Horror Story for PCE CD

Image: MobyGames

Horror Story

Kill dem monstas

Genre: action - gun

Publisher: NEC

Year: 1993

System: PCE CD

Gameplay Score: 3

Gameplay Notes:

Autoscroller. Five weapons to select by collecting the slowest moving power up of all time. It's nearly impossible to avoid and doing so can ruin your run because you could pick up the useless bomb or short range wave guns. The laser and 3 way are the only good guns so half the battle is avoiding that dumb power up. The other challenge is avoiding waves of enemies that spawn at the most inopportune times. Actually, the third pillar of pain is the horrible double jump. You have the narrowest of windows to initiate the second jump, mere moments after the first jump. If you miss it, that's it. And the second jump is at least 5 times higher than the first one. Despite all that, the controls are responsive enough to be passable and even fun to work with.

Level Design Score: 3

Level Design Notes:

Each stage is effectively two panes - a top layer, and a ground layer. The aforementioned, awful double jump is the only way to reach that second level of platforms. Most stages have a "right" and "wrong" level to be on at several times, so you need to memorize the stage to succeed. Luckily you respawn where you die so death isn't punishing. There are numerous difficult platforming areas due to the autoscrolling, bad jumping, and solid platforms.

Theme Score: 4

Theme Notes:

You're basically a Ghostbusters wannabe, complete with a proton pack, fighting an army of moderns, both classic (vampires, werewolves, zombies) and modern (Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and even Metroids!).

Art Style Score: 3

Art Style Notes:

The aesthetic is silly and cartoon, like the NES version of Splatterhouse, or Kid Dracula. Artwork is well drawn for the most part, albeit fairly flat, like an 8-bit title. The backgrounds are especially empty. It actually looks like a mid-80s arcade game.

Audio Score: 3

Audio Notes:

No complaints, but no particular praise. Sounds about what I expected for this title.

Overall Score: 61

Review ID: 11051