Galaxy
The cartridges themselves are fairly standard, but they are exclusive to Mythicon. They have a fairly standard Activision-style wraparound label, probably to save money on assembly. The labels are glossy black, with the name of the game in basic block font with the box art in a white box beneath it, and the end label simply states the name of the game, it really is quite standard (The word of the day). There is one design element that I find to be rather strange though and that is the half-assed dust cover, it really only covers half of the cartridge opening rendering the whole thing rather unnecessary, and it’s so tight to the contacts that it actually scrapes them every time it lowers back down causing a nasty squeaking noise.
All in all Mythicon boxes are unique in look and design, not particularly durable, not particularly nice to look at or even use for that matter. The Manuals are good enough I don’t have any real complaints in that department. The cartridges are squeaky and frightening to use, and make a strange frothy sound whenever I move the dust cover, but at least the artwork is nice. The real problem though is how rare it is to actually find a boxed copy of any of these games, and if you do, expect to pay at least $20 for the roughest of complete copies, as you can guess this packaging was far more disposable than most others. I have Sorcerer and Fire Fly boxed and have yet to find a complete boxed copy of Star Fox anywhere , so if you have one that you’re willing to sell feel free to send me a message I would appreciate any offers.
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