Thanks to the endearing appeal of retro gaming, and the fact that Nintendo is still very much around, it’s hard to believe in some ways that the Nintendo Entertainment System is now 40 years old. It’s even harder to believe that the video games industry in North America was on the brink when Nintendo decided to take a gamble and repackage its successful Famicom game system and bring it across the pond. You know the story by now: Nintendo became a cultural force, Mario was everywhere, and video games are now a multi-billion dollar industry.

And despite its kid-friendly image, the NES did have its share of horror titles. You know the obvious ones by now, with Konami’s Castlevania series, Capcom’s Ghosts ‘n Goblins and Sweet Home, and movie-licensed adaptations such as Friday The 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Ghostbusters, and so on. But this time around, we’ll look at some of the more obscure and cult titles that you may already know, and some that you’ll probably want to add to your collection. Provided you have a Famicom for a couple of them, and some extra loose cash lying around.

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti

Yes, the Splatterhouse series did make a stop (in Japan) on the NES. Wanpaku Graffiti is a Super Deformed take on the original game, which has more humour injected into it, but still retains a semblance of the violence of the 1988 arcade hit. The game starts with Jennifer crying over Rick’s grave during a thunderstorm, when a bolt of lightning, causing Rick (wearing the Terror Mask) to be resurrected. The reunion is short-lived as, another lightning bolt hits the grave next to Rick, causing the Great Pumpkin King to rise up and kidnap Jenny. Now it’s up to Rick to save her.

Wanpaku Graffiti is a pretty standard but fun action sidescrolling romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Case in point: there are lots of movie and pop culture references. The game references Jaws, Evil Dead II, The Fly, Aliens, and even has you fight Dracula after he performs the “Thriller” dance with a bunch of zombies. Control is generally spot on, and there’s a bit of strategy where every kill Rick racks up contributes to an experience system, which increases your life meter as you progress. The graphics are pretty good, with the chibi style coming across quite nicely. If you’re not keen on shelling out for a cartridge (which is expensive), you can play it in the NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES VOLUME 1 collection on consoles and Steam.

Monster Party

Mark is on his way home from a baseball game when he’s approached by a winged griffin-like alien named Bert who seeks help in ridding “evil monsters” from his realm known as “Dark World”. Initially reluctant, Mark agrees and Bert transports them both to Dark World. Along the way, Bert magically fuses himself to Mark so that they are one, with Mark able to transform into Bert for a limited time.

Originally in development as Parody World: Monster Party, the game was to rival Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti in terms of its horror parodies. However, that concept was eventually dropped, and in its place is something that’s just plain weird. Nevertheless, Monster Party is a pretty interesting playthrough. The main goal of each stage is to enter the various rooms found within, and fight the bosses inside, eventually being granted a key to the next level. The bosses are part goofy, and part horrifying. In fact, it’s surprising how much gore crept past Nintendo’s strict censors. There’s also the gameplay mechanic that has you transforming into Bert for extra firepower and flight. The ending also has that “WTF?” aspect to it, not to mention some pretty shocking gore. Back in 2014, the original Japanese prototype was found, offering more of a glimpse into just how much was cut in terms of the parodies from the North American localization.

Uninvited

The game starts off with a bang (literally), as you managed to swerve around a shadowy figure that appeared in the middle of the road, but you lost control of the car smacked into a tree. You awaken from the crash, but your older sister is missing. After escaping the car, you see an old mansion in the distance, which you enter out of curiosity. The door slams shut behind you, and you have no choice now but to find your sister and get out alive.

Originally developed for the Macintosh by ICOM Simulations, Uninvited eventually made its way to the NES, courtesy of Kemco. Since this is a point-and-click adventure game, gameplay consists of you interacting with objects in each room, and discovering how to solve the puzzles you encounter with the items in your inventory. There’s also a mechanic where you use magic spells to open up new paths if you figure out how to use the spells properly. However, the game itself is short, and is often the problem with adventure games, real-world logic doesn’t translate well, requiring you to try every possible solution until you get the right one. Plus, the difficulty can be a bit unfair at times. This is worth a cursory look, but there are better point-and-click adventures on the NES.

