Halloween LPs

I should mention that there is no music on the title screen. The font and the graveyard only compound the sinister atmosphere.



Okay, that's pretty cheesy. Determination is the easy joke (because you know, I've already referenced Toby Fox) but while elegant violence sounds cool, it gave me this image when I went to look it up on google images:



Like that is perfect. I should also mention that the first letter of each sentence lines up to spell "MURDER", which is both cheeky and brilliant at the same time.



Oh no, the screen is covered with evil trees, sixes and there's a Boo!!

All joking aside, let's get this started.



[Current OST: The Haunt - Entrance]

I have no idea if this song is from something or Kc made an entirely new song just for The Haunt, but I love it either way. It sets up the mood perfectly, especially with how they removed the normal Super Mario World HUD to enhance the atmosphere.

The graphics are equally impressive. The black sky, the rain and the new Boos all make this wonderfully spooktacular, so that gets a merit on its own.



To progress, you press down on a certain grave. It was cryptic enough to have Kc point it out, so oops I guess.



[Current OST: The Haunt - Underground]

Wow, okay, and I thought the other song was good. The Underground version is arguably even more chilling, which is appropriate considering we're in a cemetery.



Thankfully, at least they use coins to show you where to go down here.



Eeries are easily one of the most annoying enemies in vanilla Super Mario World and they still are here. Trust me on this.



Now here's a bit of an asshole move. To progress, you don't go to the other graves... but instead re-enter the one you just came out of.



It makes as much sense as its sounds.



The trees sport weird faces in this too, like you'd think this was Mortal Kombat 2 or something.



Oh hey, we finally get to meet the Big Boo from the title screen. What's up, my man?



JESUS FUCK!

No joking here, that face is legitimately terrifying. It's easily the scariest thing I've seen in any rom hack yet, especially when compared to how cute Boos tend to normally be. I tip my hat to whoever Kc asked to do the sprites, because damn that's cool.

Fun fact - I originally had a really badass screenshot where the Big Boo revealed his face on the instant the lightning struck, but it got lost when I realized all of the screenshots I took were in the wrong format, so...





There's a bloody Mushroom hidden behind him, which makes me question what the hell these guys have been doing if they managed to mess up even our power-ups.



Nope. Not dealing with that.



By the way, if you stand around long enough in front of a Boo, they'll make this face. That's both hilarious and disturbing at the same time considering you can't harm them at all.



Something I like about The Haunt is that Kc gives you multiple entrances - this is the normal entrance, but if you make the effort...



You can go over and grab this spring and use it to jump up a hidden entrance.



Taking you to an otherwise inaccessible spot with a mushroom. That's neat.



[Current OST: Metroid Fusion - Environmental Disquiet SMW edition]

Also, what the fuck kind of nightmare house are we in?

There's so much blood here you'd swear we walked into a Creepypasta game. Nice touch with the Metroid Fusion soundtrack, though.



Thaaat's pretty gruesome. Poor Monty Mole.



Wait, there's Yoshis here too?



You cold-hearted bastards. There's just body parts lying all around this place, so the ghosts weren't kidding about their "elegant violence".



The Haunt isn't hard, per se, but it is described as a puzzle hack. Given how this is essentially a Ghost House with a dark red coat of paint, you'll see what I mean.



[Current OST: A SMW version of the Halloween theme]

... Appropriate music, I suppose. The version in the actual game seems to be unique to The Haunt, as I can't find it anywhere else.



Yeah, this is what you have to do to proceed. That's pretty devilish considering you can't drop down on those ledges.



There's a P-Switch here... along with a Boo that's about to take Mario on a ride. That won't end up pretty.



Pressing it here reveals a door where you originally found the switch, but we'll see where that takes us later.



At the end of the room, you'll find another door...



Which leads into a secret one-way hole behind the main room. Believe it or not, we now have access to both of the endings based on where we take this P-Switch. For now...



Ugh, there's you. This jump is nearly impossible to do without getting hit as Big Mario... unless you coax the Boo into moving by turning your back to them.

For some reason, their pathfinding doesn't lock straight onto you if you're directly below them, so that makes this much easier.



Although, I still somehow managed to make it awkward.



One damaged ego later, let's see what this door's about.



Oh... dear god. If anybody has coulrophobia in the audience tonight, I'm so sorry.

I don't even know why clowns are here - they just are.


This is where the P-Switch door back in the Halloween theme room would have taken us, completely bypassing the evil clown faces. It's definitely a shortcut, alright.

Now, the spring there looks like it would be useful right?



Not really. You just use it to jump over this idiot and that's about it... which, to be honest, is still a good idea because he's pretty big.



The next room over, we have more insanely creepy clown faces. There's bats in here too, so you have to be careful of either falling or getting hit.



At the end, you have a door and a P-Switch. The door is your last chance to get the fuck out of here while the P-Switch takes you deeper into the rabbit hole.



... As pressing it when you backtrack reveals a row of blocks.



But first, we have a secret! You better make good use of it, because you're stuck down here.



[The Halloween theme plays up again]

Oh lord, this doesn't look good. We're trapped in a pit with a dead Monty Mole and the big Boo... so I guess we should go out with a bang.



AAAAAAAH.

I swear I've seen these eyes from Dr. Boo's "scary" GMOD maps.


OOOOOH. SPOOKY!~



Seriously though, if The Haunt was an actual game packed with normal Super Mario World and I saw that as a young kid, I'd probably shit myself. The realistic graphics contrast so much with Mario's 16 bit sprite that I'm surprised this could even be put in... at all, given that this is a SNES we're talking about.



EEEEEEEE.

God damn it with the clowns. Still, how's it going, Pennywise?



Fuck I hate spiders. Burn 'em, nuke 'em, blow 'em to hell!

Yet I still like Muffet for some reason. I think it's because she's adorable:





There's just pumpkin faces all over the place. We may as well take the evil pumpkin orb and get out of here.



Well, we're screwed.



Disturbing, to say the least.

But still, I have like seven of them, dude. I'm coming back on the next one to kick your ass. If anything, you should be grateful this was before they allowed you to have lives past the double digits.



Back in the mansion, this is what happens when you activate the P-Switch here.



It leads into another secret area with 1-up mushrooms and you exit by going down the tree stump... The ghosts did some really weird shit to this place, I swear.



They remove the info block so you can easily get down here, which is good because this is where we have to go.



This may be a bit unintuitive, but man Kc really thought out the level design for The Haunt. It's no wonder why it won first place for that category, actually.



A dark room that's only lit up by a disco ball? What, are we gonna get funky fresh here?



I'll admit this one is a bit obvious, given how there was a block in the middle of the room that turned off the lights for... no reason.



For you see, it leads into another secret room! That's nice. I like that Kc put these in to reward clever players, even if I question why Mario would ever grab a blood-soaked mushroom.



Speaking of blood, holy crap this room is practically flooded with it.



You have no idea how hard it was to make this really precise jump. I had to jump high enough to remove the coin and jump on the P-Switch, but not high enough to go up a level because these are the ledges you can't drop down from.

The result is one big cocktease as you're already one level higher than the secret door.





This is what the secret room would have looked like if you pulled it off successfully. It was unforgiving just to even get here, so maybe it wasn't worth it.



Okay, is anybody else getting Megaman vibes from this room? You know, a hallway with two doors but you can't backtrack? I feel a boss coming on.



[Current OST: I assume this is based off of Breath of Fire 2's A Crisis, so have the actual song instead]

To think, if I didn't use A Crisis in my regular let's plays, I would never be able to recognize this song.

We're being chased down by evil skull ghosts, so this is no time to think about JRPG music!



Shit gets pretty dicey in here. These ghosts want you dead.

I made it a personal challenge to get through this place without losing Big Mario, which is pretty impressive because this place is Hell to not take damage in.


More severed heads, blood, ghosts and spikes. We must be getting to the end of it based on how this place is structured, though.



There's even a special custom door. Let's go bust some ghosts. *Cracks knuckles*


[Replay A Crisis]

The only real boss fight of the hack involves taking down the Big Boo that's been following us around for the entire gig.



It's... kind of easy, actually, especially when compared to the scrolling labyrinth we had to endure to get here. Sure, there's a million Eeries on screen and they never stop coming, but the Big Boo himself can't hurt you at all - you pass right through him. Despite having a scary face and being overall way more sinister than a normal Big Boo, he's no more difficult to kill. The Haunt in general is nothing more than a creepypasta-fied Ghost House.



A few more blocks later and we finally kick his pasty ass back into Hell. Hooray!



Now that's what I like to see.



Everything's cherry.

But wait, before we leave, there's one final secret I have to show off.



Instead of going through the secret door there, let's try activating it here and spin-jumping onto that Boo.



How anybody figured this out is beyond me, but props to Kc for being clever.



Hell of a way to end the episode if I can say so myself. All in all, The Haunt is a really cool hack with great level design, graphics, custom music and is actually kind of spooky. If anything, I consider it more terrifying than MATTAN's Mario Wakes Up creepypasta hack due to the more intense graphics and overall ambiance... even if it is hella cheesy and confusing at times.

If I had to give it a score, it'd be an 80/100 (Good) - it was certainly very interesting for what it was. For now, though, that's all I got. Maybe I'll interrupt the FFTA playthrough to do Radiation's Halloween Hack for maximum spooks.

[Various monsters walk past the screen - Title Screen Theme]

That is one kick-ass title screen - the music and the cheesy monster drooling slime-blood enhance the charm for me. Also, fried shrimp are enemies in this game...

I'm just warning you now.



(thank god for the cutting room floor)

See, one of the most interesting things about Monster Party is that the prototype and the game we got have some hefty differences. The slime is blood and we have a zombie head as the cursor, along with different monster designs all around. The funny thing is that this was the only gory aspect of the game that was changed as we'll see in a bit.

Personally, I prefer the green blood/slime screen with the eyes because it sets a better mood for "wacky crazy monster game".



[Current OST: Prologue]

"He looked up and saw a bright star."

Oh boy, we're in for an adventure today. This song, by the way? Easily my favorite out of the entire soundtrack and probably some other games. It's a really nostalgic track for me.



"So he didn't notice that the star fell and landed right in front of him."

This sure made my eyes moist too... from the stench of cheese.

Reading this out loud is making me bust a nut because that's really what they went with. If you're wondering what changed in the translation... nothing. It plays out almost identically but with different names, so there you go.



Oh. WELL OKAY THEN!

Mark has more balls than me if he's going to talk to a magical gargoyle bird man that just fell from the sky... and he's only a kid. He sees this sort of thing all of the time.



: "I'm Bert!"

... What a majestic name for an purple alien gargoyle.

To be fair, his name in the prototype is something more fitting like Varyu... but they went with Bert in the US edition. I can't help but think of that dude from Conker's Bad Fur Day whose sole purpose was to give you sentient cheese. Or worse, the Sesame Street character.

: "What's up?"

Just... casually talking to a monster. Mark doesn't discriminate.



"Evil monsters are out of control in my world. Come and help me."

Aren't you expecting a bit much from Mark?

: "I'm afraid to fight the evil monsters."

See? Can you blame him?



: "This isn't a weapon, it's a bat!"

I'm pretty sure bats are the quintessential improvised weapon. Then again, he's no Ness.

: "Bat! Batter! Anything is okay! Anyhow, let's go!"

Wait, what--



: "Mark, my planet is dangerous. So we must act together."

He straight up snatches Mark away to fight the evil monsters despite telling him no. I guess the moral of the story is to never trust purple space Falcos or you'll wind up like Mark.

: "How?"




I can't deal with this and the game hasn't even started yet.
We are in for a ride.

It's so silly that I can't help but laugh. Maybe that's the point. I sure know I won't forget it any time soon.



SWEET BABY JESUS!

That's a bit macabre for an NES game, wouldn't you say? The only game I know that can rival this sort of imagery is Sweet Home (also for the NES), a legitimate horror game, so god damn. 


Nintendo of America completely dropped the ball on this one... which is very interesting considering they usually censored the shit out of games at the time (Example: Holy being changed to Pearl in the Final Fantasy games even up to FF6 on the Super Nintendo and so on.)

The fact this round screen exists completely intact is a Halloween miracle.



[Current OST: Round 1]

In a massive contrast to the bloody round screen, we're treated to a grassy wonderland that would be a bit too saccharine even for Kirby standards. We are suddenly attacked by what I assume is an evil, fiery version of Josuke Higashikata from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 4.

Like no joke, paint him purple and he's pretty much a prototype version of him:



Ah, jojokes.



In Monster Party, you attack by swinging your bat. It's short range but serves as a very effective reflector weapon as it can bounce back every projectile in the game. The cool thing is that reflected projectiles are guaranteed instant kills on non-boss monsters. 


Not only that, you get a giant health bar - Mark is easily one of the most durable NES game protagonists I've ever seen, third to Red Ring Link with all the hearts and second to Samus with the Varia suit and all the Health Tanks.

The gameplay is surprisingly solid for what this game is all about and I can dig that.



To top it off, certain enemies drop certain items. Hearts restore two points of HP and it is very important that you grind the enemies that have them until they stop dropping them.



Among many of the monsters on Bert's planet are these helpless disembodied leg fellas that are stuck in the ground. I don't know what party this guy was at, but smashing his kneecaps with a bat is one hell of a way to go.



[Current OST: Boss Battle]

Our first boss encounter is with a ripoff of Audrey from The Little Shop of Horrors that shoots purple bubbles at you. The boss theme, despite being a tad repetitive, is another favorite of mine because of how sinister it is. It's either you fight or you die, which makes me think that Bert wasn't kidding.

Oh yes, speaking of Audrey...



(The translated text is "tralala")

I wasn't kidding when I said they were a ripoff. They were literally in the game but had to be changed due to copyright and became eggplant flower instead. They shot out music notes instead of bubbles too. 



The fight itself isn't that hard, especially when you realize that Mark's bat is actually a chainsaw that can hit multiple times when you're in the air.

It rips Not-Audrey's health apart in a snap.



The sprite for the amp in the prototype was removed, but the actual collision data was not... so that means Mark is standing on thin air.



[Current OST: Game Over]

After getting ravaged by what was supposed to be an easy boss, here's the game over screen for you. The happy music is so jarringly out of place in this screen full of blood and skeletons that I can't help but dance along.

I love that Monster Party spices up its soundtrack instead of just having spooky themes from beginning to end.



Anyway, beating a boss nets you a question mark that has a random effect. It can give you a huge health boost, do something very interesting to Mark or just give you points. If there was any game to hate the arcade-style point system, it would be this one for that last reason because unlike other games that have that, this game doesn't reward you with extra lives.


So... yeah, no point.



I do not like how these faces are winking at me.



Whenever you enter a room that doesn't have a boss in it, you get this message and then you leave. It's as pointless as it sounds, but believe it or not they had different messages for each level:

• Round 1: "Nothing!"
  
• Round 2: "Noothing!"
  
• Round 3: "You lose."
  
• Round 4: "Ain't nobody here."
  
• Round 5: "Nothin' here, either."
  
• Round 6: ... No text, apparently.
  
• Round 7: "Too bad, there's nothing here. Better luck next time!"
  
• Round 8: "This is the end. Please leave quickly."
  

They started out pretty snarky, but that last message is kind of dark. You'll understand what it means when we get there.



Burning Japanese high schoolers in pink hill and spike land. What the hell did I just write?



Well hey man, I didn't mean to bother y--

Wait a fresh minute, something's not right here

what the fuck

Yep. It is exactly what it seems. This strange... dinosaur spider creature is speaking to us from beyond the grave. At least he's very polite and that's good because I don't know what I would do if this thing started attacking me.



To "win" the fight, you just have to wait around for the fly that's buzzing around to die of a sudden heart attack. It's just as ridiculous as it sounds and by god I love it.



... Huh? What the hell is happening to Mark?



Oooh shit, here we go!

Sometimes when you grab a certain item, you can change from Mark to Bert for a limited amount of time. He can fly and shoot laser beams, making him a far cooler character to control than Mark. It almost makes you wonder why Bert asked the help of a small child armed with a baseball bat if he himself is so badass.

Believe it or not, I actually have an answer for this that I'll save when we get deeper into the game.

(I should also mention that whenever you kill an enemy, they explode like they were made out of fireworks. It makes beating up crowds of monsters in this game intensely satisfying.)



You see this spindly, Cactuar-looking guy? He will rock our world.



[Thunder SFX, followed by the world shifting]

What did we get ourselves into?



[Current OST: Round 1 - World of Horror]



Oh dear god, we're in Hell.

The smiling blocks are now bloody skulls. The ground is slime and the music has changed from cheerful to slow and dread-inducing. The cactus is now melting and the pink hills are revealed to be rotting severed heads placed atop spikes. The world of monsters has shown its true colors and we can't go back.

This is easily one of the most graphic changes I've ever seen in a game, and the fact it's 8-bit only enhances the horror. No joke, I was legitimately terrified when I saw this for the first time and, despite how hardened I am of horror in general, it still sort of creeps me right the fuck out.



Not helped when the other side of the world has these... deeply uncanny valley human-headed dogs.

Monster Party is gnarly, man.



It's one thing to have a tree with a face, it's another to have every leaf on the tree be a face. Mark was right to be afraid of this place, because jesus I'm losing my cool just going through this.

Oh god, the door. The door.

(By the way, notice how the color of the border has changed from blue to red. Yeah, it's permanently red now. Isn't that great?)



Whoof, okay, something that doesn't invoke primal terror from me.

Aw, I won't pick on you. You seem like a nice enough guy -



Bastard!

So... he says don't pick on me yet immediately proceeds to sucker punch me with tiny pumpkins to the nads. The worst part is that it's an effective strategy.

