31 Days of Monster Mania: Day 6: Dr. Chaos (NES)

Written by Stu Cooper

It's Day 6 of Monster Mania and I've decided to take a different route today. Today I will be talking about a horror video game called "Dr.Chaos" for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This was of course a decade before South Park made it's debut, so unfortunately you do not take the role of Butters, but I assure you it's almost as cool. "Dr.Chaos" was released for the original NES in November of 1988. In Japan the game was known was "Dr.Chaos: Hell's Gate". So it's obvious right off the bat, this is probably a horror game. The cover art is also some of the coolest cover art I've ever seen on a game, but as veteran gamers know, great cover art does not equal great game-play.

"Dr.Chaos" is the story of two brothers trying to reunite after a catastrophic event takes place. One of the brothers is a mad scientist named Dr.Ginn Chaos and he has come up with the brilliant idea to create a device that can open up a gateway to other dimensions. This idea immediately backfires on the scientist and he is sucked into another dimension. Now the gates between dimensions are open and monsters are coming in and out of them. You take the role of the mad scientist's younger saner brother Michael. Michael is on a journey to find out what happened to his brother, and retrieve him from whatever hellish dimension he is stuck in. This game certainly has an interesting story, and it's one that may sound familiar to you. H.P. Lovecraft wrote a story called "From Beyond" that was about almost the exact same thing. A man creates a device that allows people to see and visit other dimensions, he tries the device himself and ends up losing control of it. This results in scary entities traveling between dimensions. For a story written in the 1920's, that is quite imaginative and petrifying. Lovecraft was kind of good at that sort of thing!

Now that we know the story is pretty cool, what about the gameplay? Well unfortunately the gameplay is not on par with the story. You start out the game as Michael, wondering around a haunted house, trying to find places to warp into other dimensions, which basically serve as the levels. The only problem is that the game gives you very little in the way of guidance and you could find yourself wondering around the house for an hour trying to figure out what the hell you're suppose to do. Not only that but you have a series of re-spawning bats and rats constantly coming towards you, slowly draining your life.

In order to advance through the game, you enter doors in the haunted house. This is when the game switches to a first person perspective. While in the first person perspective you navigate different rooms, gathering items and ammo. This part of the game can also be confusing because what the gamer doesn't know is that in order to advance to stages, you must punch random parts of the walls in these rooms, and you will find random portals that suck you into levels. The levels you get sucked into are much cooler than the haunted house, and thankfully more fun. But if you don't have the instruction manual or any access to the internet, it may take you ages to figure all of this out. One cool thing about going into all these random rooms is that sometimes the room are full of boogey men! You will run into some pretty freakish looking creatures, ranging from Slimer looking demons, to giant incarnations of Frankenstein.

Once you figure out what you're suppose to do, you progress through a series of dimensions and fight a boss at the end of each dimension. After defeating a boss, you are given some type of device that will assist you in the game. Once you gather every device you need, you get a laser which you can use, and then of course you find your brother. In terms of weaponry I will say the variety is pretty nice. You get access to a knife, handgun, machine gun, grenades, and a laser! You also get power ups like rocket boots. So there is certainly a lot of depth to this game, it's just an incredibly confusing game.

I would compare it to something like "Goonies 2" for the NES if you have ever played that. A lot of trial and error, and a lot wondering through random rooms. I do give the game credit for also trying to add depth by making it a side scroller AND a first person perspective, so it gives you a sense of really being the character of Michael, at least it did in 1988. The game also features some pretty decent music with some halloweenish effects. The opening title screen is also something that will give you nightmares. For a children's console, this game could be considered rather scary. It's actually scarier than the "Nightmare on Elm Street" game that was put out, but not quite as fun as the "Friday the 13th" game. If you want a retro game to play during the Halloween season, this one might not be a bad choice. My only warning is that you must have a lot of patience, and you may have to take some time to figure out what to do. That's a common problem with some retro games, but thank god for the internet. If you see this game, you should pick it up. It only cost me about 8 bucks, and I'd say it was worth it.

Youtube Gem: Nintendo Training Videos

Written by Stu Cooper

As the youtube generation continues to grow, the library of obscure videos is also growing. I've recently discovered several company training videos that have been uploaded to Youtube, probably by a former employee. I ended up finding some Nintendo oriented ones and since I'm a huge fan of retro gaming, I loved every bit of these. One is about customer scenarios you would encounter in a retail store and the other is about those old nintendo display cases they had in stores. It really does give me a flashback to an early 90's Toys R' Us. Also look closely in the first video and you'll see a cameo by Dr.Phlox from Star Trek Enterprise!

