NES Games I Beat #40: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
That’s right, the infamous AVGN dud and his most hated/ frustrating game is one I get to mark off my list today thanks not only to him but to Matt Ernzo (aka Cygnus Destroyer/ The LJN Defender) who did a video in his Innocent Until Proven Guilty series on Jekyll and Hyde. At first I was skeptical but he made some good points and sparked some interest in me to dust this turd off and reexamine it. Could it really have redeeming factors? Was it really not the worst game ever? Let’s dive in and find out.
So the legendary nature of this game stems from AVGN and his unrelenting hatred for this game. As a kid he rented it and hated it, understandably so. The mechanics and controls as Jekyll are pretty bad until you can adjust to them. Jekyll moves slow as a sloth taking a shit but the townspeople and enemies can move pretty quick… or not! It’s mostly random as to what enemies will show up other than some that are set in certain spots giving the games challenge a lot of variation. Worse yet as Jekyll your worthless and nearly defenseless. Your only weapon, a cane, can only kill a bee with a well timed stab otherwise you jump and walk strategically to avoid the bombs, dogs, cats, and villagers as well as bird shit.
Most people chalk the uselessness of Jekyll up to good story telling and characterization as in the novel Jekyll is a well mannered citizen. They also argue the game not rewarding your malevolent intentions to hurt others. This is all mirrored in the Hyde sections, accessed when you stress meter depletes to none, in which you play the reverse stage and shoot the demons inhabiting these citizens. That’s right (spoiler alert) they’re being possessed by a demon, the only and final boss of the game, and this is why their all being dicks. After all, Jekyll is simply trying to reach his wedding. Now usually in the Hyde stages you can only get as far as Jekyll got before lightning strikes and you die (symbolizing the evil never truly surpassing good) but to achieve the “Good Ending” as I have, you actually have to intentionally die on the final stage (easily done as running through it and getting the bad ending is near impossible) and play the stage through. The lightning is absent this time and once you traverse a rooftop segment you fight the aforementioned demon and continue after on a leisurely stroll to the end.
And this is where I need to give this game a lot of credit, while you only have one life, the system of Hyde undoing his stress meter by taking out demons works to essentially guarantee multiple lives depending on if you made it far enough into the stage. It’s similar to the death gimmick in Nightshade to where you can escape death and continue on. This mechanic is interesting to say the least and I actually ended up liking it for its innovation. Also, unlimited continues as long as you hit “Continue” and not “Start” on the title screen is a Godsend. It always starts you on the stage you left off on and for the end, it allows you to skip everything in Hyde’s stage before the rooftops which is a really generous touch. Coupling this with a code that allows for stage select and it’s a mood point to call this game difficult. I find the Jekyll stages repetitive and random so that’s where most of the difficulty lies but I would more so disagree with AVGN as the game is certainly beatable, I did so in two days ofplaying with minimal prior experience.
The graphics are pretty good for 1988 and the music is subpar, there only being three tracks, one being recycled from Rygar.
Overall, is this game as bad as everyone says? Well, it’s close but a tiny bit more enjoyable than some lesser offerings like Where’s Waldo and Superman 64 (not to mention Megaman FUCKING 8 and Skyward Sword). Compared to those games, especially the lava boarding segment of MM8, this game was at least short and somewhat playable. I didn’t lose my mind or life over this one and had a decent experience with this one. It’s by no means a gem but calling it one of the worst games of all time is just a bit too harsh, though I certainly can see it from that angle too. Look, it’s a shitty game but there’s things that I liked a bit so I’m not going to give it a 1 like most people would expect. It never once gave me a headache or put me in the worst kind of mood so that’s admirable. It’s by no means a good game but it at least deserves a 5.3 out of 10. Yeah, I like it more than Megaman 8, sue me. Regardless, it’s a good feeling to have a game of this legend of the way in terms of beating it so early on and now I’ve got bragging rights! =]
Cynus Review: https://www.youtube.com/
AVGN Review: https://www.youtube.com/
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