Being someone who loves both horror and
video games you'd be forgiven for assuming I like horror games. Sadly
that's not often the case. Over the years horror gaming has become
dominated by survival titles or multiplayer-shooters, two genres that
hold little interest for me. Of course there are always some
exceptions such as Dino Crisis or Silent Hill 2 in
the survival camp, got nothing for multiplayer. Still I miss
the days when a horror-themed game could be anything from an
adventure like Castlevania, brawlers such as Night
Slashers, or action like Zombies Ate my Neighbors. My
recent dive into retro-gaming has brought a lot of these titles back
to me but there's one game I never played as a wee one. One that
speaks to a very special fandom of mine. Won't you join me in
stepping back in time and finally attempting Friday the 13th
for the NES?
Published in 1989 by infamous
garbage-factory LJN, Friday the 13th has a
reputation as one of the worst NES games ever. The main reasons
listed are pretty common for the time; stuff like unbalanced
difficulty, vague goals, and head-scratch worthy navigation. Other
than a brief sample many years ago, I've basically never played the
game. As such a big fan of the franchise that simply won't do. But
I'm no dummy, I know better than to just dive into this sort of game
without first doing some homework.
Turns out the past few years have
offered a slight change of opinion towards the game as time has
revealed a layer of depth that isn't immediately visible when just
futzing around. This begins to make sense when you take into account
that the game was developed by Atlus, the company responsible for the
massive and complex Shin Megami Tensei franchise. So much has
been learned about this game over the years that players who took
months if not years to complete it as children now know tricks that
make it beatable within a few minutes.
So how does the game actually play?
you're wandering around Camp Crystal Lake as one of six different
counselors with very different stats. The majority of the time this
is done in standard side-scrolling fashion as you face off against
zombies, birds, bats, and wolves. Once in a while you'll be alerted
that Jason is attacking a cabin and is about to kill off the campers
inside. This is one of the two ways to lose the game, either all your
counselors die or all the campers do. There's already a chance of
encountering the big J out on the trails but he's far more dangerous
in close-quarters where you have to face him punch-out style.
You begin with rocks as your one and
only weapon and much has been made of how terrible these are. Not
only do they deal a pathetic amount of damage but the throwing arc is
so jacked that it often soars over your enemies. Better items can be
found by jumping or completing certain tasks with each handling quite
differently. The knife flies straight but isn't very strong, the axe
is a stronger straight-shooter, the torch has a small arc and can do
some major damage to Jason, and the pitchfork will go through
multiple enemies in a single shot.
The goal of the game is actually very
basic, defeat Jason three times over the course of three days. Going
about this on the other hand is far more complicated. First there's
the matter of getting and keeping a better weapon since even the
knife hardly makes a dent in our favorite slasher. Then there's
learning the lay of the land and Jason's patterns as he goes in
different directions depending on what part of camp he's in. Beyond
that there are side-quests such as hunting down the shrine of Pamela
Voorhees and fighting her possessed floating head. Defeating the old
dame nabs you her sweater which offers extra protection.
All of that was stuff I learned before
even turning the game on so I figured I'd have a chance at making
some progress. I may not be some professional-player but I've got
enough skills to finish games like Ikaruga. I picked one of
the better councilors, Crissy and set out on my journey only to get
my ass handed to me. Then I went again with Mark, and right out the
gate Jason was attacking a cabin across the camp from me. The game
won't give you a second of peace. If Jason isn't attacking you on the
road then he's cleaving through a cabin full of campers. In the
process of my repeated defeats I realized I had no clue how to
perform some of the basic actions such as the dodge when fighting in
cabins or how to switch between characters. Marking those down as
topics to look up later I then went searching for a guide on getting
the torch.
The video-guide had a fairly simple
route to obtaining the holy fire required to put Jay in his place.
The first few steps went off without a hitch. At one point I was
supposed to get a key in the woods only no items were appearing.
Adding to the frustration was the “beep beep' of the alarm
informing me that Jason was currently tearing ten-year-olds in half
down by the lake. This wasn't working which means it was back to the
internet.
Perusing different guides and FAQs I
found another bizarre little detail. Among the different stats like
speed and jump-height each character must kill a certain number of
enemies in order to make items appear. Mark has to take out 4 baddies
in order to get some goodies whereas some of the far worse characters
only have to take out 2 or 3. Beyond that I learned how to perform
the dodge technique, some of the intricacies of forest and cave
navigation, and how the day/night cycle effects various enemies. It
was becoming all the more clear that I was still just a novice when
dealing with this game. Even with my lack of experience I decided to
march on and face Jason one more time. This was so far my most
successful run as I not only obtained both the axe and torch but
nearly killed Jason in the process. Unfortunately Mark suffered an
accident in the caves and everything went downhill from there.
Finally having played the game, do I
think it deserves a reputation as one of the worst NES titles? Hell
no, I've played infinitely worse on that old darling. Beyond that
there are few so few licensed games that offer so much depth and
theme. Consider that out of a group of six playable characters only
two are obvious heroes, just like one of the movies. The protection
offered by Pamela's old sweater, the need to defeat Jason
multilple-times. Even the game's pacing is such that the big goon is
always causing trouble be it attacking you or another part of the
camp. It really is like being in the final act of a movie, staying on
the move and struggling to survive. Of course there are a few daffy
additions like the zombies but even those aren't that important. Most
of those small enemies exist solely to soften you up for encounters
with Jay Jay. If nothing else I have to give the game some respect
for the sheer amount of crazy ideas on display coupled with it's
fairly accurate representation of the license.
When viewing the game from a player
standpoint it loses some points. The vague goals, high-difficulty,
and morbidly repetitive soundtrack are enough to dive anyone nuts.
Yet I still find myself tempted to return armed with further
knowledge. Maybe then I'll finally find Pamela's Shrine or figure out
a use for Paul other than murder-sponge. That's saying something when
you consider all the retro-games I've tried lately only to
immediately tire of. There's something special to Friday the 13th,
even if it's buried under plenty of issues. While I'd like to revisit
the title, I'm not sure as I'll ever be good enough to win, so what then?
A very happy unlucky day to you all.
Be sure to spend it the right way and indulge in Jason antics, be it
film or game based. Around here we're most likely going to play my
Part IV vinyl soundtrack and watch a mini-marethon of the TV show.
Seeing as I'm recovering from some bizzaro springtime cold, I'd say
I've earned it.
No comments:
Post a Comment