Coconuts (video game)

Did You Know?

• Players get points for each coconut dropped.
• After failing to dodge a coconut, Stanley loses his umbrella; a second hit removes his helmet before a third hit kills him.
• The monkey named Coco hurls coconuts while hopping between one of two palm trees.

Release

Coconuts was shipped to retailers alongside Fast Food in late September 1982, marking the first two games released by Telesys. To promote them, Telesys sent retailers purple pickles stuffed with a coconut and distributors boxes containing a used tire. A note attached said, "Enclosed is a 3000-pound gorilla's favorite toy which he has just noticed is missing." Vice president of marketing Jack Woodman stated, "we told them at the CES show in June we were a little bit zany and a lot of fun."

Reception

Sherry Jacobs in Electronic Fun with Computers & Games was highly critical, stating "the hardest challenge is staying awake." She found the graphics colorful but the game too simple with monotonous sound, calling it "not salvageable." Alan R. Bechtold of The Logical Gamer criticized it as "not a game," while co-reviewer Mike Wilson liked the graphics but thought it lacked substance and was an inferior version of Kaboom! Perry Greenberg in Video Games magazine heavily criticized its simplicity, writing "coconuts is what you'd need to be to get off on this game." JoyStik gave it one out of five stars, saying it would "probably hold your interest for only a short period of time." The Video Game Update praised the "very colorful" graphics and "quite easy" controls, recommending it only to young kids.