PixlBit

A very unique NES game that actually has (gasp!) a story!

Nightshade was released in 1991 for the NES and was developed by Ultra Games, an arm of Konami. The team behind the game was an American team, which should be obvious considering this game is about a crime fighter in a New York-style city. Nightshade is a hybrid game: it's part point and click adventure and part action. It's quite remarkable for an NES game. Sadly, it didn't make much of a splash, and there was no sequel, so no doubt you've never heard of it.  

The opening story goes like this: "That's my home, Metro City. Quiet place. Good city. Good people. Good future. But as time passed, bad seeds started to grow, and Vortex, Metro City's protector, was outnumbered. Even with the help of local police, Vortex was no match for the growth of corruption. With Vortex gone, the criminals moved in like a cancer, eating through the city's heart. Day by day, Metro City was getting worse. Without Vortex to combat crime, things started to get out of hand. Crime feeds upon itself like rats fighting over cheese. Pretty soon the crime bosses began to fight over control of Metro City. Then, something began to change. The gang wars stopped. There's someone new in town. Someone organizing all the criminals. He's the one I want. He's the one who wants to kill my town. Someone had to do something! Someone had to take Vortex's place. Someone had to stand up to Sutekh. It's time to put a stop to this plague. It's time for Nightshade." 

The main villain is Sutekh, a guy disguised as an Egyptian deity. But there are several other bad guys too. The game opens with Nighthade tied to a chair, Sutekh gloating over him, and a bomb behind him ready to explode. Nightshade must inch his way around the wall in order to escape the blast; then he must inch back to the candle and burn the ropes that are around him. Nightshade is free! Now you walk around, examine stuff, pick up helpful objects, and find out how to get out. If you press select, you can see all the things you can do: examine, pick up, operate, use, look at your items, jump, fight, talk, or cancel. This game really makes you think, and I applaud it for that. 

At the same time, the game doesn't take itself too seriously, as Nightshade will spit out weird jokes and interesting facts (some are atrocious, others are quite hilarious). The entire game is set in a noir atmosphere, which is really cool. Once you get out of the first dungeon, you discover a sprawling world to investigate: Metro City. There's a lot of places to go, things to do, and people to talk to. And on top of it all, you have to figure out who this Sutekh guy is and defeat him. 

The old man outside the sewers entrance tells you that there are four crime bosses in the city: the Ninja Mistress, Goliath, Lord Muck, and King Rat. You will have to defeat them all before you can get to Sutekh. Also, you have two meters at the bottom of the screen: a health meter and a popularity meter. Your popularity rises as you help people (there's all kinds of things to do: get a cat down from a pole, save a girl from a burning building, rebuild a dinosaur in the museum, give an old library book to the librarian, and much more). 

The combat in Nightshade is a little tricky. When you run into a bad guy, the Nightshade emblem flashes on the screen and you go into fight mode. Each bad guy requires a certain strategy to defeat, but usually it's pretty simple. You can jump, punch, and duck. It can be frustrating sometimes, as it seems the bad guy isn't that hard to beat, but you find yourself jumping too far, or he beats you to the punch, and you die. AARGH, WHAT?

When you die, you don't simply start over on another life. Instead, Nightshade is found in a death trap (there are a total of five of these, then it's Game Over). In each deathtrap, you have to figure out how to escape. The first one, for example, has Nightshade on a conveyer belt, heading towards a giant compounding arm; when your foot is by the lever, hit "operate" and Nightshade will hit the lever with his foot and be free. If you fail to get out of the death trap, it's Game Over and you have to start over. Considering you cannot save in this game, it is vital that you get out of the death trap. 

Once you have enough popularity, you can enter the phone booth in Metro City and take it down to a secret base. It was Vortex's old base, and Vortex has placed his brain in a computer so he can help you. It's interesting that Vortex looks a lot like the Flash (side note: it's also interesting that at this exact time The Flash TV series was on television, and a vigilante appeared on two of the episodes named Nightshade; guess what he wore? A hat and trenchcoat [see image below right]. Coincidence? Most likely not). Vortex will give you four domes to place over four objects that Sutekh wants to steal. Once the domes are on all four objects, your next objective is to defeat the four crime bosses and get their scarab keys, which will open the path to Sutekh. 

Each crime boss is located in a different part of the city. The King Rat is located in the sewers, the Ninja Mistress in an oriental restaurant, Goliath in a club, and Lord Muck (he's British) in some kind of house. Once again, the combat can be tricky and frustrating. My favorite part was getting to Goliath; they won't let you into the club, so you ride up this elevator that's on the outside of the building and jump off on the second level. You pull a switch to turn off the guns on the building and make your way around to the other side; then you climb up the ladder and open the air vent using the crow bar and jump down. 

Let me just say that without a walkthrough, I would be totally lost sometimes. The game never really gives you any hints about what to do next; you have to figure it out. Of course, this is an NES game, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Another thing: where are the police? So much crime going on and I never saw a policeman and there was no police station. I guess it got so bad they just gave up hope and quit their jobs. 

And I have to mention the humor. Nightshade will say some pretty crazy things ("Great quivering enigmas with a side salad and a light tartar sauce! There's a hidden exit here!") and the News Archives have some really funny stories ("Man eats fence and lives!"). What's funny is that the game can also be pretty dark at times; when you go into the sewers, you see the remains of Vortex's body on the wall (maybe it's just his cape?). The entire setting is dark; the whole game takes place at night. 

Nightshade is not a long game. It's a real shame that a sequel was never made. The full title of the game was "Nightshade: Part One: The Claws of Sutekh." Perhaps they were planning a sequel, or perhaps they just had that title to poke more fun at the super hero genre, but Nightshade stands as one of the most unique games in the NES library, despite its cheesy humor. 

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

The combat can be tricky and the next objective can be impossible to figure out, but there's no denying that Nightshade is a great game. It's refreshing to see an old game with a story. Sutekh is a pretty cool villain and Nightshade is a suave hero. The death traps were probably the most unique part of the game. Overall, Nightshade was just a fun game that poked fun at the super hero genre (Viewtiful Joe did the same thing). It had investigating, combat, humor, a story, an evil villain, a sprawling world, colorful characters, and a handful of surprises. That's a lot to pack into one game, especially an old NES game. 

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.