Pumpkin Ghost here is actually another edited boss, and easily the strangest of them all:



He was originally a blatant Planet of the Apes reference that was cut out due to copyright issues, and what we got instead was a pumpkin-headed ghost that has the balls to lie straight to your face and shove mini-pumpkins down your throat.

If this doesn't set the tone of Monster Party already then I don't know what to say.



Trick or Trick Kid here was so hard that I had to bust out Bert to beat him. While our player character is durable, that health bar can go down really fast if you're not careful.



When you kill all of the bosses of a level, you get a key that pretty much says "you're done!" so you can move on to the next level. Cool stuff.



Those hands serve as spikes, so be careful. (god, get me out of this horrible place already)



At the end of every level you'll find a unique door that can only be entered using the key. You get a cute little victory ditty and even a generous amount of health back, so that's neat!



The game uses a password system. It's servicable, but the best part about it is the catchy theme song for the password screen. I can't get over the hilarious contrast, okay?



Anyway, round 2. I suppose I'll include each round screen just to give a preliminary thought on the level.



[Current OST: Round 2]

We're in the Dark World sewers. Sure, it smells like a sceptic tank but it's a way better place than the freakshow we were just at.



Ahem.

FISH-FACE ON LEGS

What a wacky ass world Bert lives in. I've heard someone call the fish face monster something that looks like it came out of Action 52, which is both hilarious and a serious disservice to this game because you don't compare anything to Action 52.



There's also these terrifying wall mouths that spit blood at you. They're more annoying than anything else because they block your path.



The first boss of level 2 is a Medusa snake that hurls what seem to be smaller, fatter snakes at you.

The boss room changes every level, and in this one it seems like we're in what seems to be an artery cave with skulls entangled in them. God damn.



In the prototype, Medusa was more human. I guess they didn't want you beating up a woman, so they changed her into a non-humanoid snake. The things she shoots out are explicitly referred to as Tsuchinoko, a legendary japanese cryptid that resembles a snake, so I guess that makes sense.



Fun fact: You can bump your head against the ceiling and see Mark recoiling as if to say "damn, that smarts". Small detail but still very cool.



These crocodiles shoot their tails at you. Even the most mundane looking beasts have crazy utilities in this world.



By the way, the item that turns you into Bert is a pill. Yes, a pill.

Hey kids, do you want to turn into a magical laser shooting gargoyle? Take a pill. The system works.



One new enemy in the sewers are these eggs that shoot bubbles at you. This was another edited reference, as the eggs originally shot out facehuggers from the movie Alien:



Excuse me???

Yes, one of the bosses in the game is really an evil, sentient fried shrimp surrounded by what seem to be fusion pods from The Fly. 



I warned you, man! The craziest thing is that unlike Pumpkinhead, this was always in the game. This is one of the examples of Monster Party being straight up weird and it is glorious. The joke is that fry and fly sound similar in Japanese, hence the fried shrimp and the Fly pods in the background.



If you inflict enough damage, the shrimp turns into an onion ring and then into a ke-bab. The fight itself is simple: you just have to find the rhythm to hit the damn thing, but the premise behind this is so baffling that I can't help but laugh.



Oh, you're gonna do some damage? No, allow me. (づ º v º )づ ︵ ┻━┻

Seriously though, the next boss is this haunted well that's actually based on a Japanese horror story.



The story is called The Dish Mansion at Banchō. The skinny of it is that a servant woman called Okiku was getting creeped on by a samurai called Aoyama. Aoyama, frustrated that she wouldn't get into bed with him, tricked her into thinking that she lost one of the ten delft plates that would get her executed if the family found out. The samurai tells her that he'll help her find the missing plate if she agrees to become his lover, to which she refuses.

In a fit of truly amazing rage, he chucks her into a well and she dies, becoming a vengeful spirit that tormented the samurai until someone found the last missing plate for her. A tragic story that, in all honesty, has no reason to be in this silly monster game but who cares because it's cool anyway. (Forgive me too, because that's the simplest I got with it and there's multiple versions of the same story)

The boss themselves flings plates at you in three different directions, but they're not too hard.



All in all, Round 2 was slightly easier if more cramped than the first level.



Round 3 might be one of the coolest levels in the game.



[Current OST: Round 3]

The Dark World Caves are oddly soothing to me. The background has this neat flashing effect and the music is appropriately atmospheric.

There are certain spikes that fall from the ceiling - you'll be able to tell if they're a different color from the rest.



There are bones about.



They take a lot of hits compared to normal enemies and that's a pain.



Their companions are these Haunter-looking ghosts that bob up and down making a silly face. In what I consider very clever censorship, these guys were originally Dracula lookalikes: 



I think it's neat how they became bat-ghosts, given how vampires can turn into bats. That, and the game cover isn't technically lying because there is a Dracula monster in the game, it just got changed around for the English release.



Excellent punmanship. Not only does this minotaur man look really cool, but he moos every time you hit him and he throws cute little cows at you as projectiles. It's honestly kind of adorable.



[Current OST: Sphinx Battle]

My legs are asleep, he says.

This is one of the few bosses that have a unique (if grating) battle theme. I don't know who's saying this, but the invisible mummy is ready to tear you into shreds with his deadly bandages of doom.

I think they made the mummy invisible to not get hit with a copyright law for 1932's The Mummy, but it's such a stretch that I don't know why they bothered.



I mean look at that, I nearly died again! The game is going to make sure you know what you're doing - it is tough.



Oh my god there's umbrella bats. They're so cute.



Spiderman here was originally a far more terrifying creature in the prototype:



"Change!! Form X!"

Dear god, what the fuck is that? That head with spider legs, my friends, is a reference to John Carpenter's The Thing. They paid homage to a lot of horror movies in this game and not just classic monsters. I find that really endearing, not gonna lie.

Both versions shoot out Xs at you and they are both one of the monsters that you can find walking across Monster Party's title screen.



The Dark World Cave, while soothing to me, is a bitch to go through. Everything gangs up on you in here, and the spider themselves was almost as hard to beat as Pumpkinhead. It's amazing how the edited reference bosses are some of the most difficult in the game.



Okay this one is going to be weird considering what we've just fought.



[Current OST: Round 4]

An Egyptian tomb level.

Despite you know, the last level having an actual mummy boss. The best part about it is that the Invisible Mumm-man isn't the only Egyptian-based boss in the game, as there's another one later on that would have been right at home here. But nope. That would make too much sense.



Two of the new enemies in this place are an invincible floating rock and a scorpion... that's enveloped by a graphical error. Oh well. They shoot brown globs at you, which I have to assume are dung mounds because I'm mentally a 9 year old.

There's also snakes because Egyptian tomb.



I did not expect to make that jump. What's inside?



A cocktease. Though to be fair, the only way to get back up would be to turn into Bert and there's no pills in this first part.



The crocodiles(?) in this dungeon don't shoot their tails but are slightly tougher. Prime example: They're biting Mark's foot here.



A better look at the scorpion and the dung ball it throws at you.



Well, when you're that big and wearing heavy armor, of course. Imagine how hysterical it would be if it had a Slowpoke (as in the Pokemon)'s face.

He chucks katanas at you and, true to his word, moves like a snail. The only part about him that counts are his legs, so you have to make those jumps count.



He's also the only boss to have a death animation. Poor guy. 



Cat. Oh man, don't tell me we're about to beat up a cute little kitty.





NEVER MIND, THAT CAT HAS RABIES!

It's even shooting hellspawn and everything. You're probably gonna laugh when you realize what it's based off of, though:



... A Mogwai from Gremlins. They didn't even change the mini-gremlins, so instead we get a giant, coked-up cat that shoots out demon babies. Here's what I have to say about that:





[Current OST: Rocker Boss]

Rad. He even gets his own theme and everything. 


Maybe I should have used the "rock our world" bit for this guy, but "face the music" is too good to top.

He's a nicer guy in the Japanese prototype because he actually goes "Nice to meetcha'". I guess that didn't sit well so they made him a hipster with corny music puns instead.



With that said, that's all I can handle for this one. Next time on Monster Party, we tackle the rest of the Dark World and cap off this crazy adventure. See you then. 

Level 5 is going to be a strange one... not because it's particularly crazy. In fact, it's because it's not crazy. Check this out.



[Current OST: Round 5]

It's just... a lake. A calm, peaceful lake with long-necked dragons, but aside from that nothing mind-blowing. The contrast is so stark that it's actually taking me back a bit.



The dragons bob up and down in this amusing way that makes platforming a bit of a hassle. They are also stone walls, as it takes at least 20 hits from the bat just to kill one. It'd be better to ignore them. They look like they're having fun anyway.



Oh no, it's a shark!





That is beautiful. I love it.


The third and final new enemy you can encounter here are these fishbones. All in all, this place is relatively low key. I'm incredibly suspicious - the last time the game did something like this, things went all Yog-Sothoth eldritch horror on me.



Aha, yes! Bert gets more powerful the more you go through the game. Now he shoots in this fancy swerving double-bullet motion that does twice as much damage as before. I'd like to imagine green is the weakest color we could have since we were just starting.



Oooh, what's all this about? A talking drum with Japanese lanterns and what seems to be an underwater background?



[Current OST: Dancing Zombies]

Wah! Zombies!

[Bert shoots a laser at them, turning them into dust]



Well, that should take care of that th-

[The zombies reform]



Oh shit, violence didn't work. We're hosed, guys. 

Good thing that's not what we're supposed to do then, right? Yeah, the deal of this "fight" is exactly what the drum said: "Watch my dance." 

You are not supposed to attack after all - you just... watch the zombies dance to this cool Japanese beat, they crumble to dust in due time and you're on your merry way. Incredibly clever and unique concept for a boss fight, if I can say so myself.



See? That wasn't so bad.



This guy, though. This guy can suck a million "javelins."


He is practically the most difficult projectile-base boss in the game due to the fact he can shoot out a ton of javelins at the same time. There's no use countering his attacks because he'll chuck another in the blink of an eye. He also resembles a fusion between a haniwa and Optimus Prime from Transformers.

I guess I couldn't "catch his javelin" after all. Nice background, though. (It's even animated in the game) 

The thing he's a reference to is particularly interesting due to it not being a horror movie reference or even mythology in general:



This was his original face in the prototype. Apparently it was cut due to having a resemblance to Daimajin, the titular kaiju golem of the Daimajin trilogy whose name literally means "great demon god". Here's what the man himself looks like:




That said, Haniwa Prime kicked my ass as Mark so I resorted to Bert. It almost makes you wonder why he asked Mark for help. Well, here's the thing - Bert can't deflect projectiles. He has no defense against them that isn't just flying, and every time Mark reflects a projectile at a non-boss monster it kills them instantly whereas it would take a ton of Bert lasers even when he has double strength.

I like to imagine they're on equal strength... so imagine if they fought. Now that would be cool.



Anyway, that's it for Level 5... No, really. You'd think something terrifying would happen in the same vein as the first level, due to the peaceful scenery, the nice music and the generally low-key enemies... but nope! This place is just a pretty lake in the middle of a scary monster world.

I find it interesting because the border screen color is red but this place is no more dangerous than pre-horror Level 1. I guess since it's not lying about the monster world's true nature, it gets to show that it's not all bad? I dunno, man.



Anyway... Level 6. Fuck this place. Do you want to know why?



[Current OST: Round 6]

It's a haunted house maze. It is about as pleasant as it looks.

Normally, a haunted house level would be the high point of a game like Monster Party, but here it's easily the worst level in the game. Not only is the maze exceedingly confusing complete with one-way exits that lead you back to the start, but there's these stupid blue fireballs that fall from the ceiling. 


Then... there's the music.

You know how I've complimented the game so far on its soundtrack? The music for this level is nothing more than an annoying 4 second loop of spooky wind noises and an NES xylophone. Cool idea in concept but absolutely ear-bleeding in practice, especially if you have to listen to it for a while.



Since this house is all kinds of haunted, there's poltergeist-controlled tables and chairs that serve as the enemies of this level. Mark is also orange now, which is technically the most powerful color but I don't want to know how he got it.



Walking p-

This calls for another Jontron.

I'm just like... Is this the sophisticated cousin of the disembodied legs guy from the first level? Like he's the CEO of the Dark World's manufacturer of white jeans and a multi-millionare while his cousin is in the eldritch horror slums? Rich or not, Mark busts his kneecaps with ease.



I don't even know how to describe this place to you. It's a long, complicated mess that requires a map and patience, seeing as you need to go through separate paths to get to the boss and the exit door.



In an incredibly generous move, there's only one boss in this level. Let's see what they are.





AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!

To think, I thought Level 1 was the height of the scary stuff but then I remembered that you exist! This boss is called the Chameleon Man - he hides in the mass of absolutely terrifying faces and has three clones to fool you. You can only interact with the real one, so don't lose sight of him because he takes a wallop before going down.



I swear, it's shit like this that actually scares me. It's so alien and freaky that I'm legitimately amazed Mark is able to fight this thing and not just curl up and cry in the corner.



After a hard time trying to find the boss, I kill him and leave. Thank god.



Level 7 is a different affair than we've had so far.



[Current OST: Round 7]

It's a tower with multiple floors, so we go vertically instead of horizontally. The three enemies you see here have all been changed in one way or another, with only the ghost and umpire being significant:

The umpire charges after you and originally had a hockey mask much like Jason from Friday the 13th. ()

The happy ghost thing was instead a Jiang-Shi (), a Chinese vampire  that hops around. The reasoning is that people wouldn't understand what the monster was, so they changed it to a transparent ghost with a big smile on his face instead.

I like to imagine the shift from Jason to umpire was more to emphasize Mark's baseball theme, but that's just me.



Hitting the scientist fellow with a rag over his head reveals that he has an elephant head. A reference to the Elephant Man, I presume?



There's also this cute little purple imp that bounces across the room.



Royce is adorable for a giant bug.



He's also wicked fast and only stops for a few seconds, so you better hope you're Bert for this fight.



Entering empty rooms in Level 7 nets you this unique message. Nothing really happens when you enter multiple times, so that's a shame.
 


One of the bosses for Level 7 is THE GRIM REAPER HIMSELF.

Complete with a blood-soaked scythe and a badass opening speech: "WELCOME TO HELL!"

Vinesauce Joel would adore this boss.



He shoots out tiny tortured souls that home in on you, so that'll be a pain to deal with. The best thing about this boss is that it was another edited reference:



It was originally a Xenomorph, complete with facehuggers.

That's cool and all, but I feel the Grim Reaper is a way better replacement - especially given the tone this game has set so far and the overall B-horror feel. The "Welcome to Hell" speech will win me over every time for the cool factor alone.



You may have noticed that we've already gotten the key despite only beating two bosses out of three. Yes, there was another boss in the tower but beating him will create a massive game-breaking glitch.

Remember the spider boss from Level 3? He would have returned with a roman numeral 2 tacked onto him - it's as lazy as it sounds. However, actually killing him will take away your key as Level 7 was accidentally coded to have the deaths of two bosses give you the key. Any more and it undoes that, dead-gaming you until you die and redo the level.

It is as frustrating as it sounds but thankfully easy to avoid.



There was also a removed totem pole boss that looks like it could have been really neat but was scrapped for unknown reasons. It's saying "I'm a totem pole! Well then, which one of us do you think is talking?"



Level 7 wasn't that bad - in fact, it helped me get more health than any other stage!



Watch it all disappear, though.



[Current OST: Round 8]

The final level of the game is... Heaven? The Dark World has a Heaven? It has cute little dynamites in togas, so I can't really argue. 





Level 8 also defies normal NES platformer conventions by making you... go to the left!




Whoa okay, that's not the interior I was expecting from the pristine church-like building.

Anyway, this boss is easily the most difficult in the entire game, bar none. If you can't tell what it is, it's a dragon curled up in what seems to be the eye socket of an elder god.



A better look at both the dragon and the freaky ass eye that's just starting at both of us in the middle of this blood room. Heaven wasn't really Heaven after all... if anything, it's amazing that the Dark World is this twisted despite this being a parody game of sorts. Like no joke, I feel this is the most alien and unsettling monster world I've ever seen in a video game.

The dragon themselves will chase you until your ass is on a platter. They want you dead. Like take note of my health right now and compare it to the next screenshot.



All of that beautiful health we gained in Level 7 is now gone thanks to that dragon asshole. Ho-hum. Personally, trying to deal with him was the video game equivalent of:





Among the enemies in Not-Heaven are these cute anime witches that drop sparkles on you. They move so fast it'd be a miracle to land a hit, let alone kill them.



There's also living constellations. How do you get yourself into that situation?



This fine fellow is quite the Handyman. 


He shoots bloody fingers/bandages at you and generally resembles an Asura thanks to his multiple arms. Not that hard to beat though.



I like that they have different castle designs for the area here, even if the insides are the bowels of some hideous demon of the deep.



Here we have the last normal boss in the game (along with being the only other Egyptian boss) - a genuinely scary-looking Pharoah guy that somehow knows Mark's name (horrifying in its own right) and wants to turn us into soup.



He chases you around the room at a ridiculous speed and even tries to fake you out on the rebound. I'm convinced he'd be the best possible monster to kill Mark because even with Bert's flight and laser attacks I still got chomped to death.



With that said, those are all of the bosses in the game. Time to take on the final challenge...



I was practically sweating when I got to this part.



"Come and die!"

[Current OST: Final Boss]

Oh... dear god. That's the face we've been seeing in the boss rooms in the previous level and it is hideous. It's some demented Satan clown with an eye fetish and the music does not help.



Sheer butt ugliness aside, the boss isn't too bad despite being the final challenge. You have to wait for his nose to open to reveal a smaller eye (ewwwww) to which you can whale on with either Mark's bat or Bert's lasers.



Either way, it's a cakewalk. That's the final boss of Monster Party!



"And he went home."

