Comic books in the 1980s and 1990s provided game publishers to market their wares to a receptive audience, using the power of crisp comic book art to sell games, distracting potential buyers from the small windows of real screens. Sometimes the realms of comic books, video games, and Hollywood intertwined, such as in 1983, when Parker Brothers advertised their Atari 2600 game, Star Wars: Jedi Arena on the back page of Marvel Comics’ The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. What a combination: the movie magic of Steven Spielberg’s & George Lucas’ Indiana Jones brought to a comic book format, the Star Wars universe, and the Atari 2600 gaming system, all intertwined simultaneously! How could the game be anything less than awesome?!?
Well, it turned out that Star Wars: Jedi Arena was a dog of a game, and proof that just because Parker Brothers had a movie license and made great board games, didn’t mean that they could make great video games.
As always, click on the image below to see an enlarged version, and enjoy the trip into yesteryear!
Ad for Star Wars: Jedi Arena
Filed under: Ad Copy from Yesteryear, Comics and Superhero Games Tagged: | advertisment, atari 2600, George Lucas, indiana jones, jedi arena, marvel comics, star wars
