Nintendo Cereal System is a
breakfast cereal which was produced by
Ralston Cereals in 1988 and discontinued in 1989. The name of the cereal was based on the
Nintendo Entertainment System, and represents two of the most popular video games for the NES at the time: ''
Super Mario Bros.
is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...
'' and ''
The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
''. Over the years, the cereal has been sold as memorabilia for collectors on online auction sites, at prices exceeding $100 per box.
[''Feature: Software - King Mario''. ]Retro Gamer
''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...
. Issue 16. p. 38. April 2005. In 2010, a box was sold on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
for over $200.
Description
The cereal box has two vertical bags inside, each containing a different cereal. One side, called the "''Super Mario Bros.'' Action Series", consists of fruity-flavored characters and items:
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...
s, Super Mushrooms, Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and
Bowser
, or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa race. Despite the ...
s. The other side of the box, known as the "''Zelda'' Adventure Series", consists of berry-flavored characters and items:
Links, hearts, keys,
boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning ...
s, and shields.
[ Inside the box is a sticker of a Nintendo character, and on the back panel is a set of twelve trading cards called "Nintendo Power Cards". It also presents now-defunct offers to win a ]Power Pad
The Power Pad (known in Japan as Family Trainer, and in Europe and briefly in the United States as Family Fun Fitness) is a floor mat game controller for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a gray mat with twelve pressure-sensors embedded be ...
NES accessory or a ''Super Mario'' cereal bowl.
References
{{reflist
External links
Mario Products: Nintendo Cereal SystemNintendo Cereal System commercialNintendo Cereal storyline
- from Real Life
Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the characters they portray. It has become a popular term on th ...
Ralston cereals
Nintendo Entertainment System
Products introduced in 1986