Monster Party

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Cronenberg's The Fly plus Red Lobster equals...

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.


Tropes used in Monster Party include:

Bert was there, and he whispered to Mark: "Let's go again!"

  • 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."