Monster Party is a video game for the NES, released in North America in 1989 by Bandai. It was and remains a relatively obscure platform game for the console, having a small following among some players. The game both pays homage to and parodies horrorpop culture, alternately featuring enemies and locations based on classic horror icons, and parodic reinterpretations.
In the 2000s the game became infamous in online gaming circles when prototypescreenshots of a JapaneseFamicom version known as Parody World: Monster Party (パロディワールドモンスターパーティー, Parodi Wārudo Monsutā Pātī) began circulating showing different bosses and parodies. No version of the game was ever released in Japan.[1] On May 26, 2011, a prototype of the canceled Japanese release was listed on Yahoo! Japan auctions, closing at a very high price of ¥483000 (approximately $6000 in American dollars).[2] On July 3, 2014, the unreleased Japanese Famicom version was leaked online.[3]
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".[1] Being the first person he encounters, Bert tries to enlist Mark as his aid in battle. Mark is reluctant to help, but Bert explains that anyone will do, and that Mark's baseball bat will be as good a weapon as any. Bert quickly whisks him away, and on the way to Dark World magically fuses himself to Mark so that they are one being (with Mark able to transform into Bert for a limited time).
The bizarre premise and plot introduction sets up a game that is filled with variations on many traditional horror characters and themes (sometimes with ironic twists), as well as relatively novel [1][4] 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
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.[1]
Monster Party features eight levels, each of which has a unique password that allows the player to access a particular level without starting the entire game over. The basic objective in each level is to beat particular bosses (and a certain number of them) to earn a key and move on to the next level. Bosses are accessed by doorways found in the main part of the level, which is side-scrolling. However, many of these doors lead to empty rooms, adding challenge. Every door, whether it leads to nothing or a level boss, gives the player a question mark ('?') item, which can either provide the player with health, points, or the transformation into Bert.
Levels
Dark World: Initially a grassy, mountainous region with blocks bearing smiley faces. After passing a haniwa statute at the midway point, lightning strikes, the faces melt into bloody skulls, and the world becomes a hellish environment.[4] The bosses for this level are a man-eating plant, a giant dead lizard (commonly misinterpreted as a spider, no fighting necessary, as its dialogue box "SORRY, I'M DEAD" confirms), and a pumpkin-headed ghost who throws smaller pumpkins and wants not to be picked on.
Dark World Dungeon: A sewer-like area infested with fish heads, crocodiles, and a blood-belching creature. Bosses for this level include a Medusa; Shrimp Attack; and a haunted wishing well that throws plates (a reference to the Banchō Sarayashiki ghost story).[1]
Dark World Cave: Bosses for this level include the Guardian of the Giant Sphinx, who complains that his legs are asleep; a Giant Spider; and the Giant Cow Man, whose attack is smaller cows.
Dark World Castle Ruins: A pyramid-like area with desert enemies, such as scorpions. Bosses include Giant Samurai, who is slow-moving and admits it in its dialogue box; a giant cat; and Punk Rocker.
Dark World Lake: This area has two bosses instead of the usual three. Enemies include sharks with large fins and sea serpents. Bosses are The Walking Dead (a pair of invincible, dancing zombies who automatically deteriorate if the player simply watches them perform); and Mad Javelin Man, a large wooden robot.[1]
Dark World Haunted Mansion: A large maze that must be navigated. There is only one boss here, Chameleon Man, a giant, reptilian head that blends into its environment.
Dark World Tower: An upward scrolling tower. Amongst gamers, the level is notorious for a bug that renders the game unwinnable if all three bosses are defeated; the player must only beat two and then proceed to the end of the level in order to beat it. Beating all three bosses will result in the player losing the key.[1] Enemies include umpires, masked elephants, and imps. Bosses include a caterpillar named (Rolls) Royce; the Grim Reaper; and the return of the Giant Spider, with a Roman numeral II on its back.
Dark World Heaven's Gate: A heaven-like area that defies the conventions of platformers by having a "hidden" area to the left of the starting position. Enemies include dynamite and witches. Bosses are a Pharaoh's Head; Hand Man; and Giant Dragon.
After beating the eight levels, the player faces the Dark World Master, seen only as an angry giant zombie face that shoots flying eyeballs. His nose opens into another eye, his only weak spot.
