Monster Party is a platform game for the NES, released in North America in 1989 by Bandai. It was and remains a relatively obscure game for the console, having a small following among some players. The game both pays homage to and parodies horror pop culture, alternately featuring enemies and locations based on classic horror icons, and parodic reinterpretations.

In the 2000s, prototype screenshots of a Japanese Famicom version known as began circulating showing different bosses and parodies. No version of the game was ever released in Japan. In May 2011, a prototype of the canceled Japanese release was listed on Yahoo! Japan auctions, closing at a high price of ¥483000 (approximately $6,000 USD). In July 2014, the unreleased Japanese Famicom version was leaked online.

Plot

The story centers on a child named Mark (originally known as Hiroshi (ひろし) in the unreleased Japanese prototype) who, on his way home from a baseball game, is approached by a winged, griffin-like alien named Bert (originally known as Value (バリュー) in the unreleased Japanese prototype) who seeks assistance in ridding "evil monsters" from his realm, "Dark World". characters all its own. Some traditional horror bosses the game features include a mummy, giant spiders, zombies, Medusa, a Dragon, and The Grim Reaper. The game also features several enemies drawn from Japanese folklore and Japanese urban legends, such as Banchō Sarayashiki's well and Jinmenken (human faced dogs). Enemies unique to the game include a large, talking caterpillar; walking pants; a giant cat that hurls kittens as projectiles; and a bouncing piece of fried shrimp.

After making his way through Dark World and ascending into what appears to be some kind of Heavenly realm, Mark fights and defeats the Dark World Master. His realm now free of monsters, Bert returns Mark home and leaves him with a parting gift for his help. When Mark opens the box, a beautiful princess emerges; after a few seconds, though, she transforms into a hideous monster accompanied by a few monsters who melts Mark's flesh from his bones.

Mark suddenly awakens in his bed, his body intact. Believing his adventures in the Dark World were a dream, he prepares to leave the house to school, only to find Bert standing before the front door with Mark's bat. Bert asks Mark if he is ready to go again, and the game ends.

Gameplay

thumb|right|200px|Mark (as Bert) faces one of the game's unconventional bosses: a giant, hopping fried [[shrimp. Defeating this form turns the monster into an onion ring, which in turn becomes shish kebab.]]

The player takes the role of Mark, who wields his bat to attack and to deflect projectiles. Rebounding projectiles back at bosses is often necessary to defeat them as Mark has limited attack options. Enemies drop hearts, which replenish life, as well as pills which (for a small period of time) turn Mark into Bert, who can fly and shoot beams at a limited distance. The effect of Bert's beams on enemies is stronger than Mark's bat attack, and gradually improves as the player completes levels.

The game is remembered for its bizarre premise by both fans and critics alike. The horror content that was permitted to remain in the game—notably large amounts of blood and the use of the word "hell"—have puzzled gamers, as Nintendo was notorious for enforcing censorship policies in the late 1980s and early 90s, when the game was released. Amongst discoveries made by those working on the project was the revelation that many of the game's more incongruous bosses may have originated as copyrighted characters that had to be altered for the game to be released in the United States: the pumpkin ghost with the spinning head was originally an ape from Planet of the Apes, while the giant cat inside of the box seems to have originally been one of the Gremlins, and finally the grim reaper was originally a robot resembling a Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.

References

  • Monster Party – Digital Press Online Review of Monster Party at Digital Press Online.