Fester's Quest

"Not that good, but definitely underrated"

FESTER'S QUEST
(NES)

Not that good, but definitely underrated (6/10)

There are several different games out there for us writers to review. There are games we love, games we hate, games everyone loves but we feel are overrated, and then of course games everyone seems to hate but we feel are highly underrated. Such a game is Fester's Quest. At least if yours truly gets to state his opinion.

Fester's Quest is one of the many games to the NES based upon the famous TV-series The Addams Family. Other popular games are Pugley's Scavenger Hunt and the self-titled Addams Family. While none of these games have been hailed as a good game, people seem to get a few extra devil horns on their heads when this game is mentioned. Indeed, I have seen several 1/10-reviews on the net for Fester's Quest. Is it really that bad? Does it deserve the lowest grade available? In fact, I think not. I do think that Fester's Quest has got enough power to stand up on its own. It is by no means a good game, but it is not terribly poor either. Let me share my views upon this game...

Like in most Addams Family games, the plot is totally twisted and insane. This game is no different. Although Fester's Quest is based more upon a more serious atmosphere and a true challenge than the other rather comical Addams Family games, it still retains the funny features and crazy jokes. The story goes like this: one peaceful night, uncle Fester is "moonbathing" (yes, "moonbathing"!) on the terrace of the house, when he suddenly sees a giant U.F.O. hoover over the city, teleporting down its habitants. The aliens are here to invade the city, and of course, Fester is the only one who can stop them. He grabs his crazy gun and a few extra items, and heads out in the city (as soon as daylight has come). Not a bad story for a game as early as this, the only thing I wonder is: what the hell has this got to do with The Addams Family???

As the title exposes, the main character of this game is uncle Fester. Not Gomez, Morticia or any other main character. The other family members are there, but only as helpers that provide you with new items. The aim of the game is to travel around the city on several stages, travelling via parks, streets and sewers, and eventually reach a giant mansion. Inside these mansions, the boss creature resides. After defeating the boss creature, Fester can proceed to the next part of the city and he also gains a piece of a clue to see where the final boss hides. While travelling around in town, Fester can stop by at a house, where he can get a new item from one of the family members, or at a hot dog stand where he can buy some food to replenish his energy. Fester will meet several different alien monsters on his journey, so he'd better use his special items. These are a colourful bunch of gadgets, and they range from various potions, a whip, an antidote against poisoning, a missile cannon, and the inevitable Fester-trademarked T.N.T. and lightbulbs. Absolutely excellent!

While being the standard Zelda-inspired adventure game, Fester's Quest has a few ingredients that adds some more meat to the skeleton. Each time Fester steps inside a building to search for the boss creature, he has to travel through a huge 3D-maze. This is a unique and interesting touch for a NES-game, and it is pulled off quite neatly. The engine for travelling through the maze is of course very simplistic, but with the endless corridors being very similar in appearance and design (very hospital-sterile), and some creepy music playing through your speakers, the maze hunt is sometimes very tensed and scary. There are no other enemies in the maze, so you will travel around alone, searching for different doors. Behind one of the doors, the boss creature lurks, and you have to take a deep breath before stepping inside, because the battle starts directly if you pick the correct door...

Speaking about boss creatures, they are all very well-made and spectacular. Every boss is different and they all have their own unique design and attack methods. Most of them are drawn in a very grotesque style that really frightens you when you step into their lair. Many other monsters you will encounter are also very grotesque and brutal. Scattered on the streets around the city are several fungus-like creatures that grow everywhere. They look like slimy mushrooms gathered in big piles, and they pulsate when you hit them with your gun. They seem to grow back every now and then when you don't look. Truly disgusting. There are also some snail-like ball-shaped creatures that have big jaws with big teeth. They can dig themselves under any obstacle that comes in their path, and they attack you in swarms. Escaping them is a big peril, and very stressful. Add to this some duplicating slime blobs, a giant scorpion that is almost invincible and can appear anywhere in the city to surprise you, and much more. A true interesting fauna.

So the basic concept and additions are there. Now that's nice. So what is the problem? Is the sound bad? No no. The songs in the game are in fact quite atmospheric, and range from an upbeat city street smart vibe to a dark slow tune down in the dirty sewers. The haunting theme when you walk through the endless corridor mazes and the nightmarish raving beat when you battle one of the bosses aren't to be forgotten either. The sound samples are a bit recycled from older games, much in the tradition of Sunsoft. However, this doesn't bother me too much. Then what is it? Well, the fact is that the gameplay and the lastability aren't as juicy as the rest.

The biggest problem is the high amount of challenge. Fester's Quest is difficult. Extremely difficult. Not only does Fester take only two hits before he goes down, but he also has only one life. If he goes down, there are continues you can use, but this makes you start way back from the beginning! You still retain all your items and your progress, but you will have to go through all the sewers, roads and mazes you went through before! This is absolutely horrible, and in the line of Zelda 2. There is also no save or password feature, which means that you have to beat it all in one sitting. Furthermore, the enemies are often very strong and brutal, and knocking them down or evading them is often a complex challenge. The bosses all have their own weaknesses, but there are no hints anywhere on what their weakness might be. The only way is to hit them with various items and weapons over and over again to test what works best. And because they flash every time they get hit no matter with what thing you use, it is almost impossible to determine what works best.

There are also some rather annoying paths through the game. The maze challenge was very nice, but it can also be tremendously painful. In the very end of the game, the mazes turn into giant corridor buildings from hell. With 10+ doors in every corridor, finding the right one can be very frustrating, and every time you fail, you are lead back to the outside, and need to find another key to get back in again. Also, the enemies tend to drop items every now and then when they go down. Sometimes they drop an item that reverts the power of your gun. If you happen to pick this one up, your gun gets weaker, and you will have to start battling enemies endlessly just to get the strength back up again. This is an incredibly annoying and unnecessary event in the game.

All this frustration gets even more intense because of the unresponsive control. Fester walks painfully slowly, and he sometimes react very slowly on your commands. This means that escaping the enemy is a very difficult process. The biggest miss in Fester's Quest is that the developers made a great and genuine basis for the game, but prevented the gamers from experience it all because of poor controls and a violently high challenge level. In fact, I recommend you to play this game with a FAQ, to give you a fair way of completing it.

Fester's Quest is a nice game, slightly bit above average, and definitely not a total failure. It has a lot of potential, but misses the higher marks mainly because of the big failures in the control and challenge department. It is recommended for people that are fans of The Addams Family, as well as for Zelda-enthusiasts and people liking alien invasion action games. However, most people probably won't make it through alive, and most people probably won't enjoy it too much. Still, I will recommend this, just for the sake of argument, because it gets overlooked too often, and it is definitely not as bad as people want it to look like.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06, Updated 05/18/07