Welcome to a special Halloween edition of Playing With Power. The review column that look at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. Well, with this being the night of frights, I figured that I should look at a game that fits the mood of the evening. And I think I found one that not only fits the setting, but may easily be one of the most unique and unforgettable gaming experiences on the NES.
Year of Release: 1989
Publisher: Bandai
Genre: Action Platformer
There are a few interesting things about Monster Party’s development. Similar to StarTropics, the game was released everywhere except Japan. And for the longest time, it appeared as if there were simply no plans to ever release the game there. However, in 2000, pictures began to pop up on message boards showing prototype screenshots of a Japanese version of Monster Party. This version was supposedly planned to be more darker and gruesome, to the more light-hearted game we would eventually get. One example being the title screen being covered in red blood, which would be replaced with green slime in the other versions of the game.
In 2011, a protype copy of the famicom cart would find it’s way on to a Japanese Yahoo auction. The cart was known as Parodi Warudo Monsutā Pātī, or “Parody World: Monster Party”. The cart would go for over 483,000 yen, the equivalent of $6,000 in the US.
Story
A young boy named Mark is heading home from a baseball game. He notices a star in the sky. However, he soon finds out it’s no star, but actually a gargoyle-like creature named Bert. Bert’s home world, the Dark World, has been overrun by demons and monsters, and he needs the help of someone to get rid of them. Noticing Mark’s bat, he figures that he’s found the saviour of his world. I think Bert was just more in a rush, and found the first person with a weapon and decided “screw it. I haven’t the time to look all night. I’ll just take this kid”. He takes Mark to the dark world. However, since he’s not just sending Mark off on a suicide mission, Bert offers his help by fusing with Mark. So, when Mark needs his help, he can transform into Bert. So, it’s up to our young hero to bring peace to the dark world, and save the day.
Gameplay
The object of Monster Party is to traverse through the eight levels of the game, entering the doors you find throughout the level, and defeating all the bosses that lurk within. Defeat all the bosses to earn a key, which can open the exit door at the end of each stage. to finish the level.
You’ll control Mark for the most part of the game. And, as you’d guess from the story, Mark’s weapon of choice is his trusty baseball bat. Pressing A will make Mark jump, and the B button swings the bat.You use Mark’s baseball bat to bash at enemies directly, or to deflect enemy attacks. And as you progress through the game, you’ll learn that deflecting attacks will definitely be your most trustworthy line of defense. However, the big downside I find with the bat is that it won’t always hit the projectile back the right way. Sometimes you’ll hit the item straight, sometimes diagonally upwards. I think it has a lot to do with the timing of your bat strike, but since you’ll likely be spamming the button, it can be quite tedious to get your shots just right. You can also crawl (or ground hump, your guess is as good as mine), by pressing the down button. However, you can’t attack while doing this, so be careful.
By defeating enemies in the levels, you will sometimes get a pill. Once the pill is taken, you can transform into Bert. Bert can play a lot better than Mark in my opinion. Tapping A makes Bert fly, while B will shoot projectiles. Since you don’t have to worry about deflecting shots, and can even shoot while ducking, it makes for an easier time when dealing with the enemies and bosses of this game. However, you can only be Bert for short periods of time, so you’ll have to hustle in order to use him to the best of your abilities.
You start off with minimal health in the game, but can earn more the further you get. You can also grind health from certain enemies. But I find that there’s a limit on how many health pickups you can get per level, so be careful on how and when you collect them. You can also earn health by entering the different doors in the game. You’ll find question marks by defeating the bosses. However, these will either be extra health, extra points, or help you transform into Bert.
The health you earn will carry on to the next level, so you definitely don’t want to start a new stage with low health. You only get one life in this game, and if you lose, it’s game over. But thankfully this game is very lenient. You have unlimited continues, so you don’t have to worry about dying near the game’s end.
The game has a password system, but I find it to be one of the most annoying. You deal with numbers, lower and upper case letters, as well as punctuation marks. This can get especially annoying when you have no clue if you have to put in an upper or lower-case o, or if that’s a comma, or a period to put in. Thankfully codes are only nine characters long, but it doesn’t excuse such tedium.
