PixlBit

This 1994 lost game is now available, but is it worth it?

Nightmare Busters was a Super NES game developed by a French team in 1994; while it was finished, it was never released. Jump to 2007, when Super Fighter Team (who makes new games on old systems, like the Genesis) gets their hands on the game and decide to release it. This takes several years so they can work with the game and make any adjustments necessary, but it was finally released in 2012. Suffice to say, NB feels like a real SNES game because it is!

The setting is neat. The protagonists are two leprechauns who shoot cards at goblins and other fantasy-based monsters. The evil Tyrant wants to destroy all childrens' dreams by giving them nothing but nightmares, so the two leprechauns must cleanse the land of these nightmares so kids can once again sleep soundly. Levels include a village, a mystical forest, caves with deadly boulders and lava, a cliff which you descend via moving platform, a castle with booby traps, and a large ship. The graphics, sprites, and music are all great.

The game plays out much like Contra or Gunstar Heroes; the two leprechauns, Flynn and Floyd (who are apparently twins) can shoot out deadly cards, but you must repeatedly press the Y button to do so. You can jump with B, and also slide by ducking and pressing B. Hold X to perform a dashing attack, and the A button performs a powerful magic attack. Two hits will take a life, but the game generously gives potions throughout the levels.

Just like the different guns in Contra, you can get new card attacks. These attacks are awesome! The Fire Card shoots a fast fiery projectile; the Energy Axe shoots a broader shot; the Twin Shot shoots two projectiles, one straight and the other diagonally; the Sideshot shoots bursts of energy in front and behind you; the Thunder Burst shoots a slower but more powerful burst of energy; and the Shock Sphere shoots a powerful ball of deadliness. Along with these, you can also collect coins, jewels, pots of gold, scrolls, potions, and dominoes for extra points and lives.

The bosses are great. They're creepy and ominous, moving about the screen, doing specific attacks. Each one doesn't take long to figure out the pattern, and they're not difficult to beat. The last level has you fight all the bosses again (there's only three), and due to the fact that they're not too hard, I didn't mind.

NB is certainly oldschool in the fact that it's a tough game. The big sprites make it even more difficult; enemies will pop out at you quickly, and seeing what's coming next is difficult. You can't move while shooting, and you can't shoot diagonally (something which you could do in Contra 3 and Super Metroid). The truth is, the game is not challenging, but unfair. Certain parts of the game are downright frustrating; the fire section of level 1, the falling section of level 3, and most of the castle level are all unforgiving parts of the game which suck lives.

The falling section is easily the most frustrating part of the game. You have to shoot spikes which come up beneath you, but pointing down causes you to descend; then a layer of spikes will drop down from the top, meaning you have no room to see what's coming up. If you or your friend dies, the falling stops until you come back for another life, prolonging the pain. This section reminded me of the frustrating repelling sections of the Battletoads games. Thankfully, I don't think it's that frustrating.

The game will also sometimes get stuck at a certain part, and you'll have to wait for an enemy to come in; this must be some kind of glitch, but it always fixes after about 10 seconds. Once the game froze on me, which was frustrating, since I was near the end of the game. These annoyances make me wonder if Super Fighter Team really put in their best effort with NB.

  You can either get hit by the ball and chain or land on the spikes. You choose.

These frustrations make the game quite difficult. Luckily, there's a cheat code you can put in! As the title screen fades in, press Y, R, L, down, down, right and you'll unlock a rapid fire option and level select (available in the options). This certainly makes the game easier, but all the mentioned frustrations are still there. Rapid fire makes it easier to defeat enemies, but the fire section and the falling section is still a huge pain.

The game is also two player, but that doesn't make the game any easier. You and your friend will share lives and continues, meaning they might go faster than usual. Unless both of you are experts at nightmare busting, it's gonna be hard to get to the end. Still, NB is a unique game that warrants at least a good try.

Final Verdict--3 Stars: It's Okay

I was hoping to give this game a higher rating, but there are too many frustrations. Some parts of the game are impossible to get through without dying, and that's simply unfair. If you're a Super NES aficionado like me, you'll definitely want to buy this game (available at nightmarebusters.com), otherwise it's not worth the money. I love the sprites, backgrounds, music, and bosses; but the gameplay leaves a little to be desired, plus the game is slightly on the short side. One thing's for sure: those leprechauns are really cool dudes.

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