HORROR GAME ROUND UP

Pictured: from top left: Friday the 13th (NES), A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES), Night Trap (Sega CD/32X), Corpse Killer (Sega CD/32X), Resident Evil Director’s Cut (PS1), Resident Evil 2 (PS1), Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (Sega Genesis),  Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Sega Genesis),Silent Hill (PS1), Resident Evil (PS1), Splatterhouse 3 (Sega Genesis), Akumajō Dracula bootleg (Famicom), Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (aka Kid Dracula, Famicom), Sweet Home (english text reproduction cart, NES), Monster Party (NES), Castlevania (NES), Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (NES), Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (NES), Rampage (NES), Ghosts N’ GoblIns (NES), Super Castlevania IV (SNES), Splatterhouse (Turbo Grafx 16), Haunted House (Atari 2600), Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (Famicom).

Let me start off by saying this is in no way intended to be a “best of” list, these just happen to be all the horror based retro video games I own. I drew the line at the PS1 because there are a lot of great horror / survival horror games that I have for newer systems (The Fatal Frame series, the numerous Silent Hill and Resident Evil sequels, etc.), so in order to not have to play through hundreds of hours of video games again I decided on just retro titles. Over the next week leading up to halloween I am goign to spend a couple hours everyday playing some horror video games and posting a brief blurb regarding my thoughts and comments.

I have decided to play them in chronological order by system, and I just got done playing a whole bunch of games, so let’s do this:

Haunted House (Atari 2600) – Atari, 1982

What is sometimes referred to as the first survival horror game, Haunted House can be thought of as the first primitive entry in a storied and awesome genre that includes the Silent Hill and Resident Evil games. This is a far cry from its descendants, however. You play as a pair of eyes who must navigate through a multi-floored mansion and collect the pieces of a urn and get them safely to the front door. You have a match that can illuminate the area directly around you and that is necessary to find items, such as the key to open locked rooms and the scepter that can ward off the various ghosts found around the mansion as well as the urns themselves. This game is notable also because it is th earliest example of scrolling graphics in a video game. Haunted House can be kind of confusing at first, but once you know what to do, the game is addicting as hell.

Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun (Kid Dracula) (Famicom) – Konami, 1991

Why this little gem never made it out of Japan is a mystery to me. This is a great, great platforming game that’s full of quirky Japanese humor, top notch level design, and bright vibrant graphics. This game is actually a super deformed spin-off series of Konami’s ultra popular Castlevania series. Another stand-out in this game is the music, in fact the first level theme sounds kind of like a j-pop remix of the Castlevania theme we all know and love. Awesome. Also of note, the boss at the end of the first level is a KKK clad ghoul with a swastika on it’s forehead. So maybe it is obvious why this game was not translated…

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (Famicom) – Namco,1989

Another reason to get into import gaming, Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is again a super deformed spin-off of a popular horror franchise, and like Kid Dracula, Wanpaku features stellar level design, amazing boss battles, tight control, and platforming perfection. And again we didn’t see this gem come to our side of the ocean, and that’s a terrible shame because this is truely an amazing video game experience. The storyline mirrors that of it’s older arcade brother, but with lots of cuteness and thrown in, including a dracula led “Thriller” inspired dance routine and a Japanese school girl transforming into the Human Fly. Man this game kicks ass!

Monster Party (NES) – Bandai, 1989

A cult classic, Monster Party is a pretty tough platformer where you play as a kid named Mike, who gets jacked by some monster and taken to a planet inhabited entirely by monsters to defeat a rising force of evil. This game features some awesome boss battles, such as the trash talkin’ human fly trap pictured above. But what makes this game really special is the truly horrific ending. Take that, Nintendo of America censors!

Sweet Home (NES repro cart/Famicom) – Capcom, 1989

What to say about Sweet Home? While Haunted House may be regarded as the first survival horror game, Sweet Home is credited with advancing the subgenre beyond it’s simplistic origins. Based on a Japanese movie of the same name, you start the game playing as a group of 5 people sent into a mansion with the intention of photographing the deceased owners paintings (referred to as frescos, a type of painting done on plaster). Once inside the mansion your are locked in and must escape alive. Each charcter has one unique ability that can help you progress by solving puzzles, but by weary because once a charcter dies they cannot be reanimated. This mechanic yeilds 5 different endings as well as several ways to complete the game. The game incorperates an RPG element in the way that battles are fought and experience gained. This game is a must play for any RPG or survival horror fan, and the rom and patch can be freely download, or the translated reproduction cart can be purchased from out friends over at Game Reproductions.

