Monster Party



An NES classic of dubious quality but enduring insanity.

Monster Party follows the adventures of Mark, who embarks on a journey at the request of the alien/bird/dragon Bert to Dark World. En route, the two fuse together; you play as Mark, but can shift into Bert's form by popping pharmaceuticals. The game is known for its huge number of bosses, many of whom make no goddamned sense whatsoever -- which might make Monster Party the most brilliant work of art of the 20th century.

It was developed by Human Entertainment, makers of the Fire Pro Wrestling and Clock Tower series, and, oddly, never saw release in its country of origin.

"Bert was there, and he whispered to Mark: "Let's go again!""
 * Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Level 2.
 * Action Bomb: Dynamite hands in the final level.
 * All Just a Dream: The ending seems to imply this.
 * Already Done for You: The Giant Spider (which might actually be a crab or a dinosaur) in the first level is dead on arrival. And he apologizes for it.
 * Its name is Deceased Crab. And yes, that's where he got his name from.
 * The name still appears to be his own invention, as there's no other known source for it. The manual just erroneously calls it "GIANT SPIDER", and it isn't named in any other book, official walkthrough or magazine.
 * Attack Reflector: Mark's baseball bat.
 * Background Boss: The last boss.
 * Batter Up: Again, Mark's baseball bat.
 * Best Level Ever: Monster Party blows its load pretty early, as Level 1 (Dark World) is the most memorable and creepy stage in the game.
 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: Bert.
 * Big Boo's Haunt: Level 6. Doubles as The Maze.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: The biggest one is Royce who rolls.
 * Breath Weapon: Bert's attack.
 * Bubbly Clouds: The final level.
 * Crap Saccharine World: Level 1 and Level 8.
 * Dancing Pants: Level 6 features wandering pants as an enemy.
 * Dark World: After passing the big green haniwa in the first level (now you know what it is), the scenery takes a turn for the... worse.
 * The Dead Can Dance: "WATCH US DANCE."
 * Dem Bones: One of the enemies in Level 3.
 * Directionally Solid Platforms: First and seventh stage have the most of them.
 * Doppelganger Spin: Chameleon Man is a bloody face hiding in a room wallpapered in bloody faces along with three decoy bloody faces. Bloody faces.
 * Dreadful Musician: The punk rock torso who attacks with, and I'm quoting the manual here, "bad-playing guitar".
 * Eldritch Abomination:.
 * Eldritch Location: Technically, the whole game as you are on an alien planet. The levels progress with no rhyme or reason to them. The scenery often changes radically from happy to grotesque, not only the first level, but several of the boss rooms are more macabre in nature than the levels.
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: Absolutely everything. Deep-fried seafood, for example.
 * Flash of Pain: Bosses briefly turn white when hit. As for the regular enemies, it depends on the enemy type to determine which color it turns into when hit.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: The "level start" screen shows skeletons waist-deep in a lake of blood. No idea how that slipped past Nintendo's censors.
 * Not to mention when the very first level transforms into a hellish landscape after you pass by the big tree. This effect was supposed to happen in every level in the original game.
 * And they slipped in the word 'Hell', which wasn't allowed in the NES days.
 * Giant Spider: Two of the bosses.
 * Grim Reaper: One of the less baffling bosses.
 * Except that he is the one who says "Hell". See above.
 * I Know Madden Kombat: Once more, Mark's baseball bat. Also, Level 7 contains evil umpires.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: The minotaur boss says "Mooove it". You know, because... yeah. Also, a rolling caterpillar is named "Royce" because he... yeah.
 * Irony: This game has several Japanese ghosts (one of them being the Bancho Sarayashiki legend) in it, yet it never got a release in Japan.
 * It Came From the Fridge: Shrimp, and onion rings, and kabobs... OH MY!
 * Kid Hero: Mark.
 * Let's Play: By none other than Deceased Crab. Well, probably by others, but this is the one that matters.
 * Light Is Not Good: The final level resembles (or is) heaven, but is home to an Eldritch Abomination.
 * Made of Explodium: Every regular enemy.
 * The Maze/Magical Mystery Doors: Level 6.
 * Mix-and-Match Critters: Mad Javelin Man is a combination of a haniwa statue and a Gundam.
 * Monsters-Not-Appearing-in-This-Game: None of the monsters on the cover art are actually in the game as mooks or bosses.
 * Monster Mash
 * Our Monsters Are Weird: Most of the game's entertainment value comes from the sheer lunacy of the enemies it throws at you. Burning Japanese schoolboys! Angelic sticks of dynamite! Joseph Merrick, for crap's sake!
 * Recurring Boss: The Giant Spider.
 * Scenery Gorn: The later half of Level 1 is a textbook example of this trope. Also, the title and game over screens and several of the boss rooms.
 * Segmented Serpent: One of the Level 8 bosses.
 * Sequel Hook: ...Maybe.


 * Sheathe Your Sword: Just let the zombies finish their dance in peace. If you attack them, you'll just prolong their unlives.
 * Shout-Out: From Little Shop of Horrors to Gundam to obscure Japanese ghost stories.
 * Skippable Boss: And you'd better; if you beat every boss of Level 7, you'll lose the key that lets you leave.
 * Soundtrack Dissonance: Happy music plays during the game over screen, with skeletons in a pool of blood.
 * Special Person, Normal Name: Mark is recruited by a bird-like alien named... Bert.
 * Spikes of Doom: At first in Level 1. Then they change a bit.
 * Stalactite Spite: Round 3.
 * Temple of Doom: Level 4 is set in an Egyptian tomb, complete with scorpions, sculptures of Anubis, hieroglyphs, etc. What it doesn't have are the game's two Egyptian-themed bosses, who appear in other levels...
 * Tennis Boss: All of them, unless you're fighting the bosses as Bert (which you really should be).
 * Unbuilt Trope: The change in Level 1 from relatively normal happy fun Nintendo to a darker version is oddly prescient of Eversion, right down to happy face blocks turning into nightmarish ones.
 * Uncommon Time: Round 4 theme with 5/10 time.
 * Underground Level: Rounds 2 and 3.
 * Unwinnable By Mistake: One nasty and cruel example, depending on if you watch the key icon or not: killing 2 bosses in Round 7 gives you a key but killing the final one takes the key away, forcing you to restart the game.
 * Ventriloquism: The serpent dragon's speech bubble is pointing toward the right side of the screen, but it's on the left.
 * Zero Effort Boss: "SORRY, I'M DEAD."
 * "WATCH US DANCE."