Nosferatu Longplay (SNES) [QHD]
290Game Info
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Developer: SETA
Publisher: SETA
Year of Release: 1994
Game Review & Impressions
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The spooky season is upon us once again, and for this year's ghoul-inspired longplay shenanigans, I decided to take a look at Nosferatu. I'd been aware of this curious SNES game for some time, and it had always intrigued me, so I though it was time to don my vampire-hunting togs and dive in.
The plot is as simple as they come: hero's girlfriend kidnapped by vampire; must rescue. You delve into various crypts, navigating the perilous corridors, avoiding traps and despatching monsters with your unexplained, but fortunately not-insignificant martial arts prowess. Where this idea came from, I can only guess; maybe there's a smidgeon of influence from Braindead's Father "I kick arse for the Lord" McGruder?
To wit, the game packs an awful lot of combat moves and combos, perhaps too many. Spin kicks, shoulder barges and flying knees are on offer, although the simplest and most effective method of attack is to rely on your three-strike combo. The rest of the moves are rather difficult to pull off, if I'm honest, particularly the flying knee, which I think I only managed to execute once during the entire game.
When it comes to the level structure, I'd always imagined this to be a Metroidvania affair, but it's actually a Prince of Persia clone. The level designs, clambering up and down platforms, traps and general mechanics are directly influenced (copy and pasted) from Jordan Mechner's classic. The only real difference with Nosferatu is that levels of scroll both horizontally and vertically, rather than use series of static rooms. The power-up system, collecting different coloured crystals from chests to restore health and increase combat ability, are also instantly familiar.
Having completed the game, Nosferatu wasn't what I'd expected. I'm a big fan of PoP-inspired games, and although I had some fun with this, I had hoped for something a little more involved. The enemies, a fairly limited assortment of zombies, bats, Frankenstein's monsters and mummies are all rather wrote and uninspired. It also doesn't help that most of the levels in the game are rendered in a washed out sepia palette; it does little to convey any real sense of foreboding or gothic horror, and is a far cry from the infinitely more mature Splatterhouse 2 on the Genesis. I suspect Nintendo's aggressive stance on maintaining its image as a family-friendly company partly explains this.
Happy Halloween!
Chapters
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00:00 Intro
02:30 Stage 1
08:00 Stage 2
15:17 Stage 3
24:01 Stage 4
30:28 Stage 5
39:02 Stage 6
46:48 Final Boss