Hello to you and how you be… Dan Ryan here… you there. Thank you so much for checking out this post and if you like what you see please share. There are quite a few horror games on the NES. And their reputation is, well it’s not awesome. The release of Jaws: Retro Edition earlier this year got me thinking though, are they all as bad as their reputation suggests? That game showed that Jaws was nowhere near as bad as it was made out to be and that with a little bit of love, there was actually something pretty great underneath the surface. I’m willing to admit that even though I played almost all of the big horror titles released for the NES when they came out, my opinion on them was definitely colored by blog posts and YouTube. So, since it tis the season and all, I wanted to go back and look at some of the most polarizing NES horror games with a fresh perspective. Submitted for your approval this is Retro Horror Revisited: A Nightmare on Elm Street.
A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the stranger releases on the NES. On the one hand it’s published by LJN, notorious for their low effort licensed output that, mostly deservedly, is widely panned by critics and players alike. On the other hand, the game was developed by Rare, a studio synonymous with some of the best games on the NES and SNES. On another hand, the graphics are a mixed bag at best with some interesting choices in design and color. The regular, awake world, is pretty bland but the Dream World features all types of gruesome ghoulies and Freddy head spiders which are inarguably cool. On an other, other hand, the music is outstanding, having been composed by the absolutely legendary David Wise. So yeah, a mixed bag. The game isn’t based on any particular film in the franchise which actually benefits the overall piece of business. It might seem strange to make a game based off a decidedly not kid friendly franchise until you remember what A Nightmare on Elm Street turned into. By 1990, films starring Freddy Krueger had gone from genuinely scary with a bit of camp to The Dream Child. Which don’t get me wrong, I love the films in this franchise dearly but man are they goofy most of the time.
The plot is simple enough, collect Freddy's bones, which are only leg bones for some reason, and toss them in a furnace forever ending the nightmare. It does just enough to be A Nightmare on Elm St. without adding to the overall lore. The gameplay is a relatively straightforward action platformer. You take control of a generic looking dude wandering around Elm St. looking for an open door to enter one of the different levels of the game. This is all randomized so there’s a bit of trial and error, replay value!, in finding the right door. Along the way you’ll have to deal with typical horror game baddies like snakes, bats, rats, and zombies. Our generic protagonist can punch, jump punch, and duck punch. Once you find the right door you enter some more generic horror game locales like a cemetery or haunted house or junkyard. Each level has a number of Freddy’s bones you need to collect and eventually toss into the furnace to take out Freddy for good. Each stage also has Dream Warrior power ups that allow you to turn into one of 3 forms, a ninja, a wizard, and an athlete. These forms activate in the Dream World, a state players enter when their sleep meter runs out. In the Dream World enemies are more grotesque and harder to kill. Thankfully the different forms players can take all come with enhanced abilities like greater mobility or the ability to fire projectiles that almost makes the Dream World a bit easier to get through. The Dream World is also where you run into Freddy in the form of mini fights. These are pretty simple encounters where you just have to stick and move to damage him enough before he runs off. You do get a very nice chiptune rendition of the "One, two, Freddy's coming for you..." song before he shows up. Players can collect cups of coffee to stay awake or a boombox in the Dream World to wake themselves back up. You will have to keep track of how many times you've been hit though as there is no health meter, just the sleep meter and a big ass Nightmare on Elm St. logo at the top of the screen. Either way once you’ve collected all of the bones in the level you get to a boss fight. These fights are a bit of a letdown as they take a cool idea, fighting just Freddy’s glove flying around or his big ol’ head spitting tongues at you, and present them in a rather bland manner. Once you get the hang of the somewhat janky controls the fights themselves are pretty easy. These fights aren’t helped by the fact that once you’ve collected all of the bones and make your way to the furnace, you have to do them again boss rush style before finally taking down Freddy himself. There's a lot more meat on the bone here that something like the Jaws: Retro Edition could unlock.
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All in all though when looking at this game with a fresh set of eyes, it mostly works. There is definitely some jank but once you adjust, the core gameplay loop is pretty solid. A Nightmare on Elm St. is not great by any stretch but it’s also nowhere near as bad as its reputation suggests. I’d absolutely recommend picking this up, again or for the first time, and giving it a chance. It’s on the shorter side and has just enough of that campy, spooky vibe to fit right into an October gaming session. I cannot speak to the 4 player mode unfortunately as I couldn't convince my family to play through it.
That’s it for this week. To hear what Kris has to say make sure to check out the pod through whatever catcher you use or on our very own Youtube channel. But I want to know what you think. Join the Stone Age Gamer discord, or you can find me on Bluesky to let me know your thoughts. In the immortal words of Billy Joel, “Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes; I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again.” See you soon.