[Current OST: Ending 1]

Aw, you shouldn't have! You're a pal, Bert.



... Holy shit Bert, you shouldn't have.

Look at Mark's face - he knows he's in for a good time.



"But then the princess became a monster. And, more monsters followed her."

[Current OST: Bad Ending]

... What?



Oh my god, I've been japed. Damn you, Bert!!




I'm sorry, I can't. That's hysterical.



O-oh. Mark, are you okay?

Yowza, that's fucked up!


[Current OST: Ending Part 2]

Oh thank god. I'm so glad Mark was never melting after all. It was all a dream. 



If everything that happened was a nightmare, I can imagine his sheets would need cleaning. Yikes.



[Current OST: Ending Part 3]

"Let's go again!"



Son of a bitch, it was real all along.

Bert looks so intimidating with Mark's bat, like he came to collect the rent.



Now that, my friends, is an incredible way to end a game - especially with one like this. What a ride. The credits music is another favorite of mine due to being even catchier than the password and game over theme. (In my opinion)



That's the end of Monster Party! One hell of an experience if I can say so myself - it's weird, creepy, tough and full of nods to B-horror. On top of everything else, it's the perfect game to play for Halloween. Not only is it surprisingly fun and lighthearted, it has a cool soundtrack and is generally one of the more interesting obscure titles of the NES.

I'll never forget about it, that's for sure. I'll admit, the game isn't perfect and there's quite a lot of frustration involved (I'm looking at you, dragon boss and level 6), but despite that I really like this game. It deserves a 75/100 (Good) and I'm glad I could play it again. I'm not sure if I have more Halloween stuff to pull out, but this is more than enough.

See you guys then.

[Monster growl]

We start off with an unconscious girl surrounded by evil red squiggly lines.

"No... I have to... survive..."



[They're Eating Away At You]

"Only one way to go if I don't want to die!"

Oh come on, we can take them. They don't even have defined forms!



Bring it!



O-oh. Maybe this wasn't a smart idea after all...

As a side note, combat in this game isn't that different from a standard RPG Maker game, but it's just short enough not to be an issue.



[Game Over]

Remember kids: this is what happens when your lust for blood overwhelms your common sense.

I should also mention that the music in this game is top-notch. It's 8-bit stuff, but it conveys the mood really well. The title theme alone was enough to tell me we're in for some somber stuff.



The real answer to escaping this scene alive is to tap into the Joestar Secret Technique, obviously:



By the way, the World Destroying Monsters don't need to touch you in the overworld to initiate a fight - this may be the only area in the game with true random encounters. It's supposed to punish you for not retreating like a reasonable person.



Oh boy, there's a sad girl in the way. Well, I don't want to be a complete swine asshole before the world gets eaten, so...



Mismatched Girl responds in ellipsees because she is sad.

: "Uhh? Didn't you hear me?"



The people in this world have quite a mouth on them, but I like that. I mean, the world is rotting away, you're not going to have time for manners.

: "Alright sourpuss, you're coming with me!"



This is where KAIMA shines, by the way. You can either run away like I'm doing here or you can stand your ground and fight the World Destroying Squiggle.

Mismatched Girl can cry healing tears to ease our pain while we just... beat it up. I like that you have a choice as opposed to doing the standard "run away" thing.



[Current OST: Illi]

"My name's Searina, by the way. What's yours?"

: [More elipsees]

: "... If you don't want to say it yourself, I have other ways of finding out!"



Oh hey, she actually opens the menu screen to find out our new friend's name. That's pretty funny.

But yes: these two are Searina and Illi... and hot damn they are adorable. The characters in this game have to be some of the cutest demons I've ever seen outside of the Disgaea franchise, and that's just dandy with me.

It's hard to say who's my favorite, but Searina's really perky.

... I also like how Illi's class is just "very sad".



Illi still says nothing which leaves me to wonder what happened to the poor muffin.

: "You're not very talkative. That's fine! I'll lead the way."



: "Hey, better luck in the next life, guy."

Death must be a normal thing around here if she goes up to someone's corpse and is just like "well friend, you tried".

... That's pretty sad, honestly.



: "Uhh, okay? Don't get killed!"

: "No need to worry about me! It's a man's duty to protect girls!"

: "If that's how it is, then I won't feel bad when you die."

Well, goddamn. Searina the savage.



[Current OST: Vido]

We go one room and then it cuts to the Main Bad Guy Scene. I do find it interesting that we get to see another perspective instead of just sticking to ours for the entire thing.

: "What of it?"

: "Don't give me that! Why are you destroying KAIMA?! What could you possibly have to gain?"

(Roll credits? I mean, the name of the world is the game's title...)

: "... Calm down. This is the way it has to be."

I can already tell he's not just doing this for shits and giggles. Let's Player's intuition.

: "Where's the princess? You did something to her too, didn't you? Is that what this is, a power grab?! Seriously, what the fuck!! My home is gone, my family is gone...! I'll... I'll kill you!"

Bold statement, but...

: "Sorry, I can't allow that."



When someone has a cut-in like this, you know they're serious business.



He skeletonized them!

Are we sure this isn't a Halloween game?



"If they would just wait for the end... They'll see..."

I'm trying to remember what character Vido reminds me of. Magus from Chrono Trigger is the big one right now for reasons we'll see later on.



[Current OST: Melancholy]

(This is arguably my favorite song in the game. It reminds me of the Zelda Oracle games which are already two of my favorite game boy color games.)

: "Vido, like the prince? Is he the bad guy?"

: "It's all because of him... I won't forgive him..."

Now that I brought up the Chrono Trigger comparisons, I can't help but imagine Illi wearing a Frog costume complete with oversized sword.

: "Yep, sounds like he's the bad guy. Let's work together to stop him!"

That's some grade A perkiness right there.



: "You gave up too easy! Have a little more will to live!!"

Encouraging statement but they're already dead, my dude.



: "Well don't just sit there! It's dangerous. Pick a direction and run!!"

: "I can't choose... I can't decide..."

: "That's fine. We'll stop the person responsible for eating up KAIMA before you die.

Searina has to be the most charmingly direct protagonist I've ever controlled in an RPG, I swear.



: "Looks like whoever killed you wasn't really concerned with that. Sorry, but you can't stop me. I'll be taking that."



We straight up grave rob this guy, but I'm willing to look past this because I am a black belt in the Martial Art of Not Dying.



I like the cheeky little descriptions and yowza that's quite a boost. There's not much armor in this game and the only weapon as far as I'm concerned is Illi's Demonolisher... which I have to assume is a giant sword after all because it makes a slashing animation when she attacks.



: "Your family's been separated? That's no good at all!"

: "If it weren't for these monsters... Why hasn't the princess done anything to save us?!"

: "It's alright. You can leave it to me instead."

Where would this world be without Searina?



Oh, this is gonna be a bit difficult.

: "That won't do. Come with me!"

: "Why should I? What'll you give me if I do?"

: "Your safety and happiness, kid. I can't offer much else."

(What an offer, huh?)

: "Then I'm not moving!!"

Wow! Who shat in his corn flakes? Jeez.



Is now really the time to act like a spoiled child? Oh well, I guess it can't be helped.



Ghost: "Those monsters ate it up... so I ran away. Ran, flew, whatever. It's pretty tragic, what's going on."

: "Yep! Wanna join forces and beat up whoever's responsible for this?"

Ghost: "No thanks. Souls like me can't affect the physical world. Most people just ignore me, actually."

: "Probably because you're so miserable."

They're dead and you still act like a cheeky dickwaffle. I like you, but I think you're missing a few screws.

Talking to the ghost again makes them wonder why Searina seems to be the only person to talk to them. Hmm.



: "Yeah, it's pretty dire! But I'm working on it."

: "If you save us from the one here, I'll give you anything! Please."

They trapped one here and apparently we're the only people with strong muscles.



: "You're right! But if it's just this one, I'll try."


: "Yeah? If you ain't kiddin' about that, hurry up and get ridda this thing then!"


I like this guy.



Let's get crackin.



[Replay They're Eating Away At You]

Alright, the first real battle! (If you don't count the optional fight when you encounter Illi)

It's not hard in the slightest, really. Illi can patch up any attack they dish out and it goes down in two hits regardless. 

I mean, there was the threat of Searina having low HP, but that I could have easily solved that by using the Heal command outside of battle.



[Current OST: Victory]

Ain't that a cute little tune? There is a purpose to leveling up despite how short this game is, mostly because we get ~ special techniques ~



Searina went and bumped fists with Death due to her low HP... not that it matters because we still got the experience. You only get this extra bit of dialogue if she dies, so that's neat.



: "Damn, you really did it... Good job."

: "Here...! Take this Token of Gratitude for your trouble."


[Ding SFX]


: "Cool! Sidequest complete. One step closer to the big bad boss."


Nice. I wonder if it's a chocolate coin?



: "Vido..."

: "You're looking at a 100% failure rate! Don't rush off to your deaths all stupid!"

I know I said we could take on the Doodles of Destruction while only having 6 HP, but I'm positive we'll stand a better chance against Vido. You know, unless he decides to use his Instant Skeleton magic.

: "I'll kill him... I'll kill him for what he did..."

: "Illi? What's up?"

: "I have to make him pay. He has to pay!!"

: "Yeah, I think everyone feels that way. Come on, let's keep going then!"

Illi is still cute when she's angry.



Looks like we'll have to do some puzzle action to get that chest.

The corpses around here seem to be proof that what Searina hears from them are recordings of their thoughts when they died.

She just snarks them off. I mean, look at this:

: "They ate everything up... Until there was nothing left to stand on... Ha... Haha... A dead end..."

: "Yep, a dead end indeed."



This is the path to treasure. The bones on the other side wonders how the monsters managed to get to them, but even Searina's like "the same way I got here, dummy."



: "Illi! Help me out, will ya?"

: "... Okay."

Would the event still play out the same way if it was only Searina? I'm curious.



Oooh! I wonder how it's like.





Good god, those are some amazing boosts. I don't think we'll be dying anytime soon with this thing on. 



: "You're really giving me something? Woah, thanks!"

: "Uh, things are pretty dangerous right now so don't scare your sister like this anymore. Stick with her 'til it's safe, alright?"

: "What do you care..."

: "I had a family too, until recently. It sucks to lose people you care about."

Everyone but Searina is angsting and truthfully I can't blame most of them.

: "... Yeah. Okay."

[Fade to black, followed by pink bro leaving]



: "Ezel..."

: "Hm? Wha-zel?"


[Replay "Illi"]


: "I won't get to see her again, it won't be as easy as giving candy to a child to lure him back, we can't reunite like they did! There won't be a happy ending for me, will there? Because he already killed her! Ezel's already dead!!"


Illi is very sad for a reason.

: "Princess Ezel? Huh, I didn't know she died. That sucks, I guess. But you're still alive, so it's not like you can't be happy."

: "You don't understand!! Of course you wouldn't... I already caught on, you know!"

[Searina takes a step back]

: "Caught on? To what?"

: "That you don't have a soul!! You're empty inside, that's the only way you can be so chipper when our world is collapsing! That's why you keep 'responding' to dead things. A body can only hear a soul if it doesn't already have one of its own."

Clever. 

Searina literally doesn't have soul! No wonder why she's unfazed by all of this tragedy - she can't feel any of it. Sort of like a Nobody from Kingdom Hearts.

This also explains why her eyes aren't fully colored in like everyone else's.

: "... You're right. My soul got eaten by those monsters. I lost it a little before I found you."



"Those things you've been doing for others, you don't ACTUALLY care for them. There's no feeling in your words, it's all fake."

Look at that snide grin.

: "Fake? Technically, yeah, it's a bit of an act. I only kinda remember what right and wrong is. I can't really feel, or judge it myself anymore."

: "So then, what's the point of all this? What's the point in trying to make a difference if we're all going to die in the end?!"

: "Yeahhh it sucks, but y'know? I'm still here. I'm not ready to quit being 'alive'. That's why I want to keep fighting."

I love this woman.

Somehow, despite not even having a soul, she still manages to be charming. I don't know how that works, but I'm rolling with it.



"That was the last thing I felt after all! Before losing my soul."

: "Vido... is really strong. You're not afraid of what will happen when we take him on?"

: "I can't feel stuff like that, remember? But even if I did, I wouldn't let it stop me. I have to save the world in order to live."

Compelling argument, but just how will we pull it off?



: "You won't have to die at all! Have faith in me and Illi!"

The little brother's just like "sorry >" because he doesn't want to admit he messed up.



... Whoops is right, jesus christ.

: "This is what happens... when you run around pretending to be a hero."



: "You're not listening. She's only in danger now because we haven't dealt with Vido yet."

: "You want to leave her to die? That doesn't feel right. What if she's somebody's Ezel?"

Reasonable argument.

: "No one can compare to Ezel... How dare you say that!"

Told right off. Like the lesson is miles above her head.

Granted with the talk about having no soul earlier, it might be mite condescending... then again, Illi still doesn't get it.



: "No... what would be the point of that? I don't have a reason... to go on living..."

: "Do you really need a reason?"

You know, now that I think about it, what exactly is animating Searina if she doesn't have a soul? Is it literally her will to live?

: "... You're not moving, huh? If I don't fight the monster, you'll get eaten up for real."

She means that, by the way. If you let the monster get close to Sad Purple Girl, she will get turned into a pile of bones. This game may not be gory, but that's still pretty brutal considering it's on you if she bites it.



However, since I'm too much of a hero to just sit around, it's time to fight.



We get two of them this time. Now it's actually fair.



Illi may be sad but hot damn if she isn't a good monster hunter. Where was she when KAIMA needed her?



Nice.

Crit!! is her ultimate move and while it's not essential, it's definitely appreciated. Illi gets Better Heal and it's way better because it heals the entire party to full.



: "Ezel was kind and loving! She was the only person who cared about me before! She...! She didn't deserve to die, not like that! She's the princess...! How could anyone defeat her...?"

: "Oh, you finally opened up a little."

: "Are you making fun of me?!"

I wouldn't put it past Searina, honestly. But...

: "No, I was just thinking if I could still feel emotions, I'd be happy right now."

: "What are you talking about? You always look happy... with that stupid expression."

: "I don't want to hear that from the girl who's done nothing but cry this whole time. Anyway, let's go! Prince Vido awaits!"

Aww, they're bonding.

Searina has more of a personality soulless than most complete protagonists in commercial RPGs. That's kind of a shame.



We tell her to not worry about it, although with how much they've built Vido up, I'm kind of worried.



: "You had the right idea. Someone's gotta be the hero!"

She always takes an opportunity to be cheeky, huh?



: "Saved who?"

Heh. I see what you did there.

The other boneheads are just like "I can't do it alone" or "Prince, why did you do this", although I'm sure we'll find out why in just a bit.



[Music fades out]

We're in the red now, friends. It's do or die time.



You put up a good fight, Blue Guy, but it's time for the real heroes to make a stand.



[Replay "Vido"]

: "Vido... You murderer!! You have no right to wear that crown!"

: "... Perhaps not. But if you'd let me explain..."

: "You've done some pretty unforgivable stuff. I only lost my soul to monsters, but everyone else suffered a lot more. I mean, eating up half of the planet? That's like insanely evil, even for a demon."

Yeah, he only ate up half the planet. It's no big deal.

: "This was the only way... Though I suppose you're all beyond hearing excuses."



She's really pumped.

: "Yeah, this is a battle for vengeance! We've waited long enough to kick your ass! So uh... get ready!"

Teehee. I mean, Searina can't really match Illi's pure rage, so she pulls out her best sounding speech.

: "Then I have no choice..."



[Current OST: Vengeful Battle]

His battle sprite and music are pretty snazzy, not gonna lie.



We're gonna demolish him. Watch this.



: "Then you shouldn't have hurt Ezel!!"



Using Crit!! gives us a better look at Searina via cut-in and she does over 666 damage! That's pretty crazy.



Illi gives him a piece of her mind... not before cutting him up and having Searina punch him in the gut.

: "Ezel was kind to me! She loved me! And I loved her so much!!"

Dude, we get it.

: "She had everyone fooled... She was a really good liar."

: "Shut up!!"

Illi lands a critical blow and does over 517 damage. That's... yeah, never piss her off.

Vido has his own super attack complete with the same cut-in from earlier, but it didn't hit me... yeah, so much for being scary.



: "You think that's going to stop me from killing you? After what I saw you do to Ezel?"

[Replay "Illi"]

: "Why did you do it, Vido...? Why are you trying to make me kill you... I hate you...! I hate you!!"



[Searina steps aside]

: "Give her back... Give back my Ezel!"

Illi might be off the deep end at this point. Just sayin'.

[The World Destroying Monsters around us disappear]

: "You don't... understand..."

: "Why did you betray her...? Why have you done any of this? Answer me, then you can die!!"

: "She's the reason... for everything..."

: "What... are you saying...?"

: "I had to stop her... before she became too powerful... I had to seal her... in order to save KAIMA."

To save KAIMA? Oh, you know where this is going and it's nowhere good.

: "Seal? Then she's...?"

: "Alive, yes... I'll take you to her."

Ah, I see. But don't think I forgot about the "Ezel being a good liar" thing... something tells me we're in for the long haul, folks.



: "This is the best I could do... Keeping her in this state takes an incredible amount of power. I had no choice but to collect that power through those monsters... Everything they devour is converted into raw energy. And that raw energy... will be enough to destroy Princess Ezel once and for all."

Huh. Interesting...

[Illi runs over to him]

: "Why would you want to destroy her...?"




Jesus.

: "She ate them? Souls and all??"

I love how she steps up to ask this question because you know she's not concerned for other people, just herself.

: "You fucking liar! This is just some sick fantasy you're using to justify your horrible actions!!"

