Friday The 13th (1989) NES game

Have you guys ever played LJN's Friday The 13th video game on NES?
Any thoughts/comments?

I remember my dad picking up the game for $10 at a now-defunct Flea Market here in Toronto (747 Flea Market on Steeles, for those of you familiar with the city's west end). Being 5 years old at the time, the front cover shot of Jason raising the axe from the New Blood served as my initial introduction to the Friday the 13th franchise.

Needless to say, the cover shot worked. But it took years to figure out the game itself. Though, life could have been worse. I mean, LJN could have stuck Jason on a cruise ship or something...

I've only ever played it via an online emulator and it's aggravating personally lol!

I still have it and a NES console. I play it every so often just for nostalgia sake lol.

I've always enjoyed the game and defend it where ever I can. It's by no means a masterpiece, but in no way does it belong anywhere near as many of the worst NES games of all time lists as it's on. Then again, I understand how to play it, so I managed to develop an appreciation for what it was, and a lot of the elements that the game introduced that were basically rough drafts for how horror-themed games would be developed in the future. I think that's the issue though, opinion of the game is divided between players who were able to solve the rubix cube that is the games mechanics, and those that threw there controller down after twenty minutes and declared it a bad game because it refuses to hold your hand.

The games biggest problem is obviously it's cryptic nature. It's an NES game with strict limitations though, so you have to expect that with a game like this to stretch out the play time. Friday the 13th may have gone a tad too far to this extreme, and that really ruined the games reputation almost from the start. It doesn't help that there's a typo almost as soon as you start the game that can start you off on the wrong path almost immediately if you're not aware that what the screen is telling you is wrong. There's also a couple of game mechanics that the game never really explains to you that are... Kind of crucial to basic gameplay and not all that easy to figure out on your own. If the instruction manual had bothered to tell you that the map runs counter-clockwise, and that's why it feels like you're always going backwards, or that you can use certain cabins to switch to any other counselor on the map, so you don't have to hoof it to wherever Jason is attacking, I think that would've alleviated a lot of frustration. There's still plenty of cryptic crap to keep you guessing, but you shouldn't be forced to figure out important gameplay features for yourself that aren't exactly obvious.

Still, once you figure out the tricks behind the wonky map, and that nothing in the game is as random as it appears, it becomes a lot more enjoyable. You just have to figure out the games little tricks and secrets, and yes... There is a lot of them you need to figure out with a lot of trial and error to beat the game, but that was part of the fun for me. A horror-themed game with mystery elements, and that was cool for me. (Even though I do agree basic gameplay mechanics shouldn't be part of that mystery, lol) The only part of the game I truly hated was the wonky punch-out encounters, but thankfully there's a way around most of those. Once you figure out it's tricks, you find out that the game is... Somewhat disappointingly linear in what you have to do, though there's several differen't paths you can take to go about beating the game depending on how easy or difficult you want to make it on yourself. A lot of the objectives the game seems to be pushing you towards are completely optional. The hardest part of the game is just keep those damn kids at the lake cabin alive, since there's no way to get out of the Punch-Out encounter in that location, and our boy Jason makes Mike Tyson look like a little bitch.

I've mentioned this in a previous topic, but I still love that James and Mike video on Cinnamassacre where they're playing this game, and I'm screaming at my computer screen half the time at every silly assumption and mistake they're making, like they can freakin' hear me.

I'm Not a Goalie wrote:I've always enjoyed the game and defend it where ever I can. It's by no means a masterpiece, but in no way does it belong anywhere near as many of the worst NES games of all time lists as it's on. Then again, I understand how to play it, so I managed to develop an appreciation for what it was, and a lot of the elements that the game introduced that were basically rough drafts for how horror-themed games would be developed in the future. I think that's the issue though, opinion of the game is divided between players who were able to solve the rubix cube that is the games mechanics, and those that threw there controller down after twenty minutes and declared it a bad game because it refuses to hold your hand.

The games biggest problem is obviously it's cryptic nature. It's an NES game with strict limitations though, so you have to expect that with a game like this to stretch out the play time. Friday the 13th may have gone a tad too far to this extreme, and that really ruined the games reputation almost from the start. It doesn't help that there's a typo almost as soon as you start the game that can start you off on the wrong path almost immediately if you're not aware that what the screen is telling you is wrong. There's also a couple of game mechanics that the game never really explains to you that are... Kind of crucial to basic gameplay and not all that easy to figure out on your own. If the instruction manual had bothered to tell you that the map runs counter-clockwise, and that's why it feels like you're always going backwards, or that you can use certain cabins to switch to any other counselor on the map, so you don't have to hoof it to wherever Jason is attacking, I think that would've alleviated a lot of frustration. There's still plenty of cryptic crap to keep you guessing, but you shouldn't be forced to figure out important gameplay features for yourself that aren't exactly obvious.