Frankenstein: The Monster Returns

Set some time after the original story by Mary Shelley, the Monster returns from the dead with a supernatural army in tow. After razing a village, the Monster kidnaps the village elder’s daughter named Emily, with the intent of marrying her. You play as a self-named hero determined to stop the supernatural army, rescue Emily, and put the Monster back in the ground.

Despite having only four levels, The Monster Returns compensates with its difficulty, which sees you having few healing items, and even fewer lives and continues. This is compounded all the more by the hit detection issues and the overly cheap enemies. You eventually do get around to compensating for that spottiness, but the game just can’t compare to Castlevania. It’s certainly not horrible, but it’s definitely not in the same league as Konami’s classic.

Chiller

The player takes on the role of an unseen torturer who must shoot enough targets to bring the “Monster Meter” down to zero before time runs out. The various targets include monsters, animals, and people. The player can also activate torture devices in the later levels by shooting specific spots on them. The quicker the player runs down the Monster Meter, the higher the points.

Obviously, the arcade original ran on the shock value, and this unauthorised port does the same. And much like the arcade version, the NES version’s novelty wears off pretty quickly, with the short levels leaving you breezing through Chiller in less than a half hour. The graphics and audio are an obvious downgrade, with the screams of your victims coming across as more hilarious than horrific. Chiller does allow you to use the Zapper, and even two people can play simultaneously.

Monster in My Pocket

Based on the toy line, the story concerns Warlock, who wanting to have power and rule over all the other monsters, creates a shrinking spell to use as punishment for any who chooses to oppose him. The only two monsters who oppose Warlock are Vampire and The Monster. However, the spell was miscast – causing all of the monsters to shrink. Warlock sends out his henchmen to eliminate Vampire and The Monster, who must now battle those monsters while making their way to Monster Mountain to battle Warlock.

Anyone familiar with the toy line will have a blast with this one. Monster in My Pocket is a fun but admittedly pedestrian sidescrolling action title. The Monster and Vampire share a basic movset, and don’t have any distinguishing characteristics apart from cosmetics. Despite that, the graphics replicate the toy line quite well, and the music is classic Konami. It’s a challenging game, but not unfair. The hardcore collectors will obviously want to grab the fully-boxed version, which included an exclusive figure.

Shadowgate

The game takes place in the Castle Shadowgate, residence of the evil Warlock Lord. As the “last of a great line of hero-kings”, the player is tasked with saving the world by defeating the Warlock Lord, who is attempting to summon the demon Behemoth out of Hell.

Like Uninvited, Shadowgate was ported from the Macintosh, and sports refined gameplay elements from the original version. However, unlike Uninvited, Shadowgate features an often frustrating gameplay mechanic where you must find torches and keep them lit in order to see and stay alive. The game also is another point-and-click adventure title that almost requires you to have a guide handy in order to solve the puzzles and obstacles. Unless you’re a masochist who enjoys dying repeatedly from something until you figure out how to avoid it. Shadowgate can be a fun time, but be prepared for the usual adventure game antics.

Maniac Mansion

A meteor crash lands in the backyard of a large house. Twenty years pass, and the owner of the house, Dr. Fred Edison, kidnaps Sandy, a local teenage girl. It turns out that the meteor is sentient, and has brainwashed the Edisons and directed Dr. Fred to obtain human brains for use in experiments. Sandy’s boyfriend Dave gets a group of his friends together to stage a rescue mission.

Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick‘s classic adventure title made it to the NES, bringing the game’s humour and trademark offbeat solutions to its puzzles to a wider audience. The original graphics have been given a makeover, and developer LucasArts enlisted the help of George “The Fat Man” Sanger to add music to the game. Not surprisingly, Nintendo had some of the game’s humour toned down from the PC version, but you can still microwave Weird Ed’s hamster (at least in the first run carts). While the genre’s heyday has long since gone, Maniac Mansion still stands the test of time for fans as one of the very best, and the quirky mix of horror and humour is still entertaining.