: "No one has believed me so far... Princess Ezel's followers truly are devoted. That's how she was able to devour so many... Imagine happening upon something like that. Seeing someone you could trust, swallowing another demon whole. I had to stop her. There was no other way."

God damn. So she's like Queen Nehellenia from Sailor Moon? Somehow this story got even more depressing.

[Illi falls to her knees]

: "So this was all in order to kill your sister... Whether it was right or wrong, the world is still getting eaten up right now."



Good question, but I'm afraid we'll have to leave that for later because I'm out of time.

I'm sorry to cliff-hang all of you like that, but KAIMA actually has multiple endings! The next chapter will cover all of them, including the secret ending. I love the attention to detail that went into this game, but for now?

See you then.

I may not have save-states, but these are the next best thing. Trust me, we'll need them to see everything.

Fun fact: You can completely ignore Illi at the start and do the game as if you didn't have her, but since she's your only method of healing... yeah, you won't last long.

I love that little detail because it's your companionship with Illi that allows you to save the world, no matter what the ending.



How about we ignore the sidequests and just go straight to kicking Vido's ass in ending #1?



: "I knew I couldn't face you alone... So I brought someone else who wants to stop you."

: "I was the one leading the way though!"

(Teehee)

: "If you'd let me explain..."

I feel kind of bad for Vido, honestly. I mean yeah, he destroyed the world doing this, but I don't think what his sister had in mind was, uh... that much better.

: "You don't need to explain to me how you're a fucking monster, I already know!! I'll kill you for what you did to her!!"

: "I see you're beyond reason... Understandable. I won't hold back."

: "I just want to stop KAIMA from being eaten. I guess I shouldn't hold back either."

Searina's butting her way into this personal grudge because she doesn't want to die.



[Current OST: Vengeful Battle]

We're weaker due to not getting a few fights in beforehand, but Vido's still possible. It'll just be a wee bit harder.

(Especially since I didn't heal. )



Oh god I actually got the cut-in again... and wouldn't you know, it missed me again. I'm curious as to how much it would have done, but still nothing.



"If you'd only seen it sooner... Even so, maybe I've gone too far. I'll accept my punishment."

: "Shut up and die!!"

Not gonna lie, Illi can get a tiny bit annoying but she's still a precious muffin.



The entire fight was mostly Illi crying on Searina to heal her while she attacked. He kept aiming for Searina most of the time, so I guess he really doesn't want to hurt Illi after all.



Proof.

Now this is where the fight gets really scary.



... Not that it matters because Illi comes in with the clutch and saves the world.



: "The monsters went away! I guess our mission is complete?"

Hooray?

: "How strange... He's dead, but... I don't feel any better."

: "You should feel great! We defeated the evil prince and everything."

[Illi walks forward]

: "I hear her... calling to me..."

Oh no.

[Illi walks to the next map]

: "Huh? Where are you taking off to?"



[The screen flashes white and Ezel appears in front of Illi]

[Current OST: EZEL]

: "Illi... I knew you would come. Thank you for releasing me from my brother's seal."

: "The prince really sealed up the princess? Wait, for siblings, they look nothing alike..."

I mean, to be fair, me and my sister look nothing alike. 

: "Ezel! You're alive...! You're okay!!"


: "Shh, yes, yes... I'm still here."


Hmmm... 

You can still tell there's something... off, even without the revelation in chapter 1.

The song has a sinister feeling that's trying to pretend things are okay, but they're not. Even if I went in blind, this would still hit some warning bells.

: "... I shouldn't intrude on this touching reunion. Searina exits stage left!"

Oh, you little dork.



"What's a girl to do now...? My family is gone, along with half the world. Having nothing to work forward to feels strange. Strange feeling? Oh, emptiness. That's what it was called. Empty and aimless... Well, at least I can relax."

Is it really saved, though? No wonder she feels empty.



That was the normal ending! I love the art even this isn't the best possible ending you can get. Just... Searina sitting with a starry background and some bones.

That's pretty atmospheric.



Now let's go back to where we actually stopped from chapter 1 and see the endings we can get here.



You know, I feel this is Illi's battle and that maybe Vido is full of crap. How about we let her make a choice instead?



Oooh, we get to see her cut-in! Not gonna lie, her design is pretty clever considering she's pretty symmetrical and the fact her name is a palindrome, aka. her name is the same even if you spell it backwards.

[Vido is reduced to bones]

: "Haha... hahaha... It's over. Ezel, I did it!"

: "Woah, ruthless."

No kidding. We're reaching "crazy stalker girlfriend" territory.

[A flash of light, followed by Ezel appearing in front of Illi]

[Replay "Ezel"]

: "Illi..."

[Searina takes a step back]



: "Thank you for freeing me from my brother's seal. I've missed you so much..."

: "I didn't think I'd get to speak to you again like this... Hah, now I don't know what to say..."

: "Dry your tears, darling. You've done well."

[Searina steps back]



Yeah, me too, holy crap. Like that's instant bad vibes.

: "Come on... I'll take you out of this miserable place."

[Illi and Ezel walk past Searina, but Ezel stops]

: [Elipsees]



What do you want?

[She walks off]

That was pretty creepy how she just stopped to look at Searina, especially considering what we know.

: "Maybe Illi's in danger..."

Yeah... You just doomed your friend. 



: "It's up to you, whether or not you listen to me... Whatever the conclusion, I've done all I can up to this point."

: "Right... At least we stopped you."

But was it worth it, though?

: "Illi looked happy. And I'm not in danger anymore. So I'll consider this a job well done!"

[Searina walks offscreen and it fades to black]

Yes, I'm sure she'll be happy as her idol eats her alive.



Huh. Never heard of that one before. So... in this ending, we release a super-powerful cannibal back into the world and left Illi in her hands. Not only that, Ezel is bound to repeat the same thing Vido did but with no good intentions.

It's actually so bad that...



The game itself asks you if you want a do-over! Hell no, we're not going to accept that.

It takes you back to the scene before you make a decision, so let's make this one count.



[Current OST: Title Theme]

: "Like something without a soul could understand... there's no other choice for me."

Or you could... you know... you could step back for a second and analyze the situation, you love-crazy idiot?

: "I was just thinking. If I had a soul, it wouldn't want to watch someone get killed. Even if it's the bad guy."


: "Isn't there a way to release the seal without having to die for it?"

I love how the person with no emotions is the one that talks the most sense. She has her priorities straight.

: "Releasing it voluntarily would undo everything I've worked towards up to now..."

: "I know what you're after... You're trying to become the one and only ruler of KAIMA. I won't let you."

: "See, Illi's ready to make you do it either way. Don't you think it's better to choose the option where you get to live?"

Searina would make an amazing motivational speaker if this is how she does things.

: "A chance to live... We'll see about that. Fine. Allow me to show you my sister's real form."

This can only end well.

[The screen flashes white and Ezel appears in front of Illi again]

[Replay "Ezel"]

: "Ezel...!"

: "Illi... I'm so happy to see you again. But, forgive me, my dear. I need to have a word with my brother."

A word, huh? Get your shovels ready, folks. 

: "O-of course... I'm just glad you're still alive."

[Illi steps aside for Vido]



: "You've been watching, haven't you..."

: "Quite intently. I've seen the things you've done to 'protect' this world from me..."

[Monster screech, followed by the screen flashing white]



[Searina steps back]


[Current OST: Something's Wrong]

: "... Was this a bad idea?"

Hahaha. Oh, we doomed the world.

If I have to be real with you guys, this is a hell of a twist. In everything up to now, they try to make Vido look like the bad guy due to his stereotypically evil look and the fact Illi has a grudge against him, but Ezel was the real villain all along.

Her real theme reminds me of the Calcabrina Dance from Final Fantasy IV and that's great because that's easily my favorite song from that game.

: "Ezel... What he was saying... It wasn't true, wasn't it? He was lying, right?"

: "Oh, Illi... don't interrupt. It's time for dear Vido's punishment."



[Echoing laugh SFX followed by the screen turning completely red]

Whoa.

: "Ah, she's eating him. He wasn't lying."

Jesus fuckin' christ. That's messed up.

No wonder why I chose this game as part of the Halloween-a-thon. (It helps that this is a game full of demons.)

: "No... but... he was tricking us... He was supposed to be wrong..."

Her world is upside down.

[The screen cuts to a brand new area]



: "Where is this...? Where have you taken us?"

: "What's wrong, darling? You aren't afraid of my power, are you? Or, would you like me to explain?"



She's very dramatic for an insane cannibal demon because she teleports around the room during this.

: "I learned that by consuming others, your own powers can grow exponentially... Isn't that wonderful?"

[She teleports in front of Searina, causing her to step back]

: "Thanks to Vido, I'm almost strong enough to escape this boring, empty world. Hmhm... almost."

: "Illi... you've always been my favorite. Come with me. I want you to go farther than anyone has ever gone."

This entire scene is making me kind of uncomfortable. Imagine how much worse it could have been if we got to see Illi and Ezel's lives before this game.

Like... let's say one of your best friends turned out to be into some real evil shit and you didn't notice until you had already spent months or even years with them. That'd be one hell of a betrayal.

: "What are you saying...?"



: "Eat... her...?"

O-oh...

: "Yes. Make her power your own."

[Searina steps back]

: "Illi. I might be saying this entirely for self-preservation reasons, but... You don't want to eat me."

: "But Ezel wants me... at her side..."

Yo, don't you dare.

: "You're really considering it? Even without a soul I can still tell how fucked up this whole thing is!"

No kidding, jeez.

: "I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry...!"



[Current OST: Desperate Battle]

We finally get to fight Illi ourselves! And you know what? I'm not feeling particularly merciful.



You're gonna eat Searina? Well, I won't let you.



You were a great help, but the instant you go down that path, there's no coming back. 



... Okay, I'm not gonna lie, that didn't feel good at all. There's not even victory music for doing that.



: "What a shame... if she can't even win against something like you, she was useless to me from the start."

Wow, that's heartless.

[She teleports in front of Searina]

: "Doll. Do you have a name?"

: "It's Searina."



Oh, is she really trying to get us on her side?

: "Are you going to eat me if I refuse?"


: "I could do that... or leave you here in this dying world. The decision is yours."


: "Living in a dead world... that makes it sounds like I might as well be dead too. I choose survival!"

Damn. You know, if I were in her shoes, I'd probably choose the same answer. 

I adore how her logic is always consistent even in the face of something like this.

[Echoing laugh SFX]

: "You're smart for something without a soul. We'll go far together. Hmhmhm..."



Damn, that's harsh. But at the same time I love a successful "hero-turned-villain" scenario because it's rarely done well. It's good stuff.

But, uh... now it's guaranteed that the universe will suffer, so let's not have that?



[Current OST: Desperate Battle]

: "You don't have to do this!"

: "I don't have any other choice! If you don't like it, kill me!"

: "There's no reason you should have to die. So I'd really rather not..."

I omitted this the first time around because it wouldn't make sense.

This time we guard against her attacks so more dialogue can show up.

: "Maybe a world like this... should've been destroyed after all."



: "I don't want the world to be destroyed. Don't you wanna live, too?"

: "What's the point in it...? I should've just let him destroy everything if it was going to be like this!"

Sometimes it flashes that Illi is too distressed to attack and I'm not gonna lie, this is pretty heavy.

: "Everything I believed in up to now... It was all a lie..."

Even if she does hit you, it's piddly damage at best. I don't think I could really handle an Illi critical, so thank god for that.

: "So why are you still listening to her?"



: "'Loved'? So it's different now?"

: "I... I...!"

[Illi just cries - the music swiches over to her theme]

: "I can't... I can't do it! Consuming others like that, it's not okay!! But how can I go against Ezel? She meant the world to me... But this Ezel only wants to use me..."

I'm glad you decided to grow a conscience at the last second, jeez. Can't imagine what would have happened if I had to defend myself.

: "In the end, she would've... I would've been eaten, right? Right??"

: "Yeah. That's right."

Just a blunt "yeah." Searina's reactions are the best.

: "I don't want this... I don't want any of this!"



[Illi gets up and looks at Ezel]

: "We have to stop you... from escaping KAIMA. From hurting anyone else."

: "Stop me...? Oh, Illi... what are you and a soulless doll going to do to ME?"

: "Violent things! I don't have a conscience to hold me back. Hope you're ready!!"

Yeeaah, boy!

: "You're not my Ezel... My Ezel was different... I have to destroy the lie...!"

Oh come on, dude.



[Replay "Something's Wrong"]

: "Illi... You wouldn't lay a finger on me... On your dear princess... would you?"

: "You aren't the Ezel I remember... You stole her body, didn't you? Give back my Ezel!!"

Really?

: "You're still in denial? Whatever... as long as you'll fight with me."

Even Searina knows what I'm thinking.

We smack Ezel for a bit until the next dialogue box shows up. Illi can't attack because she's still distressed.



: "Can you see them? Is my Ezel trapped in there?"

Searina (and me) are unamused.

[Ezel smiles sweetly]



: "Fuck you, I want the truth!"

(You can't handle the truth, baby)]

: "Hmhm... In that case, allow me."



[Current OST: Decisive Battle]

(This is the best battle song in the game, I swear.)

But yeah, now it's time to pull out the: 

Real final boss alarm!

Despite the fact she doesn't hit as hard as her brother, Ezel strikes both of you at once, so you better keep your guard up.

Searina realizes that Ezel has absorbed hundreds of souls and that's where her power comes from. Illi finally shakes off her distress and helps Searina fight one last time.



: "Souls...? I can't see them... How can I fight?"

: "They're kinda everywhere. I'll point them out, but even swinging randomly, they'll be hard to miss, I think."

I can only imagine a giant Giygas-like cluster of screaming faces and that's terrifying.



This is a neat final boss for RPG Maker standards, just sayin'. It's not too hard or too easy - it's just right.

: "That's one group of souls freed..."


: "Whatever you're trying to do, it's useless against me!"



Damn! Just as I said the difficulty's just right. 

But wait!



: "Why won't you die?!"

Oh, you're screwed now, lady.

[Searina uses Crit on another Soul Cluster]



: "I'm... No! I still have power! I'm still stronger than you!!"

[A transparent Vido appears in front of Ezel]

: "Vido...?"



This heals both of us for over a thousand HP, by the way. Even if we didn't have the "unbeatable resolve" mechanic going on, there should be no reason for us to lose here.



Got em, boys.

: "Goodbye, souls! You've got nothing else to feed on, Ezel!"

: "What did you...!? Why?!? *huff*... *huff*... I can't... warp away... "

: "But if I ate one of you..."

I know she's the villain, but that face is priceless. I'm tempted to make that an LP staple.





Please. Don't embarrass yourself trying.

: "Ugh... How are you so strong?! I'll take that power for myself...!"

: "Give up, Ezel...! Please, I don't want to keep hurting you! Why are you doing all of this...?!

: "Hah... Why? Even if I explained it, you would never understand what true power feels like."

: "Hmm, I don't know about that. We're strong enough to end this pretty fast."

Yeah, tell her off.



: "Illi... Please... I only wanted you and I to run away together. We still have a chance..."

Now that's a smug snake if I've ever seen one.

: "I would have loved that... But... I know you're lying."

: "No, I'm being honest... this time. You've proven your worth to me. We can go back to the way things were."

: "Ezel... I'm sorry...! But you know we can't!!"

: "Useless...! You're all useless to me!! You should've obeyed your princess!"



Oooh, maybe you shouldn't have said that.

: "The souls of her victims..."

: "What's happening?! Stop this...!! NOOOO!!!"



You've eaten your last demon.



[The screen fades to a complete Kaima]



[Current OST: Resolution]

Oh hey, look at that! We fixed everything! Nice.



: "I don't think so..."

: [Elipsees]

: "Huh..."

Is that Searina's soul? Well hot damn, we made it.

Let's walk around town and see the fruit of our efforts!



: "Yep! Which means... No reason for you to cry anymore."

: "... Yeah."

(Looks like we won't have healing tears anymore...)

: "Even though we just did something incredible, I don't really know anything about you. Other than how you felt about Ezel."

: "I don't know anything about you either, other than the fact you don't have a soul... I don't even remember your name."

: "Wow! That's cold."

Yeah, right? Illi, that's harsh.

: "Hey, but that means... Once I get my soul back, you'll know absolutely nothing about me?"

: "You'll probably still be weird. I know that much."

He-hey! Now that's what I like to see. It only took her the entire story to smile for someone else.

: "We'll see about that."

If you keep talking to her, she tells you that Ezel was wrong about the world being boring. Searina being the joker she always is, she admits Kaima looks like a mess.

It also implies that what we're seeing is a blurred version of what KAIMA really looks like, so I guess that's a neat way to explain the simple tiling. (Although I can't blame the creator for this one at all because making brand new art assets for RPG Maker is a severe undertaking.)

Illi also says this to cap it off:

: "If that stupid expression was your default... Then I can already guess what the complete version of you is like."

Awwww.

Let's check on the civilians we saved.



: "Maybe, but Illi helped too. Good job surviving til' the end!"

: "A lot of my buddies tried fightin' Vido when the monsters first showed up... You're the only ones to ever come back. Botha you deserve my respect. Hell, you're stronger and braver than I ever was."

: "Thanks, but... You shouldn't probably respect my bravery when I can't feel fear in the first place."

Green guy was a riot. They were the most interesting NPC yet, so I wish I saw more of them in action.



Pink Sis and her brother are grateful to Searina and Illi for saving the world. He sort of goes a bit too far by asking Searina to be his new sister so he can get her "hero DNA", but I don't think it works like that.  



Ghost girl is no longer a ghost and that's fine and dandy. I don't think they served much of a purpose other than cluing the player in that Searina can see dead people.



Neon Green Girl is happy that everything is fixed and thanks Searina, but we straight up admit that we were faking having emotions.

