The latest incarnation of The Addams Family hits theatres today. But before the film, we got a new mobile game. Judging from some people’s reactions, the idea of the mobile game isn’t going over well. Then again, when the first video game based on the franchise, Fester’s Quest, hit the NES back in 1989, people had an equally frosty reaction. Since then, The Addams Family has seen a handful of game adaptations based on the films, television shows, and even one of the cartoon series. Surely there has to be an adaptation that wasn’t terrible, right?

Fester’s Quest – Nintendo Entertainment System (1989)

Based on the original 1960’s TV show, the game casts you as Uncle Fester. While out moonbathing one night, Fester happens to witness a UFO come and abduct the people of the city nearby. Fester decides that he’s the only one who can stop the aliens, so he picks up a blunderbuss and sets out to fight back. The other Addams Family members do show up throughout the game to help Fester by offering him items or weapons.

Despite what certain people will say, Fester’s Quest isn’t as terrible as you might be led to believe. That being said, it’s not very good, either. The overt difficulty of the game is compounded by Fester’s slow walking speed and a weapon that requires you to be either at a certain distance in order to hit when upgraded, or purposely downgrading your gun (the wave upgrade is useless in the sewers due to the narrow corridors). It also doesn’t help that Fester can initially only take two hits before Game Over. You can continue after a Game Over with all of your previously-collected items and weapon upgrades, but you’re sent back to the very beginning of the game. No checkpoints, no passwords. Most egregious is the fact that the game lacks any of the humour that you’d find in the television series.

Despite this, developer Sunsoft tried to vary things up with the first-person labyrinthian mazes you’ll have to go through. There’s no enemies or time limit to these parts, but the danger of going in circles and coming back out the way you came (thereby wasting a key) is a very real possibility. At least the music is typical Sunsoft greatness. Overall, the game just feels like a slapped-together clone of Blaster Master, which is a far better game than Fester’s Quest. Also, when even the game’s manual tells you that a controller with a Turbo function is recommended, you know you’re in for a long one.

The Addams Family – NES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES, Game Boy, TurboGrafx-CD and more (1991, 1993)

Loosely based on the first film, you play as Gomez Addams as he attempts to save the members of the family who have been kidnapped by the family attorney, Tully Alford, and are locked away in various rooms of the Addams’ mansion. In order to do so, you’ll also have to grab the Addams’ fortune that’s lying around the various rooms. The only members not to have been kidnapped are Lurch and Thing, who will help you out in various ways during the game.

The first thing I noticed when revisiting this one was how Gomez’s sprite looks more like John Astin than Raúl Juliá. Regardless, the game is just another example of a video game tie-in that was made solely as a blatant cash grab. Ocean Software had a knack for churning out these types of licensed games. In spite of this, the game is playable, but a pretty average platformer. Gomez’s hit detection is spotty at times, meaning you’ll sometimes take damage from enemies when you jump on them to kill them. Controlling Gomez is a slip and slide affair, which is a contrast to the floatiness of Super Mario. Graphically, the 16-bit versions fare better than the Nintendo, Game Boy or Game Gear versions, but that’s pretty obvious. Probably the best thing is the open-ended gameplay, where you can visit different areas of the mansion in any order.

Unlike the more well-known versions of the game that came out in 1992 (a year after the film’s release), the TurboGrafx-16 received a port for the TurboGrafx-CD attachment in 1991. This version of the game casts you as Tully Alford instead of Gomez, and where instead of finding the Addams Family members, you had to find the family’s fortune. Along the way, you’ll have to deal with Fester, who’s hit his head again, and is after you. Problem is, Fester is the only one who knows the combination to the family vault.

Developed by ICOM Simulations, this version of the game features several enhancements over the Ocean version. There are fully-voiced cutscenes, though they amount to still images of the actors with soundalikes. Also, you have CD quality music, featuring the original Addams Family theme at the title screen. The rest of the music is definitely creepy, with a mix of foreboding tunes and menacing laughter. As far as gameplay, it’s similar to the Ocean games, but with more variety. You have to collect coloured keys that correspond to doors throughout the mansion. The rooms have a nice variety to them, with varied enemies (including an NES console in Wednesday’s room!). Tully is armed with an umbrella that can fire projectiles, but can eventually wield a sword, and even turn into a werewolf(?!). About the only drawback with this version is the mansion’s layout, which can get confusing due to multiple doors leading to the same area.

If you have a choice, definitely go for the TurboGrafx version over the SNES or Genesis versions.

The Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt – NES, Super NES, Game Boy (1993)

Inspired by the second cartoon series (which I taped religiously back in the day), Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt has you playing as Pugsley. The story varies, depending on the platform. In the NES and Game Boy versions, the family (sans Lurch and Thing) has been kidnapped again, and as Pugsley, you must find and rescue them. Each family member holds a piece of music which Lurch can use to unlock a secret passage to reach Morticia, the final kidnapped family member. In the SNES version, Wednesday has devised a scavenger hunt for Pugsley in the family mansion. She’s hidden six items for her brother to find. Along the way, Pugsley will have to deal with the various traps Wednesday has laid out for him.

