Review of the Addams Family (NES)

The Addams Family is a video game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991 by developer Ocean. It's a very random franchise to base a video game upon, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Let's delve into this game a bit deeper.

Story : You, Gomez, arrive at your mansion. What happens at this point is any body's guess. It seems you go around collecting money and rescuing your family members. Who captured them? Why? I couldn't figure it out, but it seems rather unimportant regardless. The meat of this game is the game play, not the story.

Graphics : The characters have a small amount of animation but are drawn decently. Still though, in 1991 there were other games with superior graphics. Overall a lazy effort, and it really shows in the backgrounds. They really put in the most minimal amount of detail into pretty much everything they could. Unfortunate.

Sound : Let's just get this straight: If you don't like the Addams family theme song, do not play this game. If you play this game, you will hear this song many, many times. Still, it's arranged well and sounds as catchy as ever. So if you really love that song you may enjoy the fact that you hear it so much. The sound effects are very basic and minimal, however. Some sound effects are just downright annoying, such as the sound effect you hear when Gomez takes a hit. It may not seem like a big deal at first, but it's quite piercing after awhile.

Game play : There are some neat things to point out. First, this is a kind of a puzzle game sometimes. Puzzle games are always engaging, but this element isn't too prevalent most of the time. It pops up every now and then but isn't a big factor. Other than that this game is like a quasi Mario clone where you collect a ton of items and explore the mansion.

There's too many difficult enemies and instant death traps in this game. The most glaring flaw in the game is you aren't granted temporary invincible when you're hit. If you're anywhere near anything that gives you damage, you better move immediately or you'll be dead before you know it.

Gomez moves far too slow, but the jumping feels good and is accurate. However, that hardly matters since the game is very difficult regardless of how solid the control is.

Re playability : Not very. If you manage to complete the game once, which would be very hard indeed, you've already seen everything there is to see. Perhaps if you're a die hard Addams family fan, you may find enjoyment. Other than that, there is no re play value.

Overall : 2/10. Too many negatives to be considered truly playable. Stay away unless you're a big Addams family fan.