It doesn't bother her too much because we used her gift to reunite the Pink demon family.




We reunite Purple Girl with her best friend and they're happy together.

I'll assume the bones she was next to earlier was her friend, but at least we get to see what she actually looks like.



: "Amnesia, huh? Well, you look a little familiar, but we've never met, so I don't know what to tell you."


: "It's not amnesia. More like, my memories are contradictory. Did I die for revenge, or to be a hero?"


Oh hey, it's the blue guy that tried to fight Vido and lost! 

... He's blonde now?

: "Maybe both? Guess the world reforming got you all mixed up."

: "Reform...? That could be... yeah. KAIMA does look more patchworky than before... Is that what happened to me too?"

Ah, that's why. I was curious as to who this was for a second, though.



[Current OST: Resolution - Music Box Version]

Awww. That sets the tone better for the final two conversations, actually.



He's dead, though.

: "You actually beat her... was it something only someone without a soul can accomplish...?"

Funny thing, isn't it? If it weren't for Vido creating monsters to drain KAIMA of its life energy, Searina's soul would have never gotten stolen and her body wouldn't be able to stop the Soul Clusters from feeding Ezel.

So in a sense, Vido did get to save the world after all, even if it was indirect.

: "Uhh, maybe! Illi helped though. Sorry you ended up losing your body."

: "No... Someone who would readily sacrifice other bodies doesn't deserve one of their own. It's only fair I ended up this way."

: "If you're fine with it, that's great! Repent for all the trouble you've caused! Though, I don't blame you for any of it."

Yeah... I mean, his method was pretty destructive, but I'd rather prefer it to the alternative.

If you talk to him again, he explains that Ezel copied his abilities and in doing so, she wound up becoming far more powerful than him. He also resents how he treated the inhabitants of KAIMA as dolls and apologizes, so...

You know, I can't help but feel bad for the poor guy. 



: "Yeah. Everyone who got eaten up by the prince and princess, once they were freed, combined their power to make New KAIMA."

So this is a brand new world? I dunno what it is about that line, it gets me kind of sad knowing that it's not exactly the same... even if I have no real frame of reference for what the old KAIMA was like.

: "What a tidy conclusion!"

: "A lot of lives were lost, but... you and Illi saved us. Even without me, you made the right decisions. That's a relief."

: "You were watching the whole time? Heh, awkward."

... I'm curious. Would she have seen what happens in the bad endings too? Now that'd be heartbreaking.

: "I'd find out once we were back together anyway."

: "That's a good point. Should we go and reunite now?"

: "Hmm... Out of respect for whoever or whatever is pulling your strings, we don't have to do it right away."

(One final cheeky moment. I see you.)

: "Roger that. I might go see how everyone's doing, then."

Since we already did that, there's no time to waste.



I'd sure like that... but wait! We forgot about one more thing:


The secret ending.



To unlock this one, you have to go south during the escape sequence at the start. For some reason, enemies don't attack you down here.





Doing so will take you past the final boss arena which is stacked with Vido's squiggle monsters. Good thing we don't have to fight any of them, huh? 



[Replay "Something's Wrong"]


I don't like where this is going if that's playing this early in the game.



: "This is a little spooky."

You're telling me. Searina's at a pitiful 6 HP, so there's no way in hell she'd be able to fight Ezel.

[Vido walks in]



: "I came from, uhh... The other side of the world? I'm Searina."

I can imagine a bored first-time player wandering into this scene by accident, hence why they're introducing themselves here.

: "However you got here, I can't let you release Ezel's seal."

: "Oh, I'm not interested in any of that. I'm just trying to survive."

Good thing too because unsealing Ezel would have been a very bad idea without Illi's healing magic.

: "Hmmm, you're... You could be of use to me."



: "Sounds fine to me!"

Chipper as always.

: "You're doing the world a favor... Even if no one else can seem to grasp that. Now I won't have to fight this battle alone."




Oooh, we get to fight with Vido in the secret ending! This is also the only ending that doesn't end with him dead, so that's fine with me.

... Though granted, imagine how cool it could have been if he was the one to help Searina fight Ezel? That would have been a spectacle.



[Replay Resolution - Music Box Version]

Okay, enough messing around. It's time to end KAIMA for good.



Awww, look at that smile.



All in all, this was a great game you guys had. It had a story to tell and it did so beautifully considering the time-span.

It has great art, music and writing - it's pretty much the whole package. Sure, the combat wasn't anything new, but it was still well-balanced.



Some more credits for you.

Plus, for such a small game, it has a ton of replay value - it has multiple endings and puts a heavy emphasis on choices. I gotta admit, not many people put that much attention to detail outside of commercial games - that's what impressed me the most.



I'm glad I could play this game and I hope you guys have good luck on any future projects.

The only issues I have with the game is Illi being a wee bit annoying, but I'm glad she decided to cut it out towards the end.

There was also the fact that... Well, I have to admit, the tiling wasn't that impressive. However, like I said, making new art assets is ridiculously time consuming.

I give it a 89/100 (Excellent) for most of the reasons I said above. Next time on the Halloween-a-thon, we're going to be delving into more traditional spooks that I guarantee you will not be as heavy as this game.

See you then.

[Current OST: Spooks On Parade MIDI]

We immediately start off with our three main characters in a spooky graveyard. I gotta say, the gameboy color-esque graphics are real neat.

It helps that they straight up use Spooks on Parade as the overworld song - yeah, the entire game is full of references.

: "Why are we here again? It's really scary."

This little ghost fella is Bobby. She's arguably the nicest person in this cast and isn't too spooky despite being a ghost.

: "Bo, you're a ghost!! You were probably born here."

This is Agatha, a witch that has a few screws loose. She's the nutty one and has crazy magic powers, but I can't help but want to pinch her cheeks. (Although, granted, she might bite my finger off if I do that.)

: "Actually, I was born in a car accident."

Now that's some prime gallows humor.

: "Let's stop wasting our time fighting. We came here for a very important reason, and we are on a time limit."

This dashing woman in black is Delila, a vampire that'll serve as our brute force for the evening. She is arguably The Best character in the entire game because not only does she look cool, she's also kind of the team mom. Just give it a bit.

: "I know..."

: "Unless you do not wish to find your candle again?"



Yeeesh. Being a ghost in this world isn't easy. 

: "And Agatha needs her hat and I need my cape. True, we won't fade away like you, but we aren't much without them."

It's all about the style, you know.

: "Everyone in town needs their gear back. Whoever took it -- I will beat them half to death!"

Yeesh, a bit overkill for a few stolen items. (Granted, in Bobby's case, it's a bit more grave.)

: "Oh, please don't! That would be terrible."

: "I'm going to agree with Bobby this time; it would be terrible to beat someone half to death."

: "Can I beat them all the way to death, then?"

Thaaat's our sociopath.

: "No!"

: "No."

: "Ugh, you two are boring."

Yeah, Delila, why won't you let Agatha go on a murder rampage? Don't be a square.

At this point, she asks Agatha if she's sure the culprit ran by here. Agatha wants to keep it a secret, but Bobby brings out the best of her ghostly charms:

: "Please tell us your secrets, Agathaaa!!"



"... Well, a frog told me."

: "A frog! Where?!"

: "A frog."

She can't believe it.

: "Yes, I'm a witch! Frogs and stuff can talk to me, okay? He told me he saw a suspicious band of people head into the graveyard carrying something heavy. It had to be the culprits running away with the things from the village."

: "A frog."

If these guys had more than one portrait, I can imagine Delila making the most "" face at this.

: "Are you really going to dwell on that part of all this?"

: "No, that would just waste more time. Now that you've finally been kind enough to inform me just how crazy you actually are, let's continue."

Sick burn on your best friend, jeez... though to be fair, she's not wrong? It just flies over Agatha's head here.

: "That's the spirit! We have to get this stuff back before midnight! Halloween is tomorrow."

: "Yes. Bobby, we'll leave you behind if you don't keep up."



: "Let's check around. They should have a secret tunnel around here."

: "Your imagination is getting the better of you."



And with that, we can finally move! 

While it's very tempting to go and fight that little blob fella, he's plot progression. I feel there's quite a bit to do here before we move on.



First of all, opening the menu will take us to this neat screen of all the characters and their stats. A major thing in this game is that there is no experience or levels - what you see is what you get, and you do a fixed amount of damage throughout.

I'll explain what these attacks do and what the peculiar letters at the top of the screen signify, but not right now. I will say that the art perfectly compliments the feeling this game is trying to go for.



"I wonder what really happened?"

Creator cameo #1 and I gotta say, that's pretty funny.



"What kind of a name is that?!"

Creator cameo#2 and... yeah, I have to agree. 

Imagine if your screen name was your real name. Rainbow Chara X would be a mouthful to say in casual conversation.



"That's... really very sad."

I would have said they were being a baby, but that's just me.



When you really think about it, gravestones are really just the VIP seats for the dead.



"Somehow, reading this fills me with a heavy sadness I can't seem to fully understand."

Booo.



"Death is not a threat, says a tombstone."

Oh, what a silly game. 

... Not gonna lie, that's a pretty clever way to explain a game mechanic. You can retry fights if you lose and I can appreciate that.

There were more around here like "you should have paid me back that money" or "rest in peace, my coffee maker" to which Agatha's like "this isn't a junkyard", but I think that's enough fooling around.



: "Nothing!"

: "Nothing at all!"

They're all adorable, even if the last one has his eyes drooping out of his... body??

: "Well, that's not suspicious in the least."

: "They're really cute!"

See, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

: "Now listen here, you three little blobs. One of you is going to tell us if you saw anyone suspicious in the graveyard tonight or my boot's going to make a mold in your faces!"

Your negotiation skills are amazing.





"Besides, without our important items, fighting them could be dangerous. They appear to be a well-balanced team."

: "Not as well balanced as I'll be when I dance on their slimy heads."

: "It's like you don't even listen to me."

I love how Delila is there to ground Agatha back to reality, but she's too impulsive to actually pay attention.

: "I'm listening, Delila!"

: "Thank you."

So instead, Bobby's the one to give her some relief. She is a sweetie.

: "Ugh! Fine, enlighten me on why we should be so careful."



I'll fill in this job if you don't mind me. So one of the most intriguing parts of Halloween Flop is its combat system, which is almost like a puzzle game due to the lack of experience and gold - in fact, the only equipment we'll gain are the items that we have to get back.

It has three classes that define the basic rules of combat: Astral, Magical and Undead. 

Astral characters have no corporeal body and cannot be harmed by undead, which in this case is the physical class. On the other hand, they take double damage from magic attacks.

They have no magic meter, so every attack they use up eats a small bit of their health. That's not an issue because they can regenerate their health on command. They're more useful for healing than anything else.

Undead are pure physical brawlers and generally hit like trucks - they use up blood points for attacks which can also return if they get damaged.

Magical characters are tricky in that they're also an offensive class and can cripple Astral characters with debuffs, but crumble against Undead. 

All in all, it basically goes like this: Undead > Magical > Astral.



It's pretty easy to understand and it makes this game far more interesting because of it.



The slimes admit that they're blocking something and this aggroes Agatha, so you know what time it is.



[Current OST: Boss Beat]

The battle screen in this looks slick. Not only do you have these rad portraits for the main three (Delila's eyes are gorgeous) but you also have the HP/MP bars for enemies to track your progress.

This is honestly really cool and I kinda want to see it in a longer game, but oh well. (I should mention that I'm also making my own game in this same engine, but it'll take quite a bit before I can even push a demo out.)



Much like what Delila said, the slime boys here are a pretty balanced team... they're still pretty easy, though.

That doesn't mean you can just be lazy and spam attacks - you will have to know how the game's battle system works to get anywhere, but they shouldn't be a real threat.



Agatha has fire magic, can double her magic power by swallowing pills (gee, looks like Monster Party worked after all), can stun Astral enemies and can even make Astral enemies corporeal for Delila to attack.

Delila is the muscle of our team in that she can drain blood, scratch enemies to make them bleed (although how she managed to make a slime bleed, I'll never know) or even pull off an Alucard for her ultimate attack.

Bobby is the healer. She can cure the others for a small amount of HP, revive them (which will be useful later on), auto-life herself or use a jack-in-the-box for some damage. I kinda wish she had more to her arsenal aside from 



I see what you did there, you cheeky devils.

I know it's hard to see, but that does a whopping 80 damage. Given how most enemies in this game will have 100 health, that's... quite the attack.

I mean, it's only that strong because Magic Slime is weak to it, but come on.



Get this: Bobby killed another ghost by scaring them with a jack-in-the-box.





When you beat an enemy, they have a little quote before they disappear. The slimes just repeat this same one and the ones after this aren't too interesting, but they're still a nice touch.



The main trio can regenerate their MP (or HP in Bobby's case) whenever they want, so you should never get stuck without an attack. 



Oh yes, these little guys are called Huey, Dewey and Louie.

... So did Donald Duck's nephews get turned into slimes or what? References are weird.



She gets one point of health back for this, funnily enough. Slimes must not taste very good.



We did it! That was pretty easy.

I should mention that you regain HP and MP whenever you finish a fight, so don't worry if you get destroyed in a fight. All that really matters is that someone's still standing.



That's... a peculiar metaphor, but okay.

: "It's a hole!"

: "Look who is always right. Come on, we're on a time limit. Time to start putting your trust in Agatha the witch!"

Oh boy, we're never going to hear the end of this one.

The slimes dropped also a key when we beat them, but why?



Ah. Well, in any case, let's go down the incredibly suspicious hole.



: "Looks like that first way is blocked, though. Bobby, can't you phase through and see what is there?"

This would normally be smart, but...

: "Noo! I'm not leaving you guys!"

: "Guess splitting up to check out the other three paths is a no-go then, huh?"

Actually, I don't think splitting up is ever a good idea.

: "Nooo!!"

: "It's a terrible idea anyway. I'll remind you as many times as I need to that we are in a weakened state right now. If we were to separate, we'd be as good as dead."

Dracula Mom knows what she's talking about, listen to her.

: "Some of us are already dead..."



: "Agatha, that's quite enough of that."

Yeah, don't pick on poor old Bobby, you swine.

: "Ugh! Whatever then! You two can have it your way again!"

: "Coming here was your idea, so don't give me that."

: "Yeah, and I was totally right about that."

I dunno if you noticed but Agatha is kind of a brat.

: "So we are sticking together, right?"

: "Yeah."

: "Hurrah!"



They mention how the door has four locks, so not only do we have to get our items back, we also have to score some more keys. I'm down with that.



: "They look delicious!"

I couldn't help but slip that one in. 

It's interesting to note that this is actually a common event (aka. the text doesn't come from the actual carrot) that the devs used - I assume it was to save time due to the schedule this game was on, but I dunno.



There's one down, but I have a feeling the other keys will be harder to get.



: "Hi! I'm Bobby!"

Polar opposites in terms of personality, I swear.

: [Ellipses]

The mummy man?

: "Hi! Nice to meetcha, Bobby. You three aren't going after our leader, are you?"

He's so polite for a dead guy.

: "Hahahahahahaha"

... This guy's just a floating severed head. I would make a Snakewood joke, but I'd rather keep that away from this.



: "Ohhhhhheeeyeeeahahh"

He also can't seem to speak in coherent sentences.... I can't really blame him.

: [Ellipses again]

: "Yup! He sure was!"

Not much for staying quiet, huh?

: "Then yes, we sure are."

: "!!!"

: "Heeeyeyaargh"

These guys are a riot.

: "But I don't get understand. You guys are monsters too. Why would you help orchestrate an attack on Hallow's Eve? On the day before Halloween too."



: [Ellipses yet again]

: "Yeeahaha"

: "So, when we heard that this would also stop Halloween, we knew we were on the right plan. That's why I'm afraid we're going to have to stop you."

Noble intentions, but god damn, guys. That's pretty cutthroat.

: "Baaaacooon!"

Ah, cause his wrappings look like... 

This game made me hungry.

: "Lettuce!"

: "Tomaaatomaatooo"

: "Unite! BLT, Attack!"

Oh snap, it's like that now? Bring it on!



Agatha pops some pills to turn into a gargoyle alien double her magic strength, although the downside is that she'll be burning more MP to compensate.

The BLT Crew is all Undead-type and damn, they hurt. They're some of the burliest enemies in the game, but they have one fatal weakness.



Bobby's Jack in the Box attack is randomized, actually. Sometimes she does damage or... she could actually heal the opponent instead. 

It's just as unreliable as Present from Pokemon and I don't like how it's her only real attack until we get her candle back.





These boys meant business - they started with a 30 damage attack that hit over three times! Agatha being weak to Undead attacks meant she got totaled and even Delila suffered a bit over it.

Bobby, though? She's just fine.



This is where Bobby shines - her resurrection ability doesn't just bring you back, it puts you in an astral state. This is essential to winning the fight because the BLT Crew are all physical.

It seems real imposing at first until you realize this fight is un-losable as long as Bobby is still healthy.



They would be pretty dangerous otherwise... also, Lettuce pulls a Titanic reference out of nowhere to attack us with.

Bacon can make you skip a turn, so that's fun to deal with.



Tomato the Floating Severed Head kills Delila by munching on her face. That sounds... pleasant.




But hey, Bobby allows her to repay the favor.

The Astral state doesn't last forever, so you better hurry and finish these guys off.



Sorry, Lettuce. You were a cool guy, but you also tried to stop us from saving Halloween. That's a capital offense in my book.

You could have been a good sandwich, but you went rotten. (I swear to god if that's the joke of them being undead, that's... actually really clever.)



: "Truly unfortunate. Perhaps they have learned a lesson here tonight."

: "I hope so. They seemed really nice."

Yeah, they seemed like a fun group. They also dropped the second key! I'll be taking that, thank you.