Monster Mania Day 27: The Addams Family Presents Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt

Written By Stu Cooper

This will be a quick review because there isn't a whole lot to say about this game, but I just got it in and had to give it a go, especially considering the time of year. Now when I was younger I remember renting one of the "Addams Family" games and having a pretty hard time with it, and from that point on I never really tried any of the other games. I'm not sure which game that was, but it wasn't this one because I had a blast playing this. In "Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt" you play the cartoon version of Pugsley who accepts a scavenger hunt challenge from his sister Wednesday. You play as Pugsley for the entire game and I'm alright with that. You get into all sorts of mischief and you can actually choose which levels you want to play by entering certain doors in the Addams Family house. The controls are pretty crisp and easy to get the hang of, tho attacking can be defeat at times and you have to be quick. The real highlight would be the music. It has the Addams Family theme at the beginning but the soundtrack throughout the game is pretty catchy and fun. It's just overall a fun little side scroller. If you're looking to play something with a Halloween feel and looking to interact with the Addams Family, this game is a good bet. Be sure not to confuse it with "Fester's Quest".

Retro Game Review: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)

Written by Stuart Cooper

I was lucky enough to witness two massive crazes when I was a child. The explosion of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, and “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”. Well when TMNT was starting to fall off the map, it was prime time for a children's show to swoop in and stake it's claim on Saturday Mornings. The show to do that would be “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”. The show was almost instantly popular and spawned so many toy lines and alternate series that I've long since lost count. I was one of those children who ate it up and had to have every toy, every game, every coloring book, all that good stuff. In terms of merchandising, Power Rangers might even have the Turtles beat. Well amongst the many items released during it's peak popularity, children were blessed with the opportunity to play TONS of Ranger games. I'm talking 3-4 games for SNES, Genesis, then ports to Game boy, Game Gear, Mega Drive, Tiger Handhelds, etc. They actually rushed the first line of games pretty quickly since the first game takes place before they even meet The Green Ranger, which was technically still in the first season. As a result, some of the games are good, some are not so good, but today I'll tackle the Super Nintendo version of “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”.

Now the game itself apparently differs depending on which console you get the game for. Most versions are a side scroller and the only differences being the bosses, but the Game Gear version is actually a partial fighting game as well. The Super Nintendo version starts off with the 5 rangers in human form, staring on as Rita for whatever reason, decides to show her face. There is pretty much no story, you start off in the city and you go through 7 different stages, all of which seem to be just random locations that have nothing to do with the story or show. So if you are looking for an enticing story element, this game won't have it.

On the plus side, you do get to choose between all 5 rangers and you can change which Ranger you are with each stage. Since there are 5 side scrolling stages, you can play 1 stage per ranger if you'd like. That is what I decided to do, so I could test each one and see if there was any difference. As far as I can tell all 5 rangers were pretty much the same strength. The red one seemed slightly stronger than the others, but that might just be my brain being influenced by the actual show. The one difference I did notice was the use of their special weapons. Each ranger has a special weapon like they do in the show. The pink ranger has a bow, the blue ranger as a little gun, the black ranger has an ax and so on. The pink Ranger actually shines when it comes to this because her bow can shoot arrows after you combo a few hits. This can provide you with some reach. Each level, except for the last two, stick to a simple formula. You beat up waves of Rita's “Putties” and when you get to the second part of the stage you are confronted by the boss and proceed to hunt him down while in your ranger outfit. At the end of the level you face the boss.

The bosses are really my favorite part since they are the shining stars of the show itself. As a kid I remember tuning in every week just trying to imagine what kind of deranged weirdly themed creature Rita's slave sculptor would conjure up next. The game kind of disappoints in it's selection but you have to consider when the game was released the first season hadn't even finished, so no Evil Green Ranger, Rita, Goldar, or Lord Zedd fights. To be honest I only recognized 2 out of the 7 bosses in the game, that being the Skeleton man “Bones” and the unforgettable petrifying “Eye Guy”. Fighting Eye Guy brought back some memories and made me want to re-watch that episode. As far as difficulty, unless you are under the age of 10 there probably won't be much. If you can understand very basic boss patterns and how to do jump-kicks, you'll beat this whole thing in about an hour. The last two stages of the game you actually get into your MegaZord form and it turns into a fighting game. You fight this incredibly random villain (that is not in the game previously), It looks kind of like a Gundam or something from Escaflowne. Very forgettable boss fight but it's cool that they found a way to get the Zords in there.

Overall I'd say this game is definitely worth checking out. I wouldn't say that if you still had to pay 50 dollars for it, but the game can be found for about 6 bucks on eBay or a local retro game retailer. I got my copy for 5 dollars. It will always hold some nostalgic value for me and it's a good side scroller. The cons would be the lack of story, lack of difficulty, no two player mode, and you can beat it all in an hour. If you loved this show growing up and you miss it, perhaps it's time to pop this cartridge in and say IT'S MORPHIN TIME!

Some bonus Rangers videos just because: