A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES)
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Released: October 1989
Developer: Rare
Publisher: LJN
Game description
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a side-scrolling video game, loosely based on the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. It should not be confused with an unrelated game with the same title for the Commodore 64 and IBM PC also released in 1989.
The player takes on the role of an ordinary teenager. Additional teenagers can be controlled by up to three other players with the use of the NES Four Score. The objective is to scour the vicinity of Elm Street, collect the bones of the supernatural serial killer Freddy Krueger and dispose of them in the local high school’s furnace. Source
Game story
Something frightening has been happening on Elm Street lately. It seems that with each waking day another gruesome discovery is made, another neighborhood teen has mysteriously passed away into the dark stillness of the night. Everyone says it’s natural causes, but it seems as if something (or someone) has been picking them off one by one in their sleep. It’s a horrible nightmare come true, and this nightmare has a name – Freddy Krueger. Source
Gameplay
The game takes place in the neighborhood of Elm Street and is played from a side-scrolling perspective. The game’s environment is inhabited by hostile characters (such as zombies, cats, dogs, skeletons, bats and minotaurs) that will attack the player character. Being attacked a certain number of times will cause the player to lose a life.
Because the game takes place around midnight, certain areas are initially locked off from the player and require a key to be collected for later access. Within the individual buildings, the player must collect the bones scattered throughout the level before being able to leave. When all the bones are collected, a boss battle with Freddy will commence. Defeating Freddy will both allow the player to exit the area and earn the player a key that allows access to a new area. Source
Sleep Meter
A game mechanic unique to the title is the “Sleep Meter”. The meter indicates how close the player character is to falling asleep. If even one of the player characters falls asleep, all of the player characters will be transported to an alternate version of the environment referred to as the “Dream World”, where the player is more vulnerable to attacks from Freddy.
The Sleep Meter decreases automatically, but does so at a slower pace when the player character stays in motion. The Sleep Meter can be increased by collecting cups of coffee scattered throughout the levels. When in the Dream World, the player character can be returned to the default version of the level by collecting the boom box placed somewhere within the level. Source
Special Powers
Collecting certain icons grants the player characters special powers while they’re within the Dream World, namely the ability to throw shurikens, javelins or magic projectiles.
Tips and Tricks
This is the best order of Houses to go into:
1.The first three houses in any order.
2.Junk Yard (Last place on street)
3.Elm St. Cemetery (place right next to Junk Yard)
4.Freddy’s House (the old broken wood house)
5.Elm St. High School (the last level)
Source
Reception
Writing in retrospect in 2010, an IGN journalist was mixed towards the game, praising its sleep meter element but also feeling it was a “low-rent Castlevania with a great but bizarrely weak super-villain.”
Overall, I’d say this is a solid NES horror game and something that I would go back and play again. I enjoyed this much more than Friday The 13th. The game is not long at all and you should have it beat in no more than 5 hours. – Nancy Thompson
Source
Highpoints:
Amazing graphics and music make it a joy to play.
Four player co-op, so you can enjoy it with your whole family!
A video game based on a film franchise on the NES that DOESN’T suck.
Lowpoints:
If you pause the game it mutes the wave channels, which is not good if you want to listen the music.
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