Legacy
The game's title screen as it appears in the US release. Prototype screenshots revealed that the green "slime" was originally blood.
Monster Party is infamous in the retro gaming community for prototype images released in Japan before the game's release in the US. The images reveal a different original concept for the game that was much darker and more graphically complex than the version eventually released. Originally, the title screen was to be covered in blood, and the enemies designed to look much more horrific than in the final game.[1][4] The first level's setting, presently an abstract black-and-pink pattern, was originally an elaborately drawn mountain range at sunset. Other changes revealed by these images is a change to the first boss, a large plant, which was shown to have a microphone and speaker in the original, a possible reference to Little Shop of Horrors.[5]
The game is remembered for its bizarre premise by both fans and critics alike.[6] 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.[1][6]
In the latter 2000s, following the release of prototype images, gamers realized that an invisible platform inside the man eating plant's chamber was in fact the "deleted" speaker system, and that programmers had simply covered the sprite in black pixels rather than outright remove it. This led to the establishment of a restoration project, in which gamers began searching through the game's source code in attempt to discover if other "deleted" content had in fact remained on the cartridge, and reinsert it into a "restored" version of the game. The project was completed in 2013.[7] 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
^ abcdefghi[dead link]Strangman, Rob (September 2009). "Monster Party at Hardcore Gaming 101". Retrieved 2009-09-24.
^GameSetWatch (June 9, 2011). "Japanese Monster Party Prototype sells for over $6,000". Retrieved 2011-06-10.
^Nolan, Mark (July 3, 2014). . Nintendo Player. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
^ abcEncyclopedia Obscura (November 2002). . Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
Monster Party Review Review of Monster Party at Flying Omelette, with several screenshots.
Syd Lexia on Monster Party Review of Monster Party with screenshots of all bosses.
Monster Party Beta Restoration Project
January 30, 2023
monster, party, 2018, film, film, video, game, released, north, america, 1989, bandai, remains, relatively, obscure, platform, game, console, having, small, following, among, some, players, game, both, pays, homage, parodies, horror, culture, alternately, feat. For the 2018 film see Monster Party film Monster Party is a video game for the NES released in North America in 1989 by Bandai It was and remains a relatively obscure platform 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 Monster PartyCover artDeveloper s Human EntertainmentPublisher s BandaiComposer s Masaki Hashimoto T MikumoPlatform s NESReleaseNA June 1989Genre s Platform gameMode s Single playerIn the 2000s the game became infamous in online gaming circles when prototype screenshots of a Japanese Famicom version known as Parody World Monster Party パロディワールドモンスターパーティー Parodi Warudo Monsuta Pati began circulating showing different bosses and parodies No version of the game was ever released in Japan 1 On May 26 2011 a prototype of the canceled Japanese release was listed on Yahoo Japan auctions closing at a very high price of 483000 approximately 6000 in American dollars 2 On July 3 2014 the unreleased Japanese Famicom version was leaked online 3 Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 2 1 Levels 3 Legacy 4 References 5 External linksStory EditThe 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 1 Being the first person he encounters Bert tries to enlist Mark as his aid in battle Mark is reluctant to help but Bert explains that anyone will do and that Mark s baseball bat will be as good a weapon as any Bert quickly whisks him away and on the way to Dark World magically fuses himself to Mark so that they are one being with Mark able to transform into Bert for a limited time The bizarre premise and plot introduction sets up a game that is filled with variations on many traditional horror characters and themes sometimes with ironic twists as well as relatively novel 1 4 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 Edit 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 1 Monster Party features eight levels each of which has a unique password that allows the player to access a particular level without starting the entire game over The basic objective in each level is to beat particular bosses and a certain number of them to earn a key and move on to the next level Bosses are accessed by doorways found in the main part of the level which is side scrolling However many of these doors lead to empty rooms adding challenge Every door whether it leads to nothing or a level boss gives the player a question mark item which can either provide the player with health points or the transformation into Bert Levels Edit Dark World Initially a grassy mountainous region with blocks bearing smiley faces After passing a haniwa statute at the midway point lightning strikes the faces melt into