Videomation
System: NES
Release Date: June 1991
Developer: FarSight Studios
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Paint
Did you know the NES had a paint game called Videomation?! Well, it did. And well… it’s kind of interesting. Wait, developed by Avi Arad? Of Marvel fame? Was THQ working with Toy Biz? I am so confused… Let’s see if this is any fun.
You’re dropped onto a blank canvas with the pencil tool chosen. As you hold the A Button and move the cursor, you will draw. Pressing the Select Button takes you to the toolbar up top. Here you can choose from a number of drawing tools or cycle through the different 10 color palettes. There is a mixture of solid colors and dithered colors. The arrow tool moves in the direction you’re facing, but controlling it doesn’t always work as I expect. It seemed like pressing left or right would steer it, but sometimes the controls would reverse without warning.
I decided to try my hand at the American Lucha Libre logo. The circle tool creates an ellipse centered from where you begin the cursor out toward where you move it. The paint can tool fills horizontal lines from where you start, down. When it finishes that, it fills above the cursor. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, you can clear the canvas with a touch of the clear button up top. The straight line tool lets you choose one beginning point of a line and then the end point. Helpful for making the star.
If you want to move the cursor without drawing something, you can hold the B Button. Freehanding the eyes, nose, and mouth didn’t go well. You can change the speed of the cursor by pressing the Start Button, but I never found a really comfortable speed. In the end, I used the stamp tool to write American Lucha Libre, but I didn’t plan my space in a way I was proud of. Oh well, here’s the end product.
My next favorite thing to do in Paint programs is draw a little landscape scene. After drawing the ground and sky, the dithering color is good for clouds. The smiling sun is one of the stamps, so that’s a good use, even though it’s not yellow. The pond is an easy sell, but check out this tree. The red and green together looks brown enough, sorry monochromatic friends. Put some hills down in the background to give a sense of distance. Gotta make some water reflections… and a few rocks. The flower doesn’t have a good color combination that shows up on this palette. Then you can even do a little animation. Watch this jump roping girl move around my scene.
Graphics: 1.0
It’s a paint program, so… how good can you draw?
Sound: 1.0
A not completely unpleasing sound plays as you draw, but I’m out on the rest.
Gameplay: 2.5
You have a decent number of tools to use to make your masterpiece, but there is a lot missing.
Difficulty: 2.0
It’s difficult to be precise with the controller. There also isn’t an “undo” function, which makes mistakes costly.
Fun Factor: 2.0
I enjoyed making a couple drawings, even if they weren’t very good.
Overall Rating: 1.7
Videomation earns a C-. This is a novelty for sure, but it isn’t totally terrible.