Well I'm now up to my birth year. And, coincidentally, today happens to be my birthday.
So Frankenstein's Monster is 32, just like me.
The game was developed by Data Age, who was also known for some really low-quality "shovelware" Atari 2600 releases (ie: Sssnake) as well as Journey Escape, which stars the band Journey. Frankenstein's Monster was the company's latest and greatest release.
Released at the cusp of the third generation, this is one of those rare old games that
doesn't loop. It consists of twelve distinct stages (or six stages each with two parts, depending on who you ask). The stages themselves alternate in terms of design and gameplay: six of them are what I'll call the "Pitfall! stages" while the other six are the "bat stages."
The "Pitfall! stages", appropriately enough, feature gameplay elements reminiscent of the Activision classic. The goal here is to (eventually) enclose Frankenstein's Monster in bricks before he re-animates and wreaks unspeakable havoc. You begin in the upper right corner of these stages and there's a brick located in the bottom right. Our hero (some guy in a baseball cap and blue jeans) must run, jump, climb up/down ropes, avoid enemies, and delicately cross a stream to collect these bricks. Each level features a few cliché horror enemies - ghosts and spiders - while the monster himself watches the action from the top of the screen.
The "bat stages" play completely differently. These feature a top down view and baseball cap man must reach one of two bricks at the top of the screen. All while a seemingly endless stream of bats flies around, seeking to knock you down and hinder progress.
The Pitfall! stages are the game's bread and butter. They're colorful and vibrant; and the hero and enemies alike are wonderfully animated. On the other hand, the bat stages feel like an afterthought. There's no strategy - sometimes you'll be pushed to the screen's bottom over and over, while on other occasions you'll get lucky and sail to the top in (literally) 2 or 3 seconds.
While the means of
winning the game (collecting all the bricks) is apparent, there are actually several paths to a Game Over in Frankenstein's Monster. First of all, there's a time limit. Not a separate one for each stage, but a master time limit. There is no numerical count-down; instead the monster will slowly turn from white to green. Every time green pixels are added there's a flash of lightning and some spooky music; it's a great campy effect. Run out of time and it's an instant Game Over. You also begin with three lives and 500 points. Oddly enough, touching enemies won't kill you outright. Instead they deduct points and freeze your character for a few seconds. Points are (re)gained by completing a level. When points reach 0, one life is lost.
That said, I
never saw a Game Over screen due to loss of points or time. Have you ever watched AVGN's review of Ninja Gaiden where he states that he forgot he even has a health bar because 100% of Ryu's deaths were caused by falling into pits? Same deal here. There's a "stream" of blue water (though some websites claim it's actually acid?) at the bottom of each and every Pitfall! stage. The brick is the prize on the other side. You will fall into this water. A lot.
And that brings me to the biggest flaw of the game. The jumping. You can make three kinds of jumps: straight up (worthless) and up and to the right or left. This ain't Super Mario Bros. though - there's no way to make subtle tweaks to your jumps once you're in the air. Instead Mr. Blue Jeans sails along a predetermined arc. To be fair, these controls are typical of the era and enemies are generally easy to leap over. But then level 4 tosses in
moving platforms above the water. This
sucks. Level 6 kicks it up a notch by making the platforms move and occasionally
vanish.
It's no exaggeration to say it took me 30+ attempts to complete this, and virtually all of my deaths were drowning-related. But when I did finally finish the game it was a glorious moment. There's even a bit of an ending "cutscene" with a quaint jingle. Even better than the ending is the Game Over screen - it's amazing. Seriously, just
watch this. Scary stuff! And I'm seriously impressed by the size of that sprite.
Despite the inherent issues with the controls, Frankenstein's Monster is a very ambitious and worthwhile game. With a few little tweaks it could almost feel like an NES launch title. I do want to mention that the game is "rare" - in other words you may have to spend $20 on it as opposed to, ya know, $1. It's certainly a worthwhile addition to an Atari collection and one of those games actually worth splurging on.
)