Ghosts N’ Goblins (NES) – Capcom, 1986

What to say about Ghosts n’ Goblins? Being classified as a paddle biter, you know that its hard as hell. In fact, Ghosts n’ Goblins is one of those games that is so hard that I have out grown the kind of dedication, memorization, and constant practice that it takes to get to even the second or third level. I have so many games to play that I just can;t justify spending a week on one game when the only real payoff is on screen of misspelled text. If you want to tackle the animal that is Ghosts n’ Goblins, than I wonlt stop you. But I’d rather play Ulimate Stuntman or Comix Zone.




Review: Genesis Remote Arcade System

This is a goody I picked a couple days ago. I had never even heard of the Arcade Remote System before, so imagine my surprise when I happened to stumble across this gem and an additional controller complete in the box. The best part? I only paid about $9 for both of them. How could I pass it up?

Cordless controller technology has come a hell of a long way from the days when a console’s power was measured in bits and it’s games where in megs. Back then it was all infared technology, which basically meant that nobody had better step between your controller and the receiver or else your 15 man tournament in Eternal Champions: Challenger from the Dark is in serious danger of getting away from you.

The Arcade Remote system employs the same infared technology, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First of all we must ask the question: What is the Arcade Remote System? The Sega made Arcade Remote System is basically a wireless six-button Genesis controller and a sensor / receiver that plugs into the console which takes up both controller ports.

The controller itself is actually really nice because it is basically a Sega Genesis six button pad that is the size and weight of the superior 3 button controller. If you have ever spent any time with the original Genesis 3 button pad you know that it is one the best video game controllers ever made in terms of quality, durability, button layout, and comfort. The six button controller always felt like it could have been bigger, and retained more of the boomerang shape of the the 3 button pad. Another really nice feature about the wireless 6 button in the repositioning of the start button away from the center of the pad to just above the X and Y buttons. This adjustment puts the start button in such a place that it can be pressed without having to move your thumbs away from the main buttons.

Considering that this is a wireless controller it’s surprisingly light. Even with the required 2 AAA batteries in it still weighs about the same as the Genesis 3 button. This is really nice, considering some other wireless controllers of the era for the NES and SNES that I have are absolute monsters, to the point where they are nearly impossible to use for any length of time. I played about 2 hours worth of Comix Zone, Shining Force 2, Splatterhouse 3, Aladin, and Rock n’ Roll Racing on this thing tonight without any cramping or other adverse effects on my hands or my wrists.

Alas, it does have it’s drawbacks. This is where that whole infared thing I mentioned earlier comes back to haunt the Arcade Remote System. The connection between the controller is without delay, and works perfectly within about 10-12 feet of the sensor. 10-12 feet on unobstructed space, mind you. That is very important. So if you have a tendency to point the top of the controller up at the ceiling while playing (which I do) or play your video games in a super comfortable reclining leather media chair and put your feet up on an ottoman, there-by inadvertantly blocking the sensor with your feet (which I also do) than you will have problems with losing the signal until you correct the situation.

All in all, however, this controller is worth hunting down just for the controller itself, which is how Sega should have made their 6 button anyway.

8/10

Back with a Vengeance!

Hello! After a lengthy summer long hiatus filled with child rearing and game playing I am back to doing regular updates. Its been a great summer of awesome finds in the wild and online, but I am going to start with a huge Sega related find I got earlier today. It is by far the best Sega CD / 32X I have ever found in the wild. The following list and pictures detail my wicked score:

Mint CIB Knuckles Chaotix (32X) for $5.95(!!)
Final Fight CD (Sega CD), missing the manual for $3.95
Time Gal, disc only for 95 cents
CIB Night Trap (Sega CD/32X) for $19.95
Sealed Coarpse Killer (Sega CD/32X) for $4.95

If you follow the trail of bread crumbs you will find that I paid just about $40 for $300 (give or take, based on an a quick ebay search) worth of games.

Not only is this a killer score, but it also satisfies several of spots on my wants list, most notably Knuckles Chaotix and Night Trap, which I have wanted for some time. I have also wanted to give Time Gal a play through, but it’s was always one of those games that I could never justify spending $30+ dollars on.

Now that the initial rush of finding an awesome score has passed, I am thinking of some of other games of interest I passed on this morning, such as Jurrasic Park (Sega CD) and Eternal Champions (Sega CD). I am going to head back tomorrow and see what’s left and maybe pick up a few stragglers. Perhaps the Resident Evil: Code Veronica for Dreamcast that was pretty reasonably priced at $20.

I am going to try an update again before the week is out, so stay tuned.