Zombie Nation

In the near-future of 1999, a meteor crashes into the Nevada desert. The meteor turns out to hold the alien known as Darc Seed, who uses magnetic rays and hypnotizes everyone in America. In doing so, Darc Seed also takes possession of the Japanese sword, Shura. Shura once belonged to the “great head of the samurai” Namakubi. Angered at Darc Seed’s possession of his weapon, Namakubi flies off to save America from Darc Seed.

Zombie Nation is odd, to say the least. As a severed head, you attack by spitting projectiles, and you power yourself up by rescuing “zombie hostages” as they are flung through the air after you destroy an object or building. You also fight the Statue of Liberty, which sports snakes in her crown. Weirdness aside, the game sports some impressive graphics and music to go with its fast gameplay. Offsetting that is the game’s difficulty, which can lean towards frustration, given how easy it is for Namakubi to be hit, in addition to those hits taking off a lot of health. Given the premise, it’s not a surprise that the game didn’t sell well, but it’s a fun but tough playthrough if you get past its eccentricities.

Ghoul School

While taking the usual shortcut home through the cemetery from Cool School High, Spike O’Hara happens upon a strange, glowing skull. Putting it in his backpack, he shows the skull to his anatomy teacher, Dr. Femur, the next day at school, which also happens to be Halloween Eve. Dr. Femur keeps the skull for a special study, but unbeknownst to everyone, the skull had begun transmitting its message to the realm of the dead, resulting in ghosts and demons taking over the school. Complicating matters is the fact that the demons have kidnapped Samantha Pompom, the head cheerleader. Spike must now defeat the ghouls and rescue Samantha.

What could’ve been a fun action platformer in the vein of Zombies Ate My Neighbors turns out to be anything but that, as Ghoul School is just boredom to the point of frustration. The confusing maze of rooms connected by the same-looking hallways and staircases might have been easy to let slide if the combat was fun, given the surprising amount of weapons and items at your disposal. But having fun weapons such as a sickle, embalming fluid and a towel(?), or items like spring shoes and suction cups, or the ability to hide in lockers to avoid attacks can only go so far when fighting monsters is just plain boring. The repetitive environments sometimes just have a single enemy in them for you to fight. And the majority of foes are just eyeball monsters of various sizes. Heck, the final boss is just a bigger eyeball monster! This is just wasted potential.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Loosely based on the 1886 novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, players control Dr. Jekyll on his way to reach the chapel for his wedding. As Dr. Jekyll makes his way to the church, several townspeople, animals, and other obstacles obstruct his path, causing him to become angry. The stress of this causes Dr. Jekyll to transform into Mr. Hyde. Hyde can only transform back into Jekyll to continue the stage by destroying enough bouncing brains called “Shepps”. The ending of the game depends on who reaches the chapel first.

AVGN fans know this one. It’s a bit of a shame, since the mechanic of managing Dr. Jekyll’s stress could’ve been a neat idea, but then again, adapting Stevenson’s story into a video game for the NES was never going to be an easy feat. Never mind that the game deviates from the source material almost immediately, the fact that you’re playing as Jekyll most of the time from a defensive position isn’t going to win over players looking for an action game. And you’re supposed to keep Jekyll’s stress down to prevent Hyde from appearing. Playing as Hyde offers more action, but you work backwards from where you turned into Hyde, and if you go too far back, the game ends! How this all translates into the allegory of the duality of good and evil within man as in the original story is suspect, to say the least. Adding to it all is the game’s bad control and uninspired music. Definitely not worth your time unless you need to satisfy the completionist in you.

