This game wins my award for the tackiest marketing scheme of all time, brought to you by such names as Saatchi & Saatchi, General Mills, America Online, and Rare Medium, Inc. I love it. Back in 1997, General Mills starting sticking CD-ROMs in every freaking box of Chex. It seems incredible to think that a cereal company would do something like that, until you realize that AOL had a hand in it. That's right, the CDs were really a promotion for America Online, and when you install the game it pesters you into installing AOL too.

As for the game itself; any gamer will instantly recognize that the game is based on the DOOM engine. Every weapon, monster class, and so forth is the same, with only the graphics and sounds changed. Even most of the levels are the same, if I recall correctly. It seems a little surreal to think of thousands of little Chex-eating kids across the nation, playing DOOM out of a cereal box, but that's what happened. Mind you, rather than blasting demons from hell, you are a walking Chex, "zapping" zombie-like invading "Flemoids" back into the dimension they belong before they "slime" you and your fellow Bazoikians into "immobility." Actually, I honestly find this game more disturbing to play than DOOM. I will never forget the ominous, gargling sound of an approaching Flemoid or the shriek it lets loose as it vaporizes with a lightning flash. That said, some of the new graphics are very magnificent. There is a Chex Quest 2 as well, which you used to be able to download from www.chexquest.com

Ah, American marketing.