10 Scariest NES Games Perfect For Halloween
10 Scariest NES Games Perfect For Halloween
Contents
Horror games on the NES were few and far between, but, from Metroid to Monster in My Pocket, the system has some fun games perfect for Halloween.
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Video games and horror didn’t mix all that well during the days of the NES. While releases like A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Shining helped to ensure the genre’s continued success in theaters, replicating that kind of fear on an eight-bit home console was next to impossible.
That doesn’t mean developers didn’t try, though. From valiant attempts at movie adaptations to frightfully fun faux-first person adventures, the NES library features a few worthwhile horror-adjacent classic titles that fans may have forgotten, which nostalgic gamers may want to dust off for the Halloween season.
10 Friday The 13th (1989)
One of the most well-known horror games on the NES, it’s amazing to think that Nintendo’s kiddie-friendly console featured 8-bit translations of R-rated films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Though it strays from the brutality and gore of the 1980 classic, the NES version of Friday the 13th is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the film’s premise.
The goal of the game is to kill Jason three times while ensuring that at least one counselor and one child remain alive by the final day. It’s clunky and confusing, but it presents a sort of tension not often found in basic NES games.
9 Monster Party (1989)
The 1989 NES platformer Monster Party is unapologetically weird. A mish-mash of baffling plot points, freakish enemies, and totally warped environments, the title’s lack of cohesion gives it a distinctly off-putting vibe.
Perhaps most infamous for featuring tempura shrimp and onion rings as bosses in an NES game, the developers likely threw everything at the wall, unconcerned with what would stick. Monster Party remains something of a cult classic, but it was far too out-there to ever achieve any kind of broader appeal. That said, those who love horror comedies like Beetlejuice may get a kick out of this game.
8 Abadox (1990)
Often overlooked due to the total deluge of sidescrolling shooters available on the NES, Abadox is a rare gem that, though punishingly difficult, remains noteworthy more than three decades after its release.
A mix of Gradius and David Cronenberg’s The Fly, Abadox is an ultra-weird body horror-esque title that sees the player navigating the gory insides of some sort of creature. Replete with pulsating walls of flesh, obstacles in the form of entrails and twitching tongues, and many-eyed monsters, it’s a downright disgusting title that fans of retro horror games are bound to adore.
7 Ghoul School (1992)
After Spike O’Hara brings a cursed skull to class with him, the faculty members are transformed into hideous creatures, and the head cheerleader is captured. An atrociously cheesy setup for a video game, to be sure, but, in the late ’80s and early ’90s, it was semi-passable.
Clunky beyond compare, Ghoul School isn’t all that enjoyable in the modern day. However, with some genuinely dreadful enemies and particularly grotesque eyeball monstrosities, Ghoul School makes for a freakish footnote on the NES that shouldn’t be forgotten.
6 Conan (1991)
Before he starred in the unforgettable ’80s classic Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger adopted the monicker of Conan the Barbarian in the 1982 film of the same name. A popular-enough action flick, it was ripe for a Nintendo Entertainment System translation.
Unfortunately, the game is fairly notorious for its cryptic puzzles and detestable control scheme. That said, it also serves as an early attempt at digital horror. From demon-infested caves to haunted woods swarming with minotaurs, Conan’s outing on the NES was a good bit creepier than many remember.
5 Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (1988)
One of the most notoriously obtuse 8-bit video games of all time, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is well-known for its confusing quests and obscure objectives. Yet, it’s also capable of evoking a sense of dread absent from every other game in the series.
It may be a straightforward RPG during daylight hours, but, heralded by a text box that states “what a horrible night to have a curse,” the oncoming of night brings with it a suite of ghouls and monsters. Far removed from the console’s many simple sidescrollers, Simon’s Quest presents a subtle terror unknown to gamers in the late ’80s.
4 Uninvited (1991)
A recreation of the 1986 Macintosh original, 1991’s Uninvited is a one-of-a-kind point-and-click adventure title on the NES. It’s true that games like Shadowgate and Maniac Mansion could also be found on the system, but Uninvited is as grotesque and in-your-face as the medium could allow at the time.
From werewolves to ghosts, snakes to reanimated skeletons, Uninvited boasted a uniquely detailed art style almost unparalleled on the NES. Though unnecessarily frustrating at points, there’s an 8-bit jumpscare seemingly hidden around every corner, making for a strangely nail-biting experience.
3 Chiller (1990)
Debuting as a controversial arcade title in 1986, Chiller was eventually ported to the NES in 1990. One of the few games to make use of the NES Zapper peripheral, there’s certainly nothing else like it in the console’s extensive library.
Easily the most gratuitously gory games in Nintendo’s history, Chiller comes across as excessive by today’s standards, let alone a time during which games like Night Trap were considered to be line-crossing. Of course, unpleasant as it is, it’s an interesting piece of horror game history that most collectors would love to own.
2 Metroid (1987)
One of Nintendo’s most influential early titles, Metroid stood apart from the child-friendly likes of the Super Mario Bros. for which they were more famously known. A dark and foreboding platformer that took undeniable influence from the Alien films, Metroid’s maze-like environs and intensely difficult levels made for a suffocating experience.
Featuring a haunting soundtrack that was worlds apart from the bleeps and bloops of most 8-bit games, Metroid sold the idea of exploring hostile, unearthly areas, and it was a genre-defining game that influenced many modern horror-influenced titles like Hollow Knight and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
1 Sweet Home (1989)
A spiritual prequel — if such a thing could be said to exist — to the Resident Evil franchise, 1989’s Japan-exclusive RPG Sweet Home was a seminal experiment that helped to spur on the horror gaming trend of the late ’90s.
A complex survival horror title boasting faux-first person battles, quick-time events, and party member permadeath, Sweet Home was way ahead of its time. Though slightly dated, in some respects, it wouldn’t feel totally out of place amid the pantheon of retro-stylized horror games of today.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/scary-nes-video-games-halloween/
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