Dr. Chaos

The player takes on the role of Michael Chaos, who is concerned about his brother, the eponymous Dr. Ginn Chaos, a quantum physicist who has been working with portals to new dimensions called “warp zones.” The last Michael heard from his brother was three months ago. As a result, Michael heads out to his brother’s lab. Upon arriving, Michael discovers his brother missing, and the doctor’s mansion has been overrun by monsters. Michael is now the only one that can stop the monsters, while also working to rescue his brother.

Dr. Chaos does have an interesting concept going for it. Part sidescroller, part first-person adventure. You enter the latter when you enter rooms, looking for ammunition, health potions, and hidden passages. Unfortunately, it starts to get a bit tedious after a while, especially with the drab-looking environments. The sidescrolling parts sink things even lower, as Michael’s sluggish jumps often result in cheap hits, with knockback that dwarfs what you’d find in Castlevania. It also doesn’t help that Michael’s knife has some suspect hit detection. It’s not the worst, but given an awesome-sounding premise and the mix of viewpoints, it could’ve been so much better.

Gargoyle’s Quest II

A prequel to the Game Boy original, while Firebrand is training in a small, alternate dimension, the mysterious Black Light suddenly appears and destroys his home. When he returns, Firebrand is told to hurry to the king. Upon reaching King Morock, Firebrand is informed by the king that he is on the brink of death. Before dying, King Morock sends Firebrand out on a journey to unravel the mystery of the Black Light.

The Ghosts ‘n Goblins spin-off series Gargoyle’s Quest never quite got the same exposure as the main series, which to be fair, never reached the popularity of Capcom’s other franchises during the NES’ heydays. Regardless, Gargoyle’s Quest II only improves upon its predecessor, with a great soundtrack and impressive graphics and a much longer playtime. Gameplay is a mash-up of sidescrolling action with RPG elements, where defeating bosses from neighboring towns grants you new powers to open up previously unreachable areas. The game carries the Ghosts ‘n Goblins “tough but fair” challenge, but is still a very enjoyable playthrough. Thankfully, you have a password system, so you don’t have to complete the game in one sitting.

Getsu Fūma Den

In the distant future of 14672 A.D., the demon lord Ryūkotsuki escapes from hell, planning to conquer the surface world. Standing in his way are the three Getsu brothers of the Fūma clan, each holding one of the three spiritual Pulse Blades. Two brothers set off to destroy Ryūkotsuki, but are killed, leaving Fūma, the youngest of the three brothers. Vowing revenge, Fūma journeys to recover the three stolen Pulse Blades and defeat Ryūkotsuki.

Another title that sadly never saw its way out of Japan, Getsu Fūma Den continued Konami’s run of great sidescrolling action titles alongside Castlevania and Contra. The game mixes up its sidescrolling with a few 3D dungeon segments, the latter of which unfortunately drag the experience down a bit, since it’s very easy to lose your bearings in these segments. There are also light RPG elements, where repeatedly killing foes will increase your sword power, and you can visit shops for items to grant you temporary abilities. And of course, this being Konami, the music is once again a treat. This one isn’t as bad as DDS: Megami Tensei in terms of relying on dialog, but you’d still be better served by grabbing a translation patch.

Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun aka Kid Dracula

Kid Dracula is the self-proclaimed Demon King. After waking up from a long nap, he discovers that the kaiju Galamoth has convinced all of the minions of the underworld to ditch Kid Dracula for him. Swiping his father’s cape, Kid Dracula sets out to destroy the Galamoth, and retake his throne.

Another Japan-only release during the NES’ lifespan, players outside of Japan didn’t get ahold of this one until 2019 as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. Another parody game, Kid Dracula features a lighter tone in both its art style and music when compared to Castlevania. In fact, the first stage’s music, “Go Go at the Castle”, is a remix of the classic “Beginning”. As you progress through the stages, you’ll power up Kid Drac, giving him abilities such as firing homing shots, transforming into a bat, and even flip gravity to walk on the ceiling. While not overly hard, the platforming can be tricky at points, especially during the autoscrolling levels. Overall, it’s a fun little action title that offers a break from the dark gothic horror of the main series.