Chex Quest - Reception and Legacy

Reception and Legacy

On release, the game was received largely positively by gamers. Consumers of diverse ages gave enthusiastic feedback, and there were many requests for the development of sequels. Corporate sales of Chex cereal also saw a tremendous boost with incremental volume over base increasing by 295% and volume share increasing 48% from the previous year. These increases were directly attributed to the release of Chex Quest, and General Mills deemed the promotion "highly successful." Although the promotion only lasted 6 weeks, the game continued to be played well beyond the promotional period and promotional marketing groups considered the brand image to have been revitalized "from old-fashioned and stodgy to exciting, fun and modern."

Despite this, what little critical attention Chex Quest received in the video game press tended to be negative. Noted cereal scholar Scott Bruce decried General Mills' decision to invent a new mascot for Chex cereal for such frivolous purposes, and dismissed the Chex Warrior as not compelling enough to sell the product. Comparisons of the game to its forerunner (Doom) and to other similar games of the day were also often unfavorable to Chex Quest, which was pejoratively labeled a "Doom clone," and the game was regarded as an imitation with little to no innovation.

In modern times, Chex Quest is often considered to have been highly innovative and to have pioneered the use of licensed modding to insert product placement into established titles. Although at least 5 million copies were released, the original CDs are uncommon on the secondary market as they were noted by collectors as having great collectible value in the mid-1990s. The game has attracted a sizeable cult following, and its fanbase has been noted with interest by critics for the continued devotion to the game despite its great age. Other critics, however, have characterized the game as bad even for a Doom clone.