Game Review - Addams Family Values (SNES)

The third and final installment in the Addams Family series for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, The Addams Family Values takes the baton and runs with it. Not only were the previous two platformers awesome, stylized clones of familiar, successful, and fun games, but The Addams Family Values takes it that much further, this time modeling itself after Zelda!

Initially released in 1994 on the Sega Mega Drive, The Addams Family Values was ported to the SNES in February of 1995 by Ocean Software. This installment is the single most successful installment in the series to date.

Similarly to the second installment, The Addams Family Values has a very weak plot. The basic premise is that the new baby, known as Pubert, has been abducted, and it is the player's job to save him. Playing as Uncle Fester, you goal is to save the baby while combatting a variety of weird and abnormal enemies.

The gameplay in The Addams Family Values takes after that of Zelda-in fact, it seems to be an exact clone. Attacking and defending work exactly the same as in the Zelda series. To this extent, The Addams Family Values is similar to the previous games in the series in that it's a heavily stylized clone of a fun and successful system-and it pulls it off extremely well!

Unlike the previous two versions, The Addams Family Values on the SNES incorporates some creepy and eerily omnipotent music. No longer is the snap-snap theme overused (except on the title screen, of course!), but instead a mood-setting atmospheric blend of violins and other string instruments is constant on every level.

The learning curve in The Addams Family Values is extraordinarily difficult. While the first two were quite easy by comparison, this genre switch to a Zelda-style combat game make it terribly difficult; it was hard to even move to the new control scheme. While the initial start of the game is made easy to ease the player into the shift, it gets much harder later on; once I adapted to the new schemes, I was crushed by the exponentially-increasing difficulty level!

The Addams Family Values is the third, final, and best in the Addams Family series on the SNES. Hands-down, this game destroys the previous two titles in every aspect. The replayability of this game is extraordinary in itself, due to the immense difficulty it has (like Zelda with a kick!). Through its music, its dark and creepy environments, and its humorously stylized portrayal of a Zelda game, The Addams Family Values receives a solid 5/5 from me.