REVIEW - Fester's Quest (1989)

GENRE(S): Action
RELEASED: September 1989
AVAILABLE ON: NES
DEVELOPER(S): Sunsoft
PUBLISHER(S): Sunsoft
PLAYERS: 1

Even before Barry Sonnenfeld took on the mission of reuniting The Addams Family with his blockbuster movie adaptation of the 60's cult sitcom in 1991, Sunsoft made a fairly successful 8-bit game based on the original show called Fester's Quest. The game's moderate commercial success hasn't changed critics' takes on it at all; many nostalgia critics, including the Angry Video Game Nerd, have labelled the game one of the poorest offerings on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It's been little over a year since I made my opinions on The Addams Family for the SNES and a few of its sequels public. I think the time is ripe to see what could possibly be worse - it's surely going to be an interesting trip, in a way just as twisted as the Addams family.

Not too creepy, cooky, mysterious or spooky - but definitely altogether ooky

The first screen of the game. Get used to it.

When aliens invade the town and ruin Uncle Fester's relaxed evening, he sets out to send the intergalactic buzzkillers back where they came from, probably not even realizing he's bound to save the whole town in the process.

Back when Fester's Quest was released, I had no idea what The Addams Family even was, as I grew up watching The Munsters. Well, then hit the sudden, international Addams Family boom, and I realized that Fester's Quest was actually a game based on the TV show this new, great movie was based on. The Finnish equivalent of Nintendo Power did some kind of a special on the game, I don't quite remember what the purpose of that special was, but usually, if they did a story on a single game that was over two pages long, it had to be something cool. Well, Fester's Quest isn't cool. Not at all. It's no less than the worst Addams Family game I've played thus far. Compared to this game, its spiritual successor Addams Family Values is a masterpiece.

This sewer leads to the same place as every
other dungeon in the game: nowhere.

The game isn't just a manifestation of every usual wrong, it also looks like ass, which is quite unbelievable considering that Sunsoft usually worked on delivering good graphics back in the day. It lacks colour, not to mention originality. It probably wasn't even supposed to be an Addams Family game. It was just some random idea that Sunsoft wanted to capitalize on with an even more random license. What did The Addams Family stand for in the eyes of the target group in 1989 besides nothing? The music is decent... as long as it stays fresh, which isn't very long. There aren't too many different tunes and you're going to hear the first overworld loop quite a few times if you're half serious about playing this piece of crap. The Addams Family theme song is in, but without its famous snapping intro.

Fester's Quest is an action game running on the overhead engine of the classic Blaster Master. You roam around town, shooting frogs, some sort of voodoo masks and whatnot - for a million times each - gather power-ups, take a occasional dive into very ugly 3D to fight some bosses, and visit family members to get "key items" which you absolutely don't need. Simple enough, right? Well, it is this simple. It would even be fun if the game wasn't all about roaming around like a moron to rarely find something other than a dead end, if the enemies weren't so damn resilient, and if you could blast away just one of them without hurting yourself. Health comes in small numbers, and death gives you the fair opportunity to make things right... starting from the first screen of the level every single time. Nope, no checkpoints.

For fuck's sake, they could've even tried to
spell Pugsley right.

There aren't a lot of things right about Fester's Quest; one of its quirks is downright outstanding in its stupidity, and ironically, one of the only original things about the game. One type of enemy releases a swarm of insects each time you shoot at 'em. Touching one of these insects doesn't drain any of your health, but slows your movement down, permanently, right up until your next looming death. Not one whole minute passes with you having a constant smile on your face. Try playing it for a total of fifteen without reaching for the revolver.

Simply put, Fester's Quest is one awful game. I don't really even consider this a review, more like insight, since every nostalgia critic that has reviewed the game has said everything there is to it and I simply don't know how to say it any better. I'll let the ratings do the work on this game instead of a thousand words. No matter how fascinating I might have found this game's concept back when The Addams Family was the shite, and no matter how much of an Addams fan I am even today, Fester's Quest is a game that should've never been made. 

GRAPHICS : 5.0
SOUND : 6.0
PLAYABILITY : 4.0
LIFESPAN : 3.8
CONCLUSION : 4.0

TRIVIA

a.k.a. Uncle Fester's Quest - The Addams Family