Going up takes us to... another vampire?



: "Delila! How wonderful to see you again. It has been ever such a long time since we last talked."

: "Not quite long enough, mind you."

: "Who's this douche?"

Oh no, is this Delila's ex? Awkward.

: "Hey! Don't be calling my man a douche, girl. Don't make me Moss-12 your head in."

God damn, werewolf man's packing! (The shotgun he's talking about is from Uncharted, by the way.)

: "Nathanael, please. My name, fair lady, is Eduardo. As you can tell, I am a vampire like your beautiful friend, Delila. Although, a while back I gave up on my powers."



: "Ew! No, it's not. It sucks, sucking blood sucks. It's disgusting. I was so happy to be rid of that. I was not happy that it also meant losing you by my side, Delila."

To be honest, I have to agree with him. It's kiiiinda inducing.

: "Wait... You guys used to date?"

: "Regrettably so."

I don't think she gave him up because he stopped being a vampire, just sayin'.

: "Delila, my dear, I am in deep regret that we used to date as well. The world would be made a better place if it were that we still were dating."

The over-dramatic way he speaks is hard on my tongue, jeez. Delila has none of this because she doesn't even give him a response, just ellipses.

: "My love, follow my path of righteousness. Give up your powers and drinking blood and be with me. I promise you, it is a kinder world. I will treat you as a goddess! Our love can be rekindled for the world to see!"

: "Eduardo."

: "Yes, my love?"



Awww shit. Now you messed up.

: "What? Oh, this!"

[He twirls around]

: "It smells just like you, Delila."

: "Eww."

"Eww" is right, holy hell.

That's stalker territory.

: "Hooooo shiiii--"

: "Delila does smell nice, doesn't she?"

The game always stops Agatha from swearing while the stalker aspect of this completely flies over Bobby's head, the little angel.

: "Now there is a woman who can understand me! Bobby, was it?"

: "I understand you Eduardo. Please marry me. I love you. Eduardo."

That's not Bobby.

: "How would you like to be by my side, Bobby dear?"

: "Uhhh... that's really okay. Thanks for the offer though."

He sure is faithful if he swaps between women at the drop of a hat.

: "Okay! Can we beat this loser up already? I'm sick of hearing him talk."

Yeah, me too. This is all good dialogue, but there's just so much of it that I have to summarize.

Delila asks him where he got her cape and he mentions that he took it from her. She responds with: "I would have heard your twinkling miles away" which is not only a damn good burn, but it also reveals to me that he's one giant Twilight reference.

I... kinda expected that.



He mentions that someone is employing him and his two friends (Werewolf Man Nathaneal and Not-Bobby) and that they're all in on the plan of destroying Halloween.



: "Bobby! Stop cutting me off."

: "Eduardo, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to rearrange your smug face."

Oh hell yeah.

: "My face! No! Just try it, bloodsucker!"

: "Yes! Time to break out the big guns!"



[Current OST: Dracula]

I assume the song is from a Castlevania game, but I can't pin it down exactly. Nathaneal is my favorite character of this bunch even though they're all glorified Twilight homages.



The ghost on the right is called Swanhilda (ha) and while she's easily the least dangerous of the group due to being an Astral type, she can heal the other two.

Gotta shoot the medic first, am I right?



Nathaneal, on the other hand, is pure brute force as he just decides to shoot everyone down - and keep in mind these are magic bullets that can hit Bobby too.

If Bobby ever goes down in a fight without Back Up (her self-target auto-life move), you're kinda screwed because her healing is almost required to win. Be prepared, essentially.



Swanhilda's down. I would put in a "notice me senpai" meme here, but I really don't feel like it.



Delila cuts down Werewolf Man and stops him from shooting Bobby in between the eyes. Now that would have been scary.

Eduardo can also blind you with his ~sparkles~. This is a big problem because the Blind status in this game acts as confusion too, so you could actually heal him if Bobby were to use Ghost Touch.

That's pretty crazy.



However, as one final boot up his ass, Delila sucks his blood and that takes the fight.



If I were in her shoes, I'd probably do the same thing. Eugh.

: "You can't! That's your special item. We only ever get one."

: "She knows that, Bo. Come on, let's get going."

: "Maybe in another world we could have been lovers, Eduardo..."

You can tell she's decent where even after getting disgusted by him, she still feels bad for the guy in some capacity. I don't think I could do that.



: "They smell funny."

: "Bobby, that isn't nice."

: "Sorry."

It's the little bits like this that make their relationship so cute.

: "Hohoho, good afternoon, young ladies. In the presence of a king, you should kneel."

: "In the presence of a god, you should kneel."

: "In the presence of your death, you should kneel."

: "Uh..."



My exact reaction. Who the hell are these guys supposed to be?

: "What are these three loser geezers doing in a tunnel under a graveyard?"

Yeah, no really. Maybe they're hobos.

: "We have a mission blessed upon us by the forces above to protect the princess from harm."

: "A princess?"

: "A real princess!"

I can't. Bobby is too cute.

: "Enough chit-chat. Begone, meddling children."

: "Are you three involved in any way with what happened in town today?"

: "Hahahahaha!! Yes! Yes! The terrible children of the night will not stand a chance!"

Do you really want to play with fire like that, bud?

: "Terrible children?! Now you've done it, buster!"

: "Tch, I've never been so insulted. I am hardly terrible."

Yes, how dare you say that to Dracula Mom and Bobby! (And Agatha.)

: "Hostiles... By the golden crown on my head,"

: "By the sweet smells graced by God,"

: "By the sorrow, cries, and blood of the innocents,"

: "We three kings..."

: "... Of Orient are..."

: "... Going to kill you!"

Impressive intro, but are they really up to snuff?



[Current OST: We Three Kings MIDI]

... I find it extremely fascinating how out of everything we reference in this, it's the Three Wise Men from the bible. It doesn't seem to fit, but it does make sense that they would try to destroy Halloween.

Also, not gonna lie, the art for this entire game has been giving me serious flashbacks to Scott Pilgrim. It's not exact, of course, but it has the same feeling.



I start every fight with a magic buff because I really want to get these guys out of the way. They're all magic enemies, so they're ripe for Delila at least.



Bobby sure took a beating from them, though. 



... Well then. She didn't just get beaten, she straight-up got exorcised. I don't think we're winning this fight.



Okay, the strange icon on Agatha and Delila is incense. It doubles everyone's strength and stacks with the pills that Agatha already has on, so she can hit for an easy 60 even on enemies that aren't even weak to it.

She was also charmed so... oh, that's not good.



However, I lost because I was being super careless and didn't pay attention to the fact Myrrh is the real damage dealer of the Three Wise Men.

Like no joke, he has an attack that hits everyone and I ignored that. I dunno what to say.



There's Back-Up in action. Not that she'll be particularly useful, but at least she'll draw fire away from the other two.



I don't know what happened, but Agatha's bleeding now. That's a scary status ailment if you think about it too - I dunno, I'm kinda squeamish about that.



"You should bow... to your deaths."

Ooops, I didn't capture that screenshot correctly... but thank the lord he's gone. 

Now it's an easy fight.



Agatha + Incense + Pills = Wanton Death Goddess.



Too bad it was only for this fight only.



The Three Wise Men fall like a stack of cards and this time Bobby didn't get poofed! I'd say that was a good fight.



: "Please don't make a habit of it."

You know, I gotta admit. In a different story, Agatha's impulsiveness would be pretty insufferable if it weren't for Delila and Bobby being there to balance her out.

For such a short game, the main trio bounce off each other really well and each interaction with them is fun.

: "They ran away pretty quick."



Excellent.

Bobby says she's scared, but come on. We can take anything as long as I don't muck it up.



: "Snobby? Well, that's insultive and rude. Not to mention, your outburst is highly intrusive. But, I see you noticed my hat. Do you like it?"

Oh, that face. Agatha is not wrong in calling her that.

: "Heck yes, I like that hat because it's mine!"

: "Calm down, Agatha. I think we need to figure out this situation rather than flying off the handle. You there."

: "Me?"

: "Explain to us this instant how you acquired that hat."

: "As a princess, I have no reason to oblige your orders."

Hey, she's the princess lady the Wise Men were talking about. Guess we have to kick her face in too.

: "Princess Pronica, perhaps you could toss them a bone. They seem so pitiful."

This fruit pie is Ashley. He's another vampire and yes, I did say he. I actually didn't know until the game straight up told me it was a dude in the actual fight - he's a bit too bishie for my blood.

Long story short, Pronica hates being called the princess and took Agatha's hat because being a royal isn't her taste. So, she wants to become something else.



Agatha is outraged and apparently, she had a cat friend in that hat ever since she was a baby. No wonder she's pissed - you don't mess with a witch and her cat.

A ghost frog is summoned for some reason and we battle.



[Current OST: Mystery]

I like harpsichord songs and this is a pretty cool one, but I can't pin down where it's from. 

Anyway, Pronica and her team are some of the most annoying enemies in the game.



I didn't get to show it off, but Pronica can hide behind her allies to negate all damage. That's such a coward move but damn if it's not effective.



Heleo isn't that much of a threat. He just delays your turn by kissing you, which is super gross because imagine what ghost frog germs are like.



The most difficult thing about this fight is Ashley if I'm going to be real with you. Not only is he a potent damage dealer, he can heal his allies via potions and buff Pronica's magic power.



This really silly sounding attack is Agatha's ultimate, although Pronica gets to use it because she has the hat. Combine this with the buff she just got and christ, I'm surprised this doesn't kill anybody.

I do find it really neat how all the bosses with our trio's items use them in battle against us.




: "Your Majesty!"

: "Don't call me that..."

You barely even made a meal for Delila. So much for being the princess, huh?



Yeah, the rest of this fight was just trying to deal with Ashley. 

It really says something about him when he can fight the entire time by himself and still keep his ground.



Ultimately, though, it was an uphill battle. Good job, I guess, but you all just had to croak.
-

(Continued in Part 2)

Not only do we get cat(!!), we get the best move in the game.

: "You looked so short without that hat on!"

: "Heh."

: "... Anyway!! That was easy peasy. Let's go home now."

They could have made her lash out for the short joke, but that would have been too easy.

: "Excuse me? We still have to find who is behind this. Not to mention find the rest of the items stolen from town."

: "All the ghosts that lost their candles will vanish if they don't get them back!"

: "And we can't have that."

Delila is more of the main hero than anybody else here and I applaud that.

: "Ugh, I was joking, okay! Geez. Let's keep going."

Yes, "joking".

But yeah, that just leaves us one last path before the final boss.



: "Watch it, punk."

So much for being pretty.

: "We heard about the three of you, and we've been hired to stop you."

Oh my god that face. She's seriously derping out.

: "Woah, woah! Are we famous or something now? Because that's pretty cool."

Some guy puts a hit on you and that's your first thought. Granted, with how strong Agatha is, I don't blame her for not being afraid.

: "Hardly."

: "There's no way you're as famous..."

: "... Or as hot..."

: "... As us."

: "Peter's Angels!"

Excuse me? Is this going where I think it is? 



: "Wait! Who is Peter?"

: "Wouldn't you like to know."

: "Too bad you won't get to."

: "Or know anything else ever for that fact."

Sassy, but I don't think you know exactly who you're dealing with.

: "Bring it on!!"



[Current OST: Charlie's Angels theme]

Okay, you gotta admit - for being a blatant reference, this is pretty cool. (It helps that they're not as derpy in the actual battle.)



Peter's Angels are arguably the easiest opponents in the entire game that aren't the slimes due to them being Astral enemies.

Not only that, we just got Agatha's hat back, so... Hahaha.



The interesting thing is that the Angels all have attacks that do double damage regardless of affinity. I looked it up in the actual engine and fittingly enough, the element is called "MURDER".

I adore how each boss has some neat gimmick to their fight that makes them stand out against the others at least.



Too bad for them that I can do this, huh?



The angels can regenerate much like Bobby, but they do it by fixing their hair. Gotta look good when you're kicking people in the face.



If they thought they were hot before, then they haven't seen anything yet.



I decided to mess with the final one by showing off Lockdown. It's kinda moot considering the most dangerous enemy at any given time won't be Astral-type, but hey I felt like it.



Bobby messes up the last one's hair with her Jack in the Box and that breaks the angels apart.



: "...Or as hot..."

: "... As us."

: "Agatha's mix-matched group of monsters!"

Guys, please.

: "Well, that was trite."

Well, you tried... But yeah, I have to agree.

: "Yeah, let's never do that again."

: "Aww, you guys are no fun."

The Angels drop the last key we need and that should be it! However, Delila brings up the middling issue of there still being one missing item - Bobby's candle.

They mull it over and ultimately decide it's up to Agatha.



Come on dude, Bobby's like my favorite character. It'd be a disservice to not help her.



: "I am so proud of you."

: "Kitterkitterkitterkitterkitter"

: "Ahahahahaha!!"

So... a horse man, a skeleton and Bloody Mary. Hang on, lemme just:



There we go.

: "Oh! Is that another ghost over there?"

: "Woah."

: "Woah?"



: "She looks flipping scary. Girl's got blood coming out of everything."

This is the most reasonable Agatha's been all game.

: "Some ghosts are like that, you know? Hey! Hello!"

: "Huh?"

Skeleton friend goes "kitter kitter kitter" which I don't... understand what noise he's making. Is it his bones rattling? Does he need some milk?



: "How do you know my name?!"

: "This candle told me, Bobby. It told me all about you."

... Creepy.

: "That's... that's my candle!"

: "!!"

With this one, Bloody Mary had been confined herself inside of a mirror world to prevent herself from fading away. (Man, what is it with Queen Nehellenia references popping up lately?)

She muses over whether she should give the candle back, but the results are obvious:

: "Why should I care? Should I care?"

: "No."

: "Kitter."



You assholes!

Mary explains that why should she care if people make ghosts out to be evil creatures anyway.

: "You do harm them."

: "I give them what they want, Horse, my man. They want a scare and I provide. I could never leave their mirrors though, but now I can. What a great time I'll have, tearing humans apart with these hands."

Holy shit, we really have to do something about this one. The others were "ehhh whatever", but the person with Bobby's Candle could become a legit serial killer.

: "You were human once too. How can you want to hurt them?"

This falls on deaf ears.

: "Agatha, we have to get that candle back."



: "Huh?"

: "Stop socializing. It's time to kick butt. If you think for one second we're going to let you keep that candle and kill our friend, you can think again. See this fist? It's about to find a place in your face. Metaphorically, because you can't punch ghosts. "

Awww, she really does care! Best friends.

: "SHIIIIIIIREEE!! Let's see you try, you insolent fools!"

: "Oh dear me, a fight."

: "I'll tear out your souls!!"



[Current OST: Deep Red]

[You know, since I don't have that song, let's go with this one instead: Sullied Grace]

This is arguably the most difficult fight outside of the final boss, mostly because there's no real trick to it. You have to hit them with everything you have otherwise you'll suffer.

It helps that this is the most personal fight we've had so far, mostly due to how Bobby's existence is at stake.



Cat In Hat is an invaluable attack for this boss, thanks to Bloody Mary being Astral-type. 



Damn! Bloody Mary is the only real offensive Astral enemy in the game aside from possibly the angels, thanks to her having 50 more HP than any other enemy in the game.



Horse's Neck (yes, that's his name) is the least powerful person in this team, surprisingly enough. You'd think with his imposing horned-demon figure he'd be at least a pain, but nah.

He also has an MP recovery move called Ponder that restores exactly 42 MP. 





If Bobby didn't have an auto-life spell, that would have been the end of her.



... Good job, Delila, you somehow managed to make a skeleton bleed. Maybe she hit his bone marrow or something, I don't want my brain to hurt.



Somehow, the very act of:



Is enough to kill Bloody Mary for good. Man, whatever, I'm just rolling with it.



Bobby, on the other hand, out-spooks the skeleton and we call it a fight. 



: "Huh... But hey--"

: "Hurrah! My candle is back. Thanks so much you two."

Job well done, I'd say.

: "Yeah well, there was really no way we were going to let that bitc-"

Agatha is one salty witch.

: "Bobby, you need to stand up for yourself more often."

: "Haha, yeah. But it's okay because I have you two. And you two are the best."

: "Awww, Bobby."

: "You're also one of the best, Bobby. Don't sell yourself short."


Awwwwww.

This is so sweet. 

: "Thanks, Delila!"

: "Heh. I'm feeling a lot better now that we know Bobby's safe."

I'm gonna be honest - this is legitimately one of the most adorable moments I've ever seen.

: "We still need to save everyone else!"

: "That's right. Let's go girls."





We're looking pretty snazzy now that we got our gear back. I also like the attention to detail because even something as small as Bobby's candle or Delila's cape is accurately reflected in the overworld.



After unlocking all the doors, Bobby says that she's still a little scared but at least now she's willing to fight.

I would hope so after all the effort we went through just to get our items back.



Although I had it hovering over "not yet", there's not much else to do. Yeah, we're almost done, folks!

There's not even alternate endings like in KAIMA, although I don't think the guys could have been able to pull that off due to the schedule they were under. 

Just what lies beyond the door, though?



[Current OST: Bunny Trail]

This is a nice song, although I wish you guys could hear it.

... But wait, is that really the final boss? A bunny?

: "No surprise there, I suppose. They were all hired under the promise of chocolate. I guess one shouldn't expect useful people to sign up with such a promise. The fact some worthless losers did though is enough for me and proves it was a valid effort. It's foolish to waste money when I can use chocolate poop instead, you know?"

This guy went from being a lame final villain to the most diabolical of all. Chocolate poop.

: "Who the heck are you?"

: "Oh sorry, I forgot that children like you wouldn't know who I am. I don't bother wasting my time giving candy out in your little dead Halloween land. Seriously, you guys have enough candy and chocolate without me."



