Monster Bash

I remember really enjoying this game as a kid, it was great! The undead theme was amazing, the knock off Monster Mash title music, the bad attitude kid shooting monsters into chunky gore with a sling-shot...Things didn't get cooler in the 90s! Now that I'm older, I can just imagine the level designers of this game sitting back in their chairs laughing as they placed every enemy, every spike, every stupid knife throwing hand and screaming skull in just the right spot that you have to get hit by them and lose health with every move you make...This wouldn't be such a problem if lives were aplenty, but they're not...you'll likely lose all your health trying to make your way to finding a health pick up. Lose all your lives trying to find an extra life. And just plain die by taking a wrong turn looking for the missing animals. Don't let your nostalgia for this game trick you into thinking it's any good. There are far better platform games out there, especially by Apogee! Unless you are a masochist, save yourself some pain, save yourself some money and grab Bio Menace, as it is a much better platformer...and it's free!

I really like this platform game. It's fun and addictive. I also like its music. However, it's a pity that it doesn't use more colors.

It may look like a kids' game because you play as a boy named Johnny Dash who has to free all the puppies and kittens in a level before you can exit, but enemies that explode into gore and make a nice squishy sound when you kill them tell otherwise. There are three episodes to the game and the difficulty increases with each. It was very nice to see that each episode had mostly unique enemy types with only a few repeats being used occasionally. The enemy types were all pretty different, too. The game levels start pretty straightforward with mild puzzles and become a bit more puzzle-heavy in later episodes and levels, but not overly difficult. Some levels are pretty non-linear and allow a good deal of exploration to find loot and secrets. Some of the levels take some time to finish, too. The movement was a little tricky to get the hang of in the beginning because Johnny is a little slower to accelerate than I have been used to in other platformers. There are a few times where you really need a good running start in order to make a jump. However, the game controls pretty well though. Crawling is something I don't remember having in other platformers I've played though I'm sure others have it. You do need to use it in this game and not just to dodge. The slingshot is an interesting weapon since it has an arcing projectile that you can also ricochet off of a ceiling or wall. It has several powerups that are useful and fun. The game does have some negatives. There are two or three times where you have to crawl through things in order to advance in the level or even end the level that aren't obvious at all. Sometimes the music wouldn't play when I started the game. Maybe it's how I quit the game or something. Deleting the CONFIG file usually fixed things. The final boss was actually the weakest of them in my opinion. I expected a bit more. I recommend the game if you like older platformers. I enjoyed it even though I had not played it when it was originally released.

I remember playing the shareware episode when it came out and not being all that impressed. But I picked this up anyway when it was on sale recently and I don't regret it. The first two episodes are great fun when you get used to the quirks of the game. The third episode suffers badly from difficulty spikes, but is still enjoyable when you use the included cheat code for free lives. It's not as polished as Commander Keen, but the core gameplay is good enough to make up for the rough spots.

I never paid for it, so only had the first part, and since I'm a pack-rat, I still have most of the Apogge shareware stashed away. - now I can play all parts :). I have to say, back in thise days, Graphics like these were a big surprize. And the game play was just as good.