Ocean is back at it again. This time, Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt is a step up from their previous efforts, but it’s still just okay. Visually, the game again looks far better on the SNES than its 8-bit counterparts. It also looks much better than the previous Addams Family game, with more vibrancy to the palette and some nice animations (Pugsley’s idle animations are fun). However, the drawback is that the screen can get very busy, with the background animations and effects making for some disorienting moments. This is most evident when you travel into Granny’s crystal ball. The screen is crunched into the crystal ball, making hazards that much easier to hit you. As a result, the overall difficulty of the game has been cranked up from the previous game. It also doesn’t help that Pugsley has his father’s slippery control, which adds another unnecessary difficulty.

The SNES version is still far better than the 8-bit versions, which are stripped down to the point that you don’t even get any of the music! The average platforming is made all the more worse by the lack of effort spent on the backgrounds (which there are basically none). The sense that Ocean couldn’t have cared any less about theses ports is made all the more apparent when you realize that the NES and Game Boy versions have unlimited continues and a password system. Not only that, the manual suggests that you “experiment” with level elements. This translates into doors that will for some reason take you to one place when you first enter them, then take you to an entirely different area if you try to enter them again. Stick with the 16-bit version, which at least had more effort put into it than its cousins.

Addams Family Values – Super NES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis (1995)

Baby Pubert has been kidnapped by his nanny, Debbie Jellinski. The ransom note demands that Fester sign over his half of the family estate, or the family will never see Pubert again. Gomez and Fester have tracked Debbie to an abandoned mansion outside of town, where the family have split up to find Pubert. As Fester, you must track down clues as to where Pubert is while also avoiding traps. Along the way, the various members of the family will assist you in giving out items and helpful hints.

Bucking the phoned-in platformers they previously released, Ocean instead turn Addams Family Values into an overhead action-adventure RPG, and a pretty fun one at that. The game borrows heavily elements from The Legend of Zelda. As Fester, you walk around talking to family members for hints/items. You also have a map showing the general area you’re currently in. Fester’s main attack involves him shooting lightning bolts from his hands, which decrease in length as you take damage. You can also find other weapons, which have limited ammo. You’ll also be venturing into dungeons that feature traps and puzzles, with each dungeon having its own boss for you to defeat. The game is also pretty massive, with eight dungeons to conquer, as well as a sizeable overworld. The graphics and music are also quite good, with neat features such as the garden area growing darker as you progress, eventually turning to rain.

Unfortunately, the game does not have a battery back up system, which is quite frustrating for a game this size. You instead have passwords, but you have to travel to Cousin Itt to get them. And he’s only in one spot for the entire game. Meaning, you’ll have to do a lot of backtracking. Despite this, Addams Family Values is a very welcome surprise, and is definitely one Addams Family game to play.

The New Addams Family – Game Boy Color (2001)

Based on the most recent incarnation of the television series, in this adventure game, the family mansion is going to be demolished and replaced by an amusement park, with the family being forcefully evicted. You play as Wednesday and Pugsley as you search the house for pieces of the estate ownership that are needed to win the court case to stop the contractors. Along the way, you’ll have to solve puzzles (such as finding oil for a guillotine) in order to progress.

Developed by 7th Sense, The New Addams Family harkens back to the PC point-and-click adventure games of the early 90s. It’s quite impressive what the developers were able to crank out of the Game Boy Color. Graphically, the game wisely takes a stylized approach in lieu of using the actors. This only emphasizes the callback to the classic Lucasarts adventure games. The control scheme is simplified to allow you to examine and and use items with the A and B buttons respectively, while the D-pad moves Wednesday or Pugsley around the rooms. A small triangle indicates the objects with which you can interact. There are also a few action sequences, but these are relatively easy to pass. Aside from the usual Addams Family cast, you’ll also be interacting with other characters found throughout the mansion in order to progress. As far as puzzles go, it’s not much more than what you’d find in something like Maniac Mansion. You’ll end up combining items, giving a character an item in order to get an item for a solution to a puzzle, etc.

Unfortunately, being on the Game Boy Color, there’s only so much you can do with a game like this. The music is at the mercy of the hardware, and as such, the one tune that’s used throughout the game tends to get a bit grating. And despite the effort with the stylized graphical take, some of the graphics are a bit on the messy side. The game is also a tad on the easy side for those veteran adventure gamers. It’s also not a terribly long game, lasting only a couple of hours if you know what you’re doing. You can, however, save your progress (although it’s only one save slot). It’s an okay diversion, but not one you’d go back to once you complete it.

Once again, it’s not a stretch to say that the games based on The Addams Family license were pushed out in order to capitalize on the license. But that doesn’t meant that they were all skippable, as the TurboGrafx-16 version of The Addams Family and Addams Family Values games are pretty fun, with The New Addams Family being a serviceable adventure game. Addams Family Values is much more accessible for gamers (unless you like paying collector prices for TG-16 hardware and software), and should be the game (apart from the mobile game) to get you set for the film.