The Addams Family (video game)

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The Addams Family
Addams Family video game box art.jpg
Amiga box art
Developer(s) Ocean Software
Publisher(s) Ocean Software
Platforms Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, Super NES, Amiga, Atari ST
Release date(s) 1992
Genre(s) Platform game
Mode(s) Single player

The Addams Family is a platform game based on the 1991 movie of the same name released by Ocean Software in 1992. The game was released for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis, Super NES, Amiga and Atari ST.

Ocean released several other versions of the game for other platforms, featuring different levels and gameplay. One version was released for the Sega Master System, Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Game Gear, with the latter ported by Acclaim Entertainment. A third title was developed for the Game Boy, and a fourth was produced for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum home computers.

In all versions, players control Gomez Addams as he attempts to rescue other members of the Addams family.

Plot

The Addams Family's lawyer, Tully Alford, has taken control of their Gothic mansion and imprisoned Morticia Addams, Pugsley Addams, Wednesday Addams, Granny and Uncle Fester. The player controls Gomez Addams as he explores the various rooms in the mansion, locating items and battling monsters, until he has located all of the lost family members.

Gameplay

Players control Gomez Addams and play through various locations of the mansion.

The game follows the Addams Family father and husband, Gomez Addams, as he attempts to save the members of his family who have been kidnapped. They have been stowed away in various locations in the mansion and are protected by a boss of some sort. The manservant Lurch and the severed hand Thing are the only characters not to be kidnapped. Thing will provide hints on gameplay whenever Gomez finds one of his red boxes marked with an 'A' for 'Addams'.

Gomez starts outside the front door of the mansion. Inside the house, Gomez can move from level to level in basically any order. The player will soon discover that the mansion is full of secrets, hidden passageways and side levels and bosses (for the purpose of increasing Gomez's health).

Gomez dispatches enemies by simply jumping on their heads (similar to the Super Mario games). He can also find objects to throw at them, such as golf balls.

The game did not have a save system but, instead, bore a password system. Through progression of the game, the player would receive passwords, enabling him or her to start where they left off.

Reception

Reception
Review score
Publication Score
Mega 25%[1]

Reviews are mixed for the game with the Amiga and the SNES versions reaching scores of up to 95%,[2] while the versions for the NES and Game Boy received significantly lower scores.[3] It has been commented that the movie licence saves the game from becoming a "boring Mario clone".[4] Mega advised readers to "watch a tree grow or something instead".

Other versions

Ocean released a very similar version for the NES, Sega Game Gear and Sega Master System (the latter two developed by Arc Developments rather than Oceansoft).[5] It also featured Gomez Addams looking for his family in the mansion, as well as many of the same themed-locations. It was ported in 1993[5] with different graphics, different layout and less linear gameplay. For example, if the player had freed Granny, she would fix her "fog machine" to provide one of the items necessary to free Pugsley.

Two more versions of the game were developed; one for the Game Boy and another version for computer systems Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum.[5]

TurboGrafx-CD game

The Ocean games were preceded by a TurboGrafx-CD gamedeveloped by ICOM Simulations and published by NEC in 1991,[6] though in this version the protagonist is the Addams's lawyer, Tully Alford, despite being an antagonist in the movie. The game also follows the plot of the movie but plays from the perspective of Tully Alford. The player controls Alford through several side-scrolling stages on a quest to locate, and steal, the Addams' vast wealth. Alford's main weapon is his umbrella, which can shoot fireballs, or he can transform into a wolf man. [1].

Follow-up titles

In 1993, Ocean released Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt based on the Addams Family animated series of the early 90s. The mechanics of the game are largely the same.

The NES and Game Boy versions of Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt are actually ports of the movie Addams Family game, with the lead character replaced by Pugsley and the collectible dollar signs replaced with candy. Some of the levels from The Addams Family, such as the Freezer and the Crypt, are not included. The Game Boy version also omits the Stove level and much of the level leading into the final boss.

References

  1. ↑ Mega review, issue 14, page 36, November 1993
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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