I know he's a cute little rabbit fella, but wow what a pompous prick.

: "You're the Easter Bunny!"

... The Easter Bunny being the main villain of a Halloween game is something I should have expected, to be honest.

: "You could say that."

: "Before I was born, back when I was human, I used to get chocolates from you."

In the context of what he just said before, that uh... yeah.

: "Yes, well, that is the sort of business I run. Though you didn't get chocolate from me,
stupid kid. You got it from your parents."

[s]You know, he's kind of a hipster bunny if you look at him close enough.[/s]

: "Oh... People at school would tell me that sometimes."

: "Those people were smart people, unless they claim I don't exist, because as you can see, that's simply not true."

: "Okay, so we know who you are, but what does that have to do with any of this?"

Delila is this close to just punting him already.

: "Yeah! Why did you take all of the items of all the residents of Hallow's Eve?"

: "Ahaha! I guess that is a thing you guys would want to know. I'm not wasting my breath on you though. Giblet."

: "Y-yeah?"

Oh wow, he even has his own zombie bunny servant for... some reason. I feel kinda bad for Giblet.

: "Please explain to these children just what I hope to accomplish with my seemingly random plot."

Allow me to do that, your grand douchiness.



So... Ultimately, he wants to destroy Halloween because his Easter organization isn't making as much money. He can't touch Christmas because he knows Santa would pile-drive him into the snow, but considers Halloween free game because apparently, when you take a ghoul's ability to scare aka. depowering them, people will lose interest in Halloween.

Therefore he will gain more money on Easter because of candy.

Forgive me for saying this, but this is a pretty hare-brained master plan.

This absolutely baffles Agatha and crew because he's really going to destroy Halloween just for profit.

: "Indeed, money has no heart. However, it does have the ability to purchase hearts. Therefore, just as good."



: "Yeah!"

: "I agree. What you are doing is wrong."

Peter scoffs it off and says that he left his ability to care in another suit. To quote Delila here: "You have messed with the wrong group of people, Mr. Barnes."

Because you know she's going to rip him apart with Baskerville.

: "Delila's right! You wreck our family, you have another thing coming."

: "Holidays have nothing to do with money or profit! They're about celebrating a good time."

Bobby speaks the truth. I mean, I wouldn't be doing this let's play if I didn't care about Halloween.

: "Pft. You can preach to me all you want. I don't care what a bunch of children have to say. If you want your stuff back so bad, then beat me in a fight."

: "Are... are sure this, Peter?"

: "Of course I'm sure. I'm set in my ways and if they are going to stand in those ways, then I'll set them aside. Violently."

It's your funeral, buddy.



: "This is the end for you."

: "Just try it."



[Current OST: Rondo]

Final boss alarm

This song is cool too, but I have zero idea where it's supposed to be from. 

... You know, since Peter's crazy for money, how about we have this song instead?



Peter has the highest amount of HP out of any of the characters, standing at a whopping 200. Giblet and Vani (misspelled as Vina) are largely support because all the pain comes from Peter.

Now that Bobby has her candle back though, Agatha has some back-up for magic attacks.



... So a Navi knockoff is helping Peter destroy Halloween. This is some weird fanfiction.



Every bit counts because again, the dude is ridiculous. He even has his own super attack in the form of the True Carrot Blade, a 30 damage MURDER-type attack that hits everyone... so yeeesh.



He can also inflict the Recession status effect on you, hilariously enough.

Despite how it sounds, it's actually a move that cuts your attack in half... so I'm really glad he hit Bobby with it because she's still our designated healer.



Oh my god, we're going to die.



"Later she sues the game creators for not even giving her a face picture for this moment."



That's actually pretty funny.



Well then. Rest in peace again, Bobby...?

Oh hell.



We put Giblet out of his misery at least. Can't imagine how bad his life must have been if he had to work for Peter.



At this point I was sweating because we're down our only healer and we're fighting a bunny man with a straight-edge sharp enough to kill Agatha in one hit.



... But Delila manages to save the day and Halloween as a whole despite being blinded.

Dracula Mom is our savior.



: "We did it."

: "We wooooon!!"



That's what you get.

: "Now you have to give back everything you stole. It's over for you, Easter Bunny."

: "We're sorry we hurt you, but you didn't really give us a choice."

I'm surprised Bobby can still be nice after everything that just happened.

: "Feh. Fine. You girls have won. Giblet, return the items to their owners. Oh, and please stop following me."



[Giblet falls over]

I guess he served his purpose. 

: "Wait, that's it? Aren't you going to monologue passionately about how we made you see the light through the power of friendship?"

: "No."

: "That's bull."

I mean... he's a corrupt business tycoon. What were you expecting, my dude?

: "A hopeless case. More importantly, however, I hope you HAVE learned to leave Halloween and the residents of Hallow's Eve alone."

: "For now. I have an important meeting withthe Cadbury Bunny to attend though. Discussing branching sales outside of the Easter period. This scheme was just a tiny one of many. Don't think you've seen the last of me or my prowess."

I'm surprised he still has the gusto to go with another plan after the whupping we just gave him. For as much of a prick he is, he does have endurance.

[Peter walks off]



: "That guy is insufferable."

Yeah, you're telling me.

: "More importantly, he's gone now."

But hey, Halloween is saved!

: "Wow, I can't believe that guy! He's such a fluffy cute bunny on the outside..."

: "But an absolute jerk."

: "Yeah. So, we did it! Aren't you both excited?"

: "Yes!"

: "Quite so. We did good work tonight, my friends. Shall we head back? We still need to prepare for Halloween."

: "And make sure that that Giblet fellow over there gives everyone their stuff back."

I would hope so. We didn't beat him and Peter up for nothing.

: "So, I thought of something super scary for this year."



[The screen gradually fades to black here as the characters are talking]

: "Bo and I dress up as Eduardo outside of your window."

Now that would be a nasty prank.

: "Don't even joke about that."

: "That sounds fun, haha!"

: "Perhaps I shall pose as Bloody Mary in your mirror then, Bobby?"

: "No! Wait, I was joking. Please don't, Delila."

: "Ahaha, that's a great idea!"

: "Noo!"

Oh, these wacky kids.



And that's the end of Halloween Flop, folks! It sure was a loaded game in terms of text, but damn if it's not charming. The main characters especially were a great trio - Bobby's kindness, Agatha's headstrong nature and Delila's cool balanced them out really well.

Plus, I love how they genuinely care about each other through thick and thin. That's not to say the other characters weren't neat, of course. Bloody Mary is still like the best boss due to how much was at stake, but I kinda hate that she's optional?

It's strange when you remember that if Bobby doesn't have her candle, she will fade away. That's just a cruel fate for someone as bubbly as her. I guess I should be glad we didn't get a sad ending, but oh well.

The battle system was super cool and the art was nice (barring some derpy portraits). The only real kinks I can think of are how Astral enemies aren't really super-effective against Undead types, but that's about it.

(Also, while I was shuffling through the game files to make portraits for the LP, I found these far more detailed portraits of our main cast with their respective items. I dunno when they were supposed to be used, but have them anyway:

)

All in all, a fun, well-balanced Halloween game that deserves a 90/100 (Excellent). It knew what it wanted to do and I'm happy I was able to play it.

Next time on the Halloween-a-thon, though, we'll be meeting a familiar face with some new paint. See you then.

[Current OST: Prologue]

Not much is changed in terms of the story, but Mark is blonde now I guess? 

At least we get to listen to my favorite song again.



For those of you wondering what kind of wacky text is in this game, go read through the original LP. 

That said, "Mark's eyes get moist from the star's beauty" is still in this game. Excellent.



So... a gargoyle alien monster falls out of the skies without you noticing and you still engage in casual conversation with them.

~what a wacky game~



This is the only line that was changed and Bert isn't purple anymore. Aw. 



I know this is a game where logic is supposed to take a back seat, but Bert straight up kidnaps a kid to help him fight the forces of darkness. Can you say... stranger danger?



Yeah, yep. They're fusing together. They should have gone the full mile and called it a Bizarre Adventure. (Cut me down for my Jojo sins.)



The more detailed skulls are a nice touch, but that doesn't change the fact that the original was pretty much the same. 

I am still astonished Nintendo of America allowed this to pass back in the day because christ, that's gruesome.



[Current OST: Round 1]

Damn, that looks nice.
 
Round 1 has a more natural look to it in this game, as opposed to the original where it just had pink pillars in the background for some reason.

Also, the burning Japanese schoolboys have been replaced with burning... uh... baseball women? I'd hazard a guess to say they're female delinquents, but that's just me.



Behold - the leg monsters now have a defined ass. This already shoots it up way higher than the original. 

... But no seriously though, these guys must be massive if their bottom half is already the size of Mark.



They made the blocks solid from the bottom? That's weird. I can't jump through them anymore.

Our life bar has been changed to be little splatters and that's cute. I'm not sure if we actually have the same health as the base game or if we have more, but I did notice we were able to survive a lot longer than before.

(Of course that could just be me getting better at the game, but oh well.)



Oh hell yeah.

Bert now has armor to reflect his appearance in the prologue and he even shoots fireballs as opposed to lasers. He controls the same way, but the graphical update is nice.

But hey, there's a boss door right there. What are we going to find inside?



[Current OST: Boss Battle]

Oh.

You sure got prettier as the years passed. 

The "Sorry I'm dead" routine will never fail to amuse me, though. In fact, it's even more ingenious here because it's the first boss you "encounter". What better way to start off the game than with a boss fight you can't lose?



The real target is the fly that buzzes around the corpse, but they bite it in less than a minute.

These new battle backgrounds are pretty snazzy, though.



A major design flaw of the original Monster Party is that it was chock full of empty rooms that did nothing except maybe give you a random question mark prize.

This hack decides to remove them (almost) completely and instead leave teleport doors - I think it's a neat mechanic, but something tells me we won't need it just yet.



One design flaw in this game, however, is that sometimes they'll have platforms that are too far away for Mark to jump over. Maybe they wanted you to use Bert to fly through the stage, but that's a temporary power-up you have to beat out of your enemies.

Whatever. Mark is a tough boy - spikes don't do shit to him. (Unlike a certain blue bomber)



Oh, you again! You may have fooled me last Halloween, but you won't be so lucky this time.



It helps that I've actually figured out his pattern too - he hops back and forth across the stage, but doesn't do much else aside from shooting pumpkin heads at you. I could have definitely used this information last year and saved myself a death or two.

We seem to be missing the plant boss, but otherwise the game seems to just be a graphical revamp of the original. What's the deal?



Oh god, the cactus again. Please be nice this time.








[Current OST: Round 1 - World of Horror]

Holy fuck.

I don't know how the guys at the Overhaul Project did it, but they managed to top the original in terms of pure terror. Like alright, the original was pretty spooky, but this is a just a nightmare... in a good way.

The once blue skies are now dark red, the sun is gone and everything is dripping with blood. I still can't imagine just what happened that led to this place getting so fucked up, but good horror has you ask questions that nobody can really answer anyway.

Oh and it gets better - watch it in motion:



That's some great animation for a bloody wasteland covered in corpses.

One of the main concerns about making Let's Go Again was to update the graphics because admittedly, the original had some pretty dopey sprites... but trust me when I say that there's even more than this.



The human-headed dog is still the same, of course, but wow. Imagine the night terrors all the kids would have if they played this instead - it's like something out of a creepypasta but for real.



I know it's just part of the tileset, but the tree full of faces will never stop being terrifying to me.

Also, oh my god look at the door. 



That is beautiful.

I don't know how Mark has the courage to step in there, but he deserves a medal for it.



The last boss of Round 1 is up ahead, but I just have to stop and talk about the pools of blood around here. In the original it was a vaguely blue and red liquid that hurt you if you stepped in it, but in here it's more obvious and fully animated.

I got a bit squeamish when I saw my cousin accidentally stab himself while trying to separate frozen hash browns (he's fine now, by the way), so imagine what my reaction would be if I were in Mark's shoes.



... 



So this is what they replace the plant boss with?! Where do I even start with this, holy hell.

One, Katy Perrish. I can see this as a fitting replacement for Not-Audrey from the Little Shop of Horrors, but wow that's just too much cheese for me. 

I love the little stage and audience though, especially when you realize they're made up of parts of a beta boss from the original Monster Party. (The scrapped totem boss in particular.)

Also, no, that blue Poyozo Doll from Chrono Trigger is not meant to be there. We're actually supposed to get a good view of Zombie Katy's cooch and well... yeah, I can't have that.



The fight is the same, but I still can't believe that this is the direction they went in. Not saying that's a bad thing because this is still nuts (if a bit risque for Monster Party standards), but just... what?

They did a great job on the sprite though, especially if I had to go out of my way to edit out nudity. (The poor Poyozo Doll will never recover from this.)



Mark will never be the same either.

But hey, at least we got the key! Normally this would be the end of the level, but they actually added in more content!



Due to the blocks being solid now, you have to slide under them. You go at a snail's pace as Mark, but you can at least speed it up with Bert's flying.



Our reward for wading through the blocks is this neat little message from one of the game's creators! I'll be sure to keep that in mind for later.



I'm kinda disappointed they didn't keep the skull frame door from the original, but at least it's more obvious that we're entering a building.

You get a ton of health for completing a level as a reward, so I'm glad for that at least.



You still get passwords because I don't they could change the game up that much, but whatever. Savestates are my forte anyway.



Anyway, Round 2. Let's see what changed.



[Current OST: Round 2]

The Dark World Sewers got a bit danker since we were last here and now the Fish with Legs (yup yuuuup) are red. I mean, they sort of have to be if we're directly below the hellscape that is the first level.



There's blood splattered everywhere and eyes behind cages that even blink. They somehow made this place a little bit spooky, almost as if this is more than just a sewer.

... I don't understand the "free Kevin" sign below Bert, though. They stuffed the game full of references and I'm sad to say I won't get some of the new ones.



(If you're wondering why Bert is pale blue, he's about to turn back into Mark. At least this time the transformation sequence is shorter.)

Medusa is still a snake with snake hair, but at least she's "mixing it up" with a corny one-liner. 



She shoots out more fat snakes that are supposed to be Tsuchinoko (a mythical snake cryptid), but she's not that much harder than before.

... Holy crap, I did not notice the woman behind her when playing through. I was so distracted on killing Medusa that I didn't see her. I would ask why there's a woman chained against the wall, but I'm pretty sure I won't like the answer.



Ouch! When the alligators shoot their tails at you, they bleed. At least it grows back instantly due to them being... lizards, I guess?

The eggs that shot bubbles have been properly restored to shooting Facehuggers, so that's neat.

The blood-spewing wall mouths are completely gone, though. I appreciate the change, mostly because they killed the pace of an otherwise straight line level.



The Haunted Well boss is still great, although it's more or less a palette swap. If anybody wants to know the origins of this thing, you can read it in the first LP.



Much like Round 1, this door is supposed to take you back and forth between the ends of the sewer. This is where the guys took some creative liberties as the end level door is not all the way to the right like in the original.

Instead, there's another boss and the final door is in the middle of the stage. I'll admit, that's a cool way to spice things up.



"Maybe you'll die!!"

... Teehee.

If anybody's confused by this, this boss isn't a brand new thing and all that happened was the graphics got touched up a bit. (In fact, now that I mention it, what was up with the boss stages in the original Round 2 having veins with skulls entangled in them? It made sense due to what was above ground, but I dunno.)

Basically the joke is that The Fly (a horror movie where a man is mutated into a fly hybrid through science!! ) and fry sound the same in Japanese, they just decided to make it a bit more obvious here.




They're exactly the same in terms of difficulty, but I'll admit. Every time a food item crops up in a video game, I can't help but get hungry even if it's a predictable response.

It's a natural instinct of mine.



Killing the evil sentient food gives us the last key and we get to move on! 



Round 3 is pretty much the same barring one boss, but that doesn't mean it's any less difficult. 



[Current OST: Round 3]

This is still my favorite looking level out of the first Monster Party.

In fact, I remember wanting to get a physical copy of this game because it enchanted me that much, but the oldest system I had was a Super Nintendo so I couldn't play it even if I wanted to. Oh well.



One major and aggravating change to the level is that the spikes that fall are indistinguishable from the ones that don't. Since I was pretty impatient this time around, I breezed through this place at the cost of most of my health.



It's nice to see the bones and bat ghost agan, although they totally could have made them into Dracula Ghost just to be cheeky.



Oh, damn. You know he's mad when he's not even going to make a silly joke like "mooove it!" this time around... not helped by the fact he looks kind of creepy with his blank eyes. (The first Monster Party had them too, but here it just looks intense.)

The boss battle background has been dramatically improved, though. It went from being a weird green intestine room to being a realistic (for the NES) cave complete with actual stalactites.



Minotaur Man still shoots the same cute cartoon cows at you, but I took a beating from him. I don't remember if he was this punishing in the original or if I was just being a dummy, but all the beautiful health we had at the beginning is practically gone.



[Current OST: Sphinx Battle]

The Invisible Man boss is now a proper mummy, but the song title kind of loses its meaning when there's no weird-looking Sphinx in sight.



It's still as stressful as before though, especially since there's no real pattern to his movement.



Yep, I can't believe Mark is dead. I find it clever how he's literally pushing up daisies, though.



[Current OST: Game Over]

Hey, at least the game over theme is still as catchy as ever. (I also think it's nice how they use the same font from the title screen for Game Over as opposed to plain NES text)



Thankfully we manage to get rid of the Mummy without losing our life (and sanity). I don't think this would be possible without Bert, honestly.



Umbrella Bats are as adorable as ever, though.

(In fact, this little fella even gave me a giant health boost! Now that's generous.)



