This was definitely a NES game that I hadn't heard of until I began browsing the inner tubes of online. It's an intriguing cartridge of weirdness for sure, and it's even more baffling how it got away with so much under the odd iron fist of Nintendo's censorship policy.
It begins mostly harmless enough with the title screen of silly green ooze, and intro where your baseball kid named Mark meets his new BFF avian Red Arremer-like Bert who fell from space and asks for help. Immediately afterwards you're greeted by a stage start screen filled with blood and skeletons just hanging out in it. It gets even more odd when you begin and find random naked human legs stuck in the ground, and get jumpscared mid-stage with the level becoming a zombified hellhole. Apparently all you needed to get away with more against Nintendo was to replace blood on the title screen, and hope they didn't bother playing past that part, but even that scenario doesn't seem feasible due to them changing the Medusa boss from a snake lady to a snake demon with snakes for hair. They drew the line at violence against women, but figured kids were good with decaying faces and other potentially disturbing imagery for them? It's very odd, and like most things with censorship in this era it does nothing but astound me.
The game itself has some interesting things going on with it's mechanics, but as you would expect from a less-known developer it's only executed so well. Mark is a world-class baseballer in training, he has the ability to reflect even bullets with his skills at swinging for the fences. Mark is also renown for his fantastic ability at crawling along on the ground like a worm and shrinking his hitbox to the size of a flea, which is something you might wanna know about when playing since it helps a ton. Despite these abilities you'll still be begging to turn into your buddy Bert to deal with the bosses, because trying to rely on the reflect ability can be patience-inducing even with access to a turbo button and save states.
Dumb hitboxes, a bunch of instances where you kinda have to take damage, etc. It'd be an incredibly forgettable game if it weren't for stuff like a decapitated King Tut zombie head going "OH BOY! MARK SOUP!", or being assaulted by sentient fried shrimp. Personality and allure as deep as the Mariana Trench. Hell, this game's Cutting Room Floor page is even horrifyingly interesting with the cut references like the ape on horseback threatening to seize you and make you their slave. Yet another example of why Backloggd needs to steal the "liked" button from Letterboxd, because while Monster Party isn't the most kind or well-designed game it sure has it's dumb charm.
Happy all hallows' eve. If you see an apparent "person" in a bird demon costume offering a little treasure chest make sure you take it, but never open it. The promise of a beautiful princess in it may be enticing, but I assure you it ain't a princess you'll want within your vicinity.
It begins mostly harmless enough with the title screen of silly green ooze, and intro where your baseball kid named Mark meets his new BFF avian Red Arremer-like Bert who fell from space and asks for help. Immediately afterwards you're greeted by a stage start screen filled with blood and skeletons just hanging out in it. It gets even more odd when you begin and find random naked human legs stuck in the ground, and get jumpscared mid-stage with the level becoming a zombified hellhole. Apparently all you needed to get away with more against Nintendo was to replace blood on the title screen, and hope they didn't bother playing past that part, but even that scenario doesn't seem feasible due to them changing the Medusa boss from a snake lady to a snake demon with snakes for hair. They drew the line at violence against women, but figured kids were good with decaying faces and other potentially disturbing imagery for them? It's very odd, and like most things with censorship in this era it does nothing but astound me.
The game itself has some interesting things going on with it's mechanics, but as you would expect from a less-known developer it's only executed so well. Mark is a world-class baseballer in training, he has the ability to reflect even bullets with his skills at swinging for the fences. Mark is also renown for his fantastic ability at crawling along on the ground like a worm and shrinking his hitbox to the size of a flea, which is something you might wanna know about when playing since it helps a ton. Despite these abilities you'll still be begging to turn into your buddy Bert to deal with the bosses, because trying to rely on the reflect ability can be patience-inducing even with access to a turbo button and save states.
Dumb hitboxes, a bunch of instances where you kinda have to take damage, etc. It'd be an incredibly forgettable game if it weren't for stuff like a decapitated King Tut zombie head going "OH BOY! MARK SOUP!", or being assaulted by sentient fried shrimp. Personality and allure as deep as the Mariana Trench. Hell, this game's Cutting Room Floor page is even horrifyingly interesting with the cut references like the ape on horseback threatening to seize you and make you their slave. Yet another example of why Backloggd needs to steal the "liked" button from Letterboxd, because while Monster Party isn't the most kind or well-designed game it sure has it's dumb charm.
Happy all hallows' eve. If you see an apparent "person" in a bird demon costume offering a little treasure chest make sure you take it, but never open it. The promise of a beautiful princess in it may be enticing, but I assure you it ain't a princess you'll want within your vicinity.
The_Big_Ghey
1 year ago
Still one of the more fascinating NES titles out there.