Bop It Extreme

We've already covered the Bop It before on this blog, so what's left to be said about its follow up, the Bop It Extreme? I'm not sure, but I'll try and think of something!

The original toy came out in 96, with this follow up releasing in 98. There are a few additional commands in this sequel toy, including "Flick it" and "Spin It", making it even harder to keep up with all the things the toy expects you to do in 3 seconds or less. It also comes with 4 game modes, but really, who ever did any of those? I know I sure didn't. When you played Bop It, all you were truly concerned for was lasting as long as possible, that was it. It has virtually the same color scheme, with the only new additions being the colors for the new commands (red and green), and has an even wilder design than the original because of said new commands.

I didn't get to play with Bop It Extreme nearly as much as I did with the original Bop It, but I still had my fair share of hands on time with it, and let me tell you...this sucker was hard. Like, I think I have pretty good hand eye coordination and memory game skills - despite having an awful memory for everything else - and even I had a tough time cracking this thing. Despite not really playing the other settings, let's at least discuss them briefly.

The 4 other modes that it came with were Vox Bop, Beat Bop, Vox Bop Solo and Beat Bop Solo. As with the first one, this too could be passed back and forth between two players, hence why there are solo versions of the two alternate game modes. In 2003, this was one of the top toys in the market, which is impressive considering it came out about 6 years before that. I will admit, this one is much more ergonomic to hold, as it's got those handles on the side, whereas the first Bop It was literally just a stick. I also wanna discuss the packaging, because oh boy, we're about to go back in time here.

Look at this packaging, my guys. This is 90s packaging if I've ever seen it. In actuality, the color scheme of this toy makes it look like it was released by Taco Bell. There's usually a disconnect between an original version of a toy or game and its follow up, but honestly I think both Bop It and Bop It Extreme are fantastic. The original is more simplistic but still challenging, while the follow up is definitely harder but more unique because of it. Bop It Extreme is also a super 90s name, let's not kid ourselves. Everything in the 90s was "extreme". In fact, I'm willing to state that "extreme" was the only emotion we were allowed to feel during that decade.

There isn't much to say about this toy without outright rehashing my points from the first post,but that I think says it all really. They nailed it so well the first time that, even with perfectly fine additions to the new version, there still isn't much to talk about. Bop It Extreme is exactly what a follow up should be. Another iteration with very slight modifications that genuinely improves on an already excellent thing that would've been perfectly fine without said modifications. So, in lieu of anything relevant to add to this, I'll leave you with a fun fact.

In 2021, it was revealed on the official Dan Klitsner's (creator of the toy) social media pages that the voice of the game was Scott Parkin. Scott, who was from California, has a skateboard "dude" personality. He apparently had some visionary ideas for several of his lines, including "Game over!" which comes directly from the film Aliens. So there you go, a kids toy with an Aliens reference.

It don't get much better than that, dawg.

Extreme to the max.