WHAT?!

What the hell is that?! Is that supposed to be another reference to John Carpenter's The Thing? Only this time it's a disembodied woman's torso with multiple legs and what I assume is more vag...

Crono's not having a good time censoring this one, the poor bastard.



Despite the very... odd design this boss has, she(?) moves like the spider boss from the original... oh, and she even throws her legs at you like this needed to be more disgusting.



The bosses in this hack put me in like a zen mode of weird. It's hard to describe, but how can I when an evil, decaying Katy Perry and an angry torso are trying to kill me?



I kind of don't like how the end level doors are generic metal ones now... but at the same time, the original ones didn't make much sense considering you had to use keys to open them.

Yeah, you need a key to open an visibly open cave entrance in the first Monster Party.



[Current OST: Round 4]

Round 4 has had its palette updated to have more realistic colors as opposed to the weird blue/white combo it had before. I guess that's fine, but there was just something about the strange color palette that made this place more alien and unwelcoming.

Like I dunno, part of the appeal of the Dark World for me is that it was so alien that I couldn't make sense of what was happening. I mean, that's certainly still here and the team did a damn good job, but oh well.



The boss backgrounds are now a real Egyptian tomb as opposed to a strange purple orb room that didn't seem to be connected to anything.

... Have I ever questioned why a ghost samurai is inside of an Egyptian tomb? Maybe I shouldn't start now.



Beating him this time reveals that he's controlled by... the old Mark sprite on stilts? Wait, wh... how did...

It's hilarious, but I'm so confused right now.



Oooh, spooky. This is one of the only few empty rooms they decided to keep in and I like that they use it to enhance the atmosphere instead of just tricking you for no reason.



Level-wise, Round 4 isn't much different. Although, there is a bit at the end that gets on my nerves because it's too tall for Mark to jump by himself... so he needs Bert to get across. I kind of consider that bad design because there's no enemy nearby that drops a pill, forcing you to walk back to one that does.

It gets on my nerves, but alright.



Wow, that's super cute.

I love it whenever I can get a good animated gif out of the game I'm playing.



That said, holy shit that cat is a serial killer!

The original just had her shooting gremlin babies at you, but here she's throwing severed Mark heads at you. That's pretty metal.

Oh but wait... this isn't even the highlight of Round 4. No, feast your eyes... on this!:





O-Oh.

Is that who I think it is?



[Current OST: Rocker Boss]

AMAZING.

It's Max Headroom, everybody! For the un-initiated, Max Headroom was an artificial intelligence character that someone used the likeness of to hijack a Chicago TV network on November 22nd, 1987.

The hijacking is pretty creepy and I don't know where the hijacker is today, but my god the amount of effort put into this boss fight is ridiculous. Those graphics are damn good for the NES (especially the animated monitors, holy crap), so I just have to give the Overhaul Project guys a round of applause for their work here.

Gameplay-wise, Max Headroom is just the Rocker Boss from the original... but I couldn't figure out what part of him was the hitbox, so I just swung at whatever.



I nearly died, but at the same time, that was.... an experience.



Next time on Monster Party: Let's Go Again, we visit the second half of the renovated Dark World and see what else the kooky people at the Overhaul Project have up their sleeves.

On a side note, I'm glad I found this to begin with because those new bosses were uh... quite something.

See you guys then.

Round 5 is practically the same barring some trickier platforming. I still find it really unusual that this place never goes through a messed-up transformation like the first level, but at the same time that'd be too predictable.

Plus, like I said last year, maybe this is also part of the Dark World's real face.



There's some initials carved out onto a tree that I can't quite make out, but my bigger concern is the dreaded shark!



Teehee.



Yeah, even the enemies haven't been changed. I mean, why would you? Fishbones, shark fin and Stretch Dragon are classic.

I did notice that they cut down Stretch Dragon's health by quite a bit, seeing as Mark could kill them with just his bat.



"Gonna keep thrillin' til you stop trying to kill us!"

[Current OST: Dancing Zombies]

Whoa, that background is sweet. It's even a little bit spooky with the pitch-black mountains. It's a damn sight more interesting than the weird underwater clam cave these guys originally had.

Speaking of which, the zombie boss is back! Hooray.



I like how they make it more obvious that you're not supposed to attack them. Personally, it'd be rude of me to interrupt their dance anyway.

Imagine coming back from the dead just to have one last dance only for some kid to smack you into dust. That's... pretty sad, honestly.



Mark was this close to chugging the beer here, but the zombies decide they've had enough for one day and leave for the dance floor in the sky.



Oh my god.

That is... that's really a lederhosen-clad Jason Voorhees.

This hack keeps coming up with new ways to surprise me, I swear. Oktoberfest is German folk/beer festival that just happens to take place on Friday the 13th, so I just have to clap for that one.

I love the sense of humor the guys behind this project had, even if some of their references get... really out there.



Combat-wise, he's the Catch My Javelin boss from the original but he throws beer mugs at you. Good stuff.

He kicked my ass though... as one would expect Jason to do, clad in funny clothes or not. I had to find a good sweet spot to hit his mugs back with because remember, Mark's bat has realistic deflecting properties to it.

Projectiles don't just fly back to where they came from, so that made this a bit more difficult.



Well, there's the end of the level, but remember what the secret room in Round 1 told us?



Yeah, you can walk past the exit into a secret room! The water doesn't hurt you when this happens, thankfully. (Otherwise I'd have a migraine.)



The secret message rooms are real neat and all, but I have to admit that I wouldn't have known about them if I didn't see the video that exposed me to Let's Go Again in the first place.



Oh no, it's my ~favorite~ level! How did the guys at the Overhaul Project tackle this one?



[Current OST: Round 6]

It certainly looks more like a haunted mansion as opposed to the empty castle from the real Monster Party.

I would have appreciated not listening to the mind-numbing NES Xylophone and ghost wail combo again, though. Like seriously, why does the longest stage in the game have the shortest and most annoying song?



The Monster Party level editor the guys were using must have been a real good one if it allowed them to edit tilesets like this.

But yeah, here's some more ~useless trivia~:

"Fun is Infinite" is a term from the hidden screen of Sonic CD, a true brown pants experience if I've ever seen one. Oh, don't take my word for it, just look for yourself:



This is from an actual Sonic game. I don't know why Sega decided to put it in, but it must have been some master class trolling on their behalf. Imagine being the guy who discovered this in the first place.

"Call Edna" on the other hand is a reference to Maniac Mansion, a puzzle game that was also on the NES. It had you controlling a fun cast of 80s stereotypes that rummage through the mansion of the wacky Edison family so you can find a meteor (I think?).

Call Edna in particular was an in-game call girl number that the creators of the game cut out the last second. This is not the only form of censorship this game went through, but that's a story for a different day.



The white jeans from the original have been replaced by a pair of blue shorts with red boots. I don't get it.

I find it interesting that Mark/Bert don't change colors like they did in the original game. By now, both of them would be orange for some reason I can't comprehend.



Bert's head is missing its top half, but the bigger problem here are the rogue tables and chairs that roam the house. They go down easy, but it's real hard to not get hit by them first.

The maze is as insufferable as ever though, and this time I don't even have a map to follow due to the different format. Fun, fun.



This hellish trick is the road to the boss. Yeah, just drop Mark into a pit full of spikes - he'll shrug it off.

I don't understand why they put in level design that would work better for Bert even though he's a temporary transformation. Even the original Monster Party got it right.



I have no idea what Savage Harvest is supposed to be, but one of my friends did mention that there was a real movie by the same name. It was about travelers in Africa that get chased by hungry lions, but this looks more like a schlock exploitation horror movie.

Also, Mark is feeling pretty blue.



I walked into this room expecting an eldritch nightmare but instead we just get some normal-looking floating heads. (The chameleon face room from the real Monster Party is still one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen come out of the NES, by the way.)

I'm pretty sure it's a reference to the movie They Live (basically, humanity has been replaced by aliens and run society in secret), but I'm not 100% sure.



It is far, far easier than the Chameleon Man due to the room not being pixellated throw-up, however. Once you find the real one, a few swings should be enough to get rid of them.

It's even easier if you're Bert because you can just fly up to them. (I did die quite a bit in the mansion itself though, not helped by the pit of doom)



The animated backgrounds are always a treat to look at, though.



So... the only way to get out of the spike room is to hope the pants and the room itself will drop a random pill... Otherwise, you're stuck there forever.

That is really bad level design, holy crap. It's such an off-putting decision in an otherwise excellent hack.



I can't believe Edna is dead, oh no.



The end level door has its own room that doesn't seem too impressive aside from the cobweb detail, but get a load of this:





Granted it was real tough to get due to being a one-frame lightning strike animation, but it's a detail I just had to show.



Round 6 definitely looks better than the original, but it's still a slog of a mansion. Thank goodness we're moving onto...



[Current OST: Round 7]

The Tower of Terror.

This is still the most unique stage in the game due to the vertical aspect, but I dunno. I took a lot of hits just going up this place. I don't get to show it off, but the Elephant Man has a blue head instead of a grey one when you knock his rag mask off.



The imps have become a far bigger problem this time around due to them taking an extra hit. Combine that with the more difficult platforming and it just invites stress.



We don't get to hear Royce introduce himself this time around, but I see what you guys are doing. 



He's still super difficult if you're not Bert, however. I dunno man, it feels kind of weird in hindsight - I know I said Mark and Bert were a good duo in the first LP, but the latter has such a big advantage with flight and laser beams that it's like... why did he bring a kid to fight with him again?



I just had to stop to show the outside of this window. It's even animated in-game, but I didn't take the time to make a gif of it because we'll be seeing it in full when we get to Round 8.





What the shit?!

Why is Jeff the empty room template of the Tower?! I dunno why they put in this trainwreck of a creepypasta character, but... not gonna lie, that caught me off guard the first time I saw it. It doesn't help that it's genuinely kind of terrifying due to the limited NES palette and the patchwork assortment of reapers that make up the rest of the room.

It's the same principle that made the Chameleon Man so unsettling to me the first time around.



Anyway, here's the second boss of the Tower and it's... the bride of Chucky? Not exactly, but this is still far more creative than the spider boss recolor from the original game.



Despite her predictable pattern, she proved too much of a problem for Mark to handle... so Bert flew in and blasted her with his fireball barrage.



Honestly, the real spooky thing about this boss are the eyes underneath the bed. What kind of monster is that guy?



*Sigh*

Hi, Death. This is what, like the third time I've fought you in a game?



He meant what he said, by the way, because this pair of screenshots are after he had already killed me. Yeah, don't mess with the reaper and his pesky flying skulls...



Normally I would be freaking out due to the massive game-breaking glitch in Round 7 (effectively if you kill the third boss here, you permanently lose the key and you're stuck), but the Overhaul Project guys actually patched it out! Nice, no worries here.



Oh hey, we're at the final level already. Monster Party is a pretty short game, jeez.



[Current OST: Round 8]

Wow!

Round 8 really got a facelift, goddamn. These are some of the prettiest NES-era graphics I've ever seen. They managed to transform an otherwise basic cloud level into a fully animated sea of clouds and starry skies. (It might even be enough to warrant Moonsong from Cave Story as a background theme)

It's almost enough for me to forget that this is the heart of a dark overlord's lair.



Going to the left in Round 8 takes you to the final end level door, but it's less shocking here due to Let's Go Again's non-linear levels.

The bloody door is a fantastic omen for what's to come, though.



They replaced the cute little toga-wearing dynamites with... flying chickens. Boo, I say.



The witch enemies are completely naked this time, although they're way less of a problem compared to Round 1 and 3's end bosses. I shudder just remembering those two.



Granted, that's more interesting than what he said in the original, but that's a bit too tryhard.

I do like how the eyes in the borders are more like pairs than random scattered eyes. The final boss's face not being in the background is disappointing, but at least we get this cool castle interior.



Bloody Fingers Man is no match for Mark's trusty chainsaw bat, however.



Okay, that's pretty spooky. When you kill a boss here, all the eyes disappear and the windows go black. I find it to be a pretty unsettling change that keeps the deceptive feeling of the original Dark World Heaven.



This is just lame though. You could have made him say something about Bert soup, but nah vaguely imply that all the bosses are working together.

... That's actually kind of cool in hindsight, given why we even came here in the first place, but whatever.



Mr. Pharaoh Head would slaughter Mark due to their unpredictability, so Bert makes the shots for him. For a game originally titled Parody World during its development, some of these bosses are still pretty creepy.



But you, though.

For those of you unfamiliar, the dragon boss was the worst one in the original Monster Party. It would tail you at all times and dodge your attacks due to his weakpoint being his head - it's stressful no matter which character you use.

(Not only that, I think it's pretty uninspired compared to everything we've seen so far in both games.)



Thankfully, I found an amazing exploit where he will hover above you while you get to pelt him with Bert's lasers. I managed to do this without taking any damage the second time around, so...

Suck it, you pathetic excuse for a dragon!

All the normal bosses are gone, but there's actually an extra door beyond the Dragon. What does it hold?



Wait, what? Why are we back in the hell house?

Believe it or not, this is the bonus passage that D. B. Jocko talked about in the secret rooms before. Yeah, they went out of their way to program extra levels for you to go through at the end. 

(Also, the reason the pants enemy is messed up is because despite this being the same "map" as Round 6, we're actually still in Round 8. That's my explanation, anyway.)



This is what you needed Bert for and good god, that would be sadistic for Mark. I don't get the increased reliance on Bert, to be honest - it kind of makes the game less balanced.



Also, ooh. That was perfect timing. 



In this section, you get to jump over skeletons in a pool of blood. If that isn't romantic, I don't know what is.  

Seriously though, I think it's real cool that they integrated the assets from the interlude screens into the real game. 



In the next room over, you have to be careful not to get tricked because only the correct one will lead to the secret. I didn't notice the blue tiling over the vent so I went into the door.

Oops.



The last secret and it has to do with the final boss. That's cool and all, but I would have figured that out anyway.



Ultimately no matter what you do, you'll have to face the final boss anyway. It's not like Monster Party can be programmed to have different endings, so this was more to show bonus stuff off than anything significant.

Also, there was an invisible enemy here that dropped a pill when I killed it.



But yeah, let's not wait any longer... the final boss in the original was rather grotesque, so what will Let's Go Again bring to the table?



"Your only chance to survive... is to die, you little bastard!"



... Yo, who the fuck is this? 

I was going to say it looks like Mel Brooks or something, but I have no idea. Credit where credit is due, that's a pretty realistic face for the NES, but can someone please tell me what this guy is a reference to?

Edit: 

The real origins for this one are dark, holy hell. So... this guy is actually the leader of a cult called Heaven's Gate that operated in the late eighties/early nineties. They believed Hailey's Comet would come and trash the Earth, so they committed suicide the instant the comet arrived.

In fact, the strange contradictory speech this guy gives as the final boss of Let's Go Again was a real speech he had. The bunk beds are even where some of the bodies of his followers were found.

Like... my god. Props to the Overhaul Project guys for such an obscure reference, but damn that's pretty messed up.



He's just as easy as the final boss from the real Monster Party - a few lasers and bat swings does him in, but I'm just speechless at all of this.



[Current OST: Ending Theme]

Nevertheless, we killed the final bad guy and now we get our happy ending!



Oh, we're doing this again? Bert, you're such a nice guy.



He's way too happy to get a grown woman as a prize... he is a kid, right?



[Current OST: Bad Ending]

It just wouldn't be Monster Party if the beautiful lady didn't turn into a disgusting monster, though. Honestly, I think she's just mad because we didn't give her a gift.



This is still the cheesiest scene in the game, I sw-



oH dear god

This is even worse than the melting in the original game, christ.



Good thing it was just a nightmare, but I think Mark has a bigger problem to resolve... his bedsheets, for one.



So Mark packs up his stuff and goes to sch... wait. This seems familiar. 

[Current OST: Ending Part 3]



"Let's go again!"



Roll credits, everybody. In fact, that was a perfect time to drop the title because the credits really are here.

I'm so glad to be able to listen to this soundtrack again, just saying.



The ending is still classic, even if it's almost the same as before. But yeah, guys, that ends Monster Party: Let's Go Again!

What do I have to say about this revamped rom hack?



For one, I'm glad I could step back into the Dark World, albeit with better graphics and slightly tweaked gameplay. The original Monster Party was fun and all, but the work these guys put in is mind-blowing, especially given the hardware they were dealing with. 

Gus Stevenson was actually how I found a copy of this hack - not only that, his page shed some light on the development history of Let's Go Again. I found it an interesting read, anyway.




I messed up with the last screenshot, but these are all the good people who helped in making Let's Go Again. 

I'll admit, the platforming kind of suffered this time around due to really tight jumps that Mark could barely make. They really seemed to favor Bert's flying ability despite the fact he's activated via a pill that not many enemies drop.

Plus, I dunno if I'm just bad, but I seemed to die quite a bit offscreen. It's a little frustrating, but the original Monster Party was just as hard, so I can't really get too mad at it. I do like how they streamlined the game by removing most of the empty rooms and fixed up certain things like the game-breaking glitch in Round 7.

Honestly, the showstoppers for this hack were the new bosses and the animated tilesets. Not only are they well-drawn, they stay true to the spirit of Monster Party even if some of it was pretty questionable. (Jeff's inclusion still boggles me.)



There's also this which I assume is a reference to Kano from Mortal Kombat, but it's just a throwaway gag for the ending.



With that said, that caps off this entry for the Halloween-a-thon and personally, I got nostalgic listening to the ending theme again so please tear me away from this game before I decide not to leave. I give Let's Go Again an 80/100 (Good).

Next time on the Halloween-a-thon, we tackle another horror-based platformer for the NES. It's a brand new face this time though, even if it is concealed behind a mask.

See you guys then.