100 More Gruesome Games For Halloween - ( 93-90 )

93 - Decap Attack (Megadrive/Genesis) :

When the evil Max D. Cap and his minions rise up from the Underworld to wreak havoc, Professor Frank N. Stein sends out his latest creation, Chuck D. Head to put a stop to Max and his cronies! Chuck is a headless mummy....wait, no..actually he's not headless! His head just resides in his stomach...and he can force it out using his intestines or something in order to bash any baddies that happen to get in his way...

As Chuck, you can also get the help of Head, a skull you'll find lying around the levels. He'll attach himself to your torso, and you can lob him at enemies or statues or whatever, with him zooming back to you boomerang style! He'll only stick around until you take a hit though, so it's worth trying to avoid trouble...

Also helping you in your quest are various power-ups hidden away in little gargoyle-type statues..(this is also where you'll find Head should you lose him)...These power-ups don't activate immediately though! They get stored in your inventory, which you can access via a button push and receive helpful information about what each power-up actually does from the Prof. and his assistant Igor...

The levels take place on various parts of a skeleton-shaped island that has been split into various different sections. Every few levels you'll reach the end of that particular section and face an inevitable boss...but even when you defeat them, you might not be quite finished with that section yet, as you have to find a special item on each stage..and if you haven't found it yet, you have to go back and search the level for it!

Vic Tokai's Decap Attack is an enjoyable platformer, with my favourite bits being the groovy graphics and funky spooky music...I would prefer it if the baddies followed suit though, as only a few of them appear spooky enough for my tastes! Also, it can be a little tricky getting used to how Chuck handles to begin with, but if you stick with it you'll soon have no problems...and maybe that's just me being a bit poop!

Overall though, this game should keep you happy and comes highly recommend...Oh, before I move on, I should probably let you know that it's also a port of a Japanese game called Magical Hat Flying Turbo Adventure which has totally different graphics, music and level design..with only the gameplay remaining similar...

And just one more question...How exactly did Chuck come to have a head in his torso anyway? Isn't that a bit odd? Well, thankfully Nigel Kitching gave us the answer when he did the Decap Attack strip that appeared in Fleetway's Sonic The Comic in the nineties.....

92 - Spooky Castle (C64) :

Every now and then, I'll come across a game so bloomin' difficult and frustrating, it makes me want to seek out and destroy every single copy so no-one else need ever experience the pain of attempting to play it...This is one such game!

It has you taking on the role of Gormless Gary as he tries to rescue Princess Clare from the clutches of some evil ghosts...but with only a handful of screens, it seems the game doesn't actually want you to progress at all! Almost everything that touches you kills you instantly, and...ahh, sod it! I can't be bothered giving this game any more time at all...it looks okay, and has versions on other systems that look good too, but they're all far too difficult! If your a bit odd and like self-punishment, by all means give it a go......and then do me a favour and destroy it afterwards! 

91 - Shadows Of The Damned (Xbox 360) :

I need something really good after Spooky Castle....and this should be just the ticket! It's a game from the creative super-duo of Shinji Mikaki (Resident Evil, Devil May Cry) & Goichi "Suda 51" Suda (Killer 7, No More Heroes)....and it's totally insane!

Described as a "punk rock road trip" by the developers Grasshopper, the game has you take control of Mexican Demon Hunter, Garcia Hotspur, as he goes on a quest to the demon underworld to rescue his girlfriend Paula who has been kidnapped by the Demon-lord Fleming! He's accompanied by ex-demon Johnson, a floating skull who can transform into weapons and a kick-ass motorbike....

Your journey into hell is a bizarre one, which sees you feeding strawberries or brains to cherub-headed doors, shooting goat-heads to lighten up darkened areas, reading fairy-tale-style storybooks about bosses you'll face...and even taking part in an odd little 2D-shoot-em-up on some levels!

The main part of the game though is a pretty damn decent third-person shooter in the style of Resident Evil 4...What makes it different, is the light/darkness mechanic. Demons are constantly trying to plunge you into darkness where they're stronger and you constantly lose health...Luckily, Johnson can fire out a Light Shot which when fired at the aforementioned goat heads will light your path ahead. It can also be fired at demons who retain some of their darkness, making it easier for you to finish them off with one of Johnson's many gun-forms!

You'll constantly be finding crystals when you defeat the demons, and these come in three varieties...White, which are used as currency and given to a big friendly demon named Christopher in exchange for alcohol (which replenishes energy) or Red diamonds. These Red diamonds are also hidden away in the levels, and let you power up the various different gun-forms that Johnson transforms into...these new forms come from the last type, Blue diamonds...which appear after you defeat one of the many boss demons...

This game won't be for everyone though, because as well as it's decidedly Grindhouse-style leanings, it also has a rather immature vein of humour that centres around a certain part of the male anatomy! These jokes litter even the main dialogue of the game, and this might put off some people from playing it....I personally didn't find it too much and the rest of the humour makes the game funny, especially the dialogue between Garcia & Johnson and the various stories in the storybooks! And there's a revelation about strawberries that might well put you off for life!!

I had a real blast playing through Shadows Of The Damned...it had me hooked from the start! Take a look at the videos above and if you like the look of it, give it a go! I reckon it deserves a bit more recognition than it seems to have received...and even if you don't enjoy the humour, you'll still find a lot more in it's quirky settings and gameplay to keep you amused!

90 - Ghost Manor (PC Engine/Turbo Grafx 16) :

In this nice little Icom Simulations platformer you take on the role of young Arthur, a teen who for some reason the villagers of Anoraff have decided is their best bet against defeating the evil Orb Gamut and his undead army, who seem intent on enslaving the village and making it's residents join their ranks...

Off he trots then to defeat evil, helped by a magic globe he can fire at his enemies, and seeking out keys to open locked doors as he tumbles and slides down various waterfalls and chutes and climbs ladders and clambers over platforms to reach his goal. He can also get help from some of the ghosties and ghoulies who fly up into their air with their arms outstretched! If Arthur jumps on top of those particular spooks, they'll raise him up with them, making for an essential form of transport in most levels....

Having never had the pleasure of owning a Turbo Grafx 16, I only discovered this title very recently when looking for games to add to the list. As such I haven't had much time to actually play it yet...but from what I've seen of it so far, it's a fun game with great graphics (although Arthur looks a little odd) and some suitably spooky sounds, and although the Bubsy the Bobcat-esque chutes-n-ladders gameplay can initially be annoying, it never gets too frustrating to continue playing....it's well worth checking out!

Well...hope you're enjoying the list so far! We've got a long way to go though, so keep an eye on the blog and if you like what you see, don't forget you can keep better track of posts by clicking the "follow" button at the right-hand side of the blog! See you in a day or two for the next lot on the list!