bloody skulls and the world becomes a hellish environment 4 The bosses for this level are a man eating plant a giant dead lizard commonly misinterpreted as a spider no fighting necessary as its dialogue box SORRY I M DEAD confirms and a pumpkin headed ghost who throws smaller pumpkins and wants not to be picked on Dark World Dungeon A sewer like area infested with fish heads crocodiles and a blood belching creature Bosses for this level include a Medusa Shrimp Attack and a haunted wishing well that throws plates a reference to the Banchō Sarayashiki ghost story 1 Dark World Cave Bosses for this level include the Guardian of the Giant Sphinx who complains that his legs are asleep a Giant Spider and the Giant Cow Man whose attack is smaller cows Dark World Castle Ruins A pyramid like area with desert enemies such as scorpions Bosses include Giant Samurai who is slow moving and admits it in its dialogue box a giant cat and Punk Rocker Dark World Lake This area has two bosses instead of the usual three Enemies include sharks with large fins and sea serpents Bosses are The Walking Dead a pair of invincible dancing zombies who automatically deteriorate if the player simply watches them perform and Mad Javelin Man a large wooden robot 1 Dark World Haunted Mansion A large maze that must be navigated There is only one boss here Chameleon Man a giant reptilian head that blends into its environment Dark World Tower An upward scrolling tower Amongst gamers the level is notorious for a bug that renders the game unwinnable if all three bosses are defeated the player must only beat two and then proceed to the end of the level in order to beat it Beating all three bosses will result in the player losing the key 1 Enemies include umpires masked elephants and imps Bosses include a caterpillar named Rolls Royce the Grim Reaper and the return of the Giant Spider with a Roman numeral II on its back Dark World Heaven s Gate A heaven like area that defies the conventions of platformers by having a hidden area to the left of the starting position Enemies include dynamite and witches Bosses are a Pharaoh s Head Hand Man and Giant Dragon After beating the eight levels the player faces the Dark World Master seen only as an angry giant zombie face that shoots flying eyeballs His nose opens into another eye his only weak spot Legacy Edit The game s title screen as it appears in the US release Prototype screenshots revealed that the green slime was originally blood Monster Party is infamous in the retro gaming community for prototype images released in Japan before the game s release in the US The images reveal a different original concept for the game that was much darker and more graphically complex than the version eventually released Originally the title screen was to be covered in blood and the enemies designed to look much more horrific than in the final game 1 4 The first level s setting presently an abstract black and pink pattern was originally an elaborately drawn mountain range at sunset Other changes revealed by these images is a change to the first boss a large plant which was shown to have a microphone and speaker in the original a possible reference to Little Shop of Horrors 5 The game is remembered for its bizarre premise by both fans and critics alike 6 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 1 6 In the latter 2000s following the release of prototype images gamers realized that an invisible platform inside the man eating plant s chamber was in fact the deleted speaker system and that programmers had simply covered the sprite in black pixels rather than outright remove it This led to the establishment of a restoration project in which gamers began searching through the game s source code in attempt to discover if other deleted content had in fact remained on the cartridge and reinsert it into a restored version of the game The project was completed in 2013 7 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 Edit a b c d e f g h i dead link Strangman Rob September 2009 Monster Party at Hardcore Gaming 101 Retrieved 2009 09 24 GameSetWatch June 9 2011 Japanese Monster Party Prototype sells for over 6 000 Retrieved 2011 06 10 Nolan Mark July 3 2014 You Are Cordially Invited To The Parody World Monster Party Nintendo Player Archived from the original on July 15 2014 Retrieved July 3 2014 a b c Encyclopedia Obscura November 2002 The Horror Archived from the original on 2009 09 25 Retrieved 2009 09 24 Unseen64 staff August 7 2008 Monster Party NES Beta Retrieved 2009 09 25 a b Monster Party NES November 2005 Retrieved 2009 09 25 Monster Party Prototype Restoration ROMhacking net Retrieved 2019 07 04 External links EditMonster Party Digital Press Online Review of Monster Party at Digital Press Online Monster Party Bandai Shows screenshots of the Famicom prototype in comparison to the NES version Monster Party at MobyGames Monster Party Review Review of Monster Party at Flying Omelette with several screenshots Syd Lexia on Monster Party Review of Monster Party with screenshots of all bosses Monster Party Beta Restoration Project Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Monster Party amp oldid 1124819034, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