The levels are pretty basic gameplay wise. Go from left to right, and beat the bosses along the way. It really isn’t until the later levels that some variety is put in. Including a haunted house maze, where you have to take the right door pattern to get to the boss, then find the right pattern in order to escape. And another level is a vertical stage, where ladders and platforms are required to make it to the exit.
So, now that we’ve covered the general aspects of the game, let’s get to what makes Monster Party so unique. It’s cast of crazy creatures.
First off, the main enemies of the game. You’ll deal with plenty of stock creatures like snakes, scorpions, skeletons, and the like. But also naked legs sticking out of the ground, human faced dogs, fish heads with human legs, and walking pairs of pants. Hell, even the elephant man is after you. Mark and Bert certainly have an interesting challenge ahead of them. But, if you think the enemies sound weird, wait until you meet the bosses.
Well, among these enemies are basic ones like a giant plant, a Medusa head that spits snakes, a giant spider, a minotaur, and even the grim reaper. But then there’s also a cat in a box who throws other cats, a haunted well, a punk rocker, a caterpillar named Royce, and even a monster that was already killed before you got there.
And then there’s the bosses that everyone knows about… the food trio! I can assure you that you can scour the NES library, and you won’t find bosses like these. I can’t think of any other video game where you face a gauntlet of a giant piece of fried shrimp, an onion ring, and finally a kebab.
And then there’s my favorite boss battle in the game (mainly because it’s the easiest), the zombie twins. These two zombies rise from the ground, and don’t attack you. Instead they dance to Japanese drum music for about 30 seconds before going back into the ground. You can’t attack them, since it would be pointless. This scene here does make me surprised that this never got a Japanese release. There does seem to be a few references to Japanese folklore throughout your adventure, which makes the game seem so prime for the famicom. Oh well, things just happen I guess.
All the bosses have similar patterns in order to kill them. Either deflect their projectiles, or spam your bat or blasts and hope for the best. Each boss takes roughly 20 hits to defeat.
Another unique touch is that all the bosses start off with taunts before battle. Some examples being the pumpkin head boss who pleads “please don’t pick on me”, before he rushes into you, throwing little pumpkins at you. Jeez, dude, if you don’t want people picking on you, maybe you shouldn’t pick on them. The shrimp boss warns you to “look out baby. Here I come” before he begins to bounce at you. and the Pharaoh boss will complain that his legs are asleep before he faces off with you.
And this is why I think this game is such a classic experience. The game embraces it’s weirdness and handles it in a wonderful way. It’s quirky, strange, and oh so unique. Like a twisted little snowflake. It’s no wonder the game has earned a strong cult following, and is considered by many as an underrated classic on the NES.
Graphics
The graphics are excellent. The enemies and bosses are well detailed, and all look very memorable. The levels are all designed great, but I’d say the first level is definitely the most classic. It starts out looking happy and fun, filled with smiley face blocks, and a positive atmosphere. Then you get halfway, and lightning strikes. Suddenly, things get more macabre. The platforms go blood red, and the level is littered with bloody skulls. It’s easily one of the more disturbing sights in any NES game, and considering the company’s strong stance on censorship at the time, is really surprising that it even released this way. It’s truly a sight you won’t ever forget.
Music
The soundtrack is solid. There are several catchy tracks, and it helps to give the game more of its quirky, unique feel. And just like the sights of this game, you’ll definitely have some of the songs stuck in your head too.
Overall Thoughts
Monster Party is definitely one of the must-play games for the NES. While the core gameplay itself is pretty generic, it’s the world within that will suck you into it. The story is interesting and great. The graphics and sound both blend wonderfully. And the whole thing is just original and fresh. Something you rarely see out of many video games, even today. The difficulty is fair. Not too challenging, but certainly not to easy either. It all ties in to a fin experience. I mean, you don’t find too many games out there that give you the power to clobber evil fast food. It’s a must have for any NES collector, or any fan of strange video games in general. If you’re looking for one party to go to, you should definitely make it this one.
Rating: Thumbs Up