Still, once you figure out the tricks behind the wonky map, and that nothing in the game is as random as it appears, it becomes a lot more enjoyable. You just have to figure out the games little tricks and secrets, and yes... There is a lot of them you need to figure out with a lot of trial and error to beat the game, but that was part of the fun for me. A horror-themed game with mystery elements, and that was cool for me. (Even though I do agree basic gameplay mechanics shouldn't be part of that mystery, lol) The only part of the game I truly hated was the wonky punch-out encounters, but thankfully there's a way around most of those. Once you figure out it's tricks, you find out that the game is... Somewhat disappointingly linear in what you have to do, though there's several differen't paths you can take to go about beating the game depending on how easy or difficult you want to make it on yourself. A lot of the objectives the game seems to be pushing you towards are completely optional. The hardest part of the game is just keep those damn kids at the lake cabin alive, since there's no way to get out of the Punch-Out encounter in that location, and our boy Jason makes Mike Tyson look like a little bitch.

I've mentioned this in a previous topic, but I still love that James and Mike video on Cinnamassacre where they're playing this game, and I'm screaming at my computer screen half the time at every silly assumption and mistake they're making, like they can freakin' hear me.

By far the NES Friday the 13th game has one of the hardest bosses in video game history.

Overall it wasnt following the films namely the wolves, undead, and bats but it was original and unique to the game.

I myself felt a great sense of accomplishment finding & defeating Pamela in those maze-like woods. Never could beat Jason 1 on 1 inside the cabins,though.

For those looking for a far more simplistic horror romp on the NES, I would recommend Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti. Light-hearted cartoon graphics and humour with many homages to horror classics of the era.

Of course, the protagonist is a hockey mask-wearing tribute to Jason Voorhees. There's also a later level by the name of Diamond Lake (another nod to the Friday The 13th series). Only released in Japan, but available on emulation; should you wish to this give this obscure, little horror gem a spin.

Silencer wrote:I myself felt a great sense of accomplishment finding & defeating Pamela in those maze-like woods. Never could beat Jason 1 on 1 inside the cabins,though.

For those looking for a far more simplistic horror romp on the NES, I would recommend Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti. Light-hearted cartoon graphics and humour with many homages to horror classics of the era.

Of course, the protagonist is a hockey mask-wearing tribute to Jason Voorhees. There's also a later level by the name of Diamond Lake (another nod to the Friday The 13th series). Only released in Japan, but available on emulation; should you wish to this give this obscure, little horror gem a spin.

Thank you for reminding me about splatter house!

Played the NES game soooo long ago….. rented it at the video store…. Struggled incredibly with it but loved every minute of playing it I never got upset with the game or its mechanics I didn’t have the instructions manual to “help” either and I also never beat the game…. Never and I rented and re-rented the hell out of it.

Re-watching the old AVGN review of the game, makes me wonder what the intended age demographic for this title was. For the most part, the NES was primarily marketed towards children.

The creepy music in those dark, maze-like cabins. The counsellors with no faces... that was creepier than Jason himself in 8-bit form.

Silencer wrote:Re-watching the old AVGN review of the game, makes me wonder what the intended age demographic for this title was. For the most part, the NES was primarily marketed towards children.

The creepy music in those dark, maze-like cabins. The counsellors with no faces... that was creepier than Jason himself in 8-bit form.

The NES has definitely always prided themselves on being the kid friendly brand... The infamous no blood in the Super NES port of Mortal Kombat comes to mind... You could get away with a bit more in the 80's, so I feel the game was definitely targeted toward kids... Roughly that 10-13 age group where kids start getting interested in those types of movies, and would definitely be interested in a game like this. You couldn't keep count of how many kids I saw dress up as Jason for Halloween all throughout elementary school, so yeah, the audience was there. Let's face it too... While the game has a creep factor too it, there's nothing gratuitously violent or inappropriate about it. Nothing worse than Castlevania, Metroid, or Contra so it was pretty on par for the type of action you could typically find in an NES game. Other than the game being based on a violent horror movie, the game itself is nothing I wouldn't have allowed my son to play. Now Sweet Home... That game pushed some serious boundaries.

I prefer the James & Mike episode where they spend an hour actually trying to play the game... I about died when they started putting tape on the TV screen because they couldn't keep track of the whopping six houses they had to lite fires in. I have no clue how these poor guys every made it through Zelda.

OCT 31 1978 wrote:Played the NES game soooo long ago….. rented it at the video store…. Struggled incredibly with it but loved every minute of playing it I never got upset with the game or its mechanics I didn’t have the instructions manual to “help” either and I also never beat the game…. Never and I rented and re-rented the hell out of it.

OH JEEEZ! Gotta find it n beat it!!

Jason Voorhees wrote:

OCT 31 1978 wrote:Played the NES game soooo long ago….. rented it at the video store…. Struggled incredibly with it but loved every minute of playing it I never got upset with the game or its mechanics I didn’t have the instructions manual to “help” either and I also never beat the game…. Never and I rented and re-rented the hell out of it.

OH JEEEZ! Gotta find it n beat it!!

Lol I did the next best thing and watched a play through video…… I just wouldn’t ever find the time to play it….even through I would love too

OCT 31 1978 wrote:

Jason Voorhees wrote:

OCT 31 1978 wrote:Played the NES game soooo long ago….. rented it at the video store…. Struggled incredibly with it but loved every minute of playing it I never got upset with the game or its mechanics I didn’t have the instructions manual to “help” either and I also never beat the game…. Never and I rented and re-rented the hell out of it.

OH JEEEZ! Gotta find it n beat it!!

Lol I did the next best thing and watched a play through video…… I just wouldn’t ever find the time to play it….even through I would love too

Doooo it! And let us know how the playthrough works!