Better than You Might Think, Friday the 13th

Friday the 13^th on the NES is a strange game, but it can be quite a bit of fun! It is one of the better games that LJN published due to its uniqueness. In some ways, it is a survival horror game where you have to defeat Jason Voorhees, the killer from most of the Friday the 13^th series.

This is an ambitious game that tries to do too many things at once, and ends up executing most of them badly. I really want to enjoy this game more, but it has so many problems. I like it because of the game’s flaws. It is a good game to break out during October for something spooky to play.

My friend Joey rented this back in the early 1990s. At that time, I had heard of the movies, but I hadn’t watched them. Like several movie based games, I played the game long before I watched the movies. By the time this game was released, there were quite a few movies for the developers to take inspiration from.

There are parts of each of the movies in this game. They feel a little disjointed, especially if you’ve watched the movies in order. The game’s story is something new and also pretty different from the movies. At times, it feels like the developers were working on something else and turned it into a Friday the 13^th game after they took on this contract from LJN.

Friday the 13^th was an exclusive game to the North American market. So, it took a while for other markets to catch on to this game and form their own opinions. That is probably the thing I should say about most retro games. Please make up your own mind on a game, and don’t go along with what the loudest opinion on them is.  

TLDR: Too many ideas for its own good.

Narrative

While there is no narrative presented in the game, you can find it in the manual. It is only two paragraphs, but it gives the player an idea of what is happening and what you’ll need to do. This is assuming that the people who bought or rented the game could read, or that the rental store had the manual with the game.

The game takes place at a version of Crystal Lake where a group of kids is attending a summer camp. The player controls seven camp counselors. This is when Jason shows up, and for some reason, he wants to kill all the counselors and children.

This story explains that you have to go through the woods, save your friends and the kids, and that Jason can appear anywhere. It also mentions all the other enemies you’ll have to deal with, but doesn’t explain why zombies are all over the place. The final goal of killing Jason is mentioned, but the introduction provides no clues on how to achieve it.

There isn’t anything wrong with this story from a video game standpoint. The inclusion of the wolves and bats makes sense for being out in the wilderness, but the zombies are a little strange. It is the only thing I have a problem with. I think the story is fine for a video game adaptation of the Friday the 13^th series since there wasn’t much else the developers could’ve done.

Gameplay

There are parts of the gameplay that I like. It is fun to go around and gather the items you’ll need to fight and defeat Jason, but the way the developers went about doing things killed much of the game for me. It is a very different game from what was on the NES; the developers were simply too ambitious with what they were trying to do.

While you’re wandering around and fighting with the map, you’ll hear a loud beep that alerts you that Jason is killing someone. You’ll have a short amount of time to get back to where the attack is taking place so you can “save” them. This will sometimes lead to a brief fight with Jason.

When you fight Jason in the cabins, the game switches to something similar to Punch Out. The controls are similar to those of that game, except everything is off. It feels so much worse than Punch Out.

The map is a bit confusing at first, especially when it comes to moving around. Some of the locations are easy to identify, but going in the right direction is a bit of a challenge if this is your first time playing it. This is one of the areas where the developers were too ambitious.

This game would’ve been better if it didn’t have enemies and had a smaller map. If it didn’t take so long to get to the key items, or if you didn’t have to go back to save the campers, then it would’ve been a fun horror game. It isn’t all that bad; it is just a frustrating game to play.

There are quite a few weapons and other items that you can find in the game:

• Health items
• Knife
• Machete
• Torch
• Lighter
• Keys

Some of these can be found by jumping around randomly, and others are found by killing zombies. You’ll need to get a few items to beat the game, namely the torch and the lighter. It can be frustrating to get these, but thankfully, the internet has plenty of walkthroughs.

There isn’t too much else to write about. It isn’t that bad of a game, but it can take some time to get the hang of it. If you’re looking for something like the movies, then this isn’t it. If you want to read the manual, here is a link to the PDF (Link).

Visuals

This is a decent looking NES game. It looks better than some of the other games released in 1989, especially when you compare it to the other games published by LJN. It has problems, but they’re the same issues that other NES games had around this time.

Two spots really stand out to me. Navigating through the forests and caves is extremely annoying. Most of this frustration is due to game design and a lack of a map. Some of the arrows that might’ve helped the player through the forests are covered up, and you need to know about the key to get through the cave.

The enemies and bosses look fine. They look like generic enemies that you might find in other NES games, even Jason’s Mom looks like she would fit in nicely in a Castlevania game. Jason’s look in this game is a little odd, but the Purple and Cyan Jason turned out to be the most memorable part of the game.

The map is too big for a game like this. It isn’t too difficult to understand, once you’ve figured out how to play. The biggest issue that most people bring up is how you randomly change directions when walking. This is a problem, but once you’ve gotten used to it, the game gets a little easier. You shouldn’t have to get used to it, though.

Friday the 13^th looks like a decent NES game, but the gameplay is negatively impacted by the game’s graphics. It is something I normally look for in retro games, and, unfortunately, it shows up here. I still like the game, despite its problems.

7/10. There are a lot of really good things in this game, but it is disjointed. Among the good things are several bad ones or questionable choices. It felt like the developers were experimenting with some game design ideas. LJN and Acclaim didn’t really care about the quality of the game as long as it was playable.

Pros

• Unique Gameplay
• Good Graphics (Yes, even Purple Jason)

Cons

• Confusing Map
• Too Big for its Own Good
• Overly Ambitious

Conclusion

This is a better game than most of the other LJN games. It isn’t necessarily a good game, but it is far from being bad. The internet has given this game a very bad reputation, which I can see why, but it isn’t all that bad when compared to other games.

Friday the 13^th ended up on a few Worst Games on the NES lists from the 1990s. I’m a little shocked that it was on any of them, because there are plenty of games that are much worse than this one. I wouldn’t even have it on a list of worst LJN games.

I have a few memories of playing this game, but it took me a while to revisit it. In the mid 2010s, I watched the AVGN video on the game, and I wanted to see for myself. I didn’t think it was all that bad, especially after I remembered how to play the game. It won’t end up on one of my favorite lists unless it’s an LJN exclusive game.

If you liked this post, please check out my other posts about LJN games, such as Wolverine or Jaws.