The Best Home Alone Game is on the Genesis

Home Alone was one of the first movies I can remember seeing in the theater. Every year, my dad would go deer hunting, and my mom would take us to the movies. We didn’t go to the movies that often, so it was very memorable. I only have one memory of the NES game, and I never played the Genesis game before.

I’ll be looking at the Genesis game this time. This is a game that I’ve heard about, so I’m looking forward to it. It has to be better than the NES game, which I only remember as being weird.

This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. Because this is a movie based game, I have something to compare it to beyond the other versions. I’m really looking forward to this game, and to seeing what the reviews of this game were like.

TLDR: I really wanted to like this game more than I did. It is much better than the NES game, but still lacking in some areas.

Narrative

This game is loosely based on the first Home Alone movie. It takes some liberties with the source, which is understandable. It does have several parts of the movie in the game, which is nice to see.

The game has Kevin taking it on himself to protect five houses from the Wet Bandits. That is pretty much all you need to know. There is also a 20 min time limit. I wanted to look up what the manual said about the story, but I couldn’t find it online.

The back of the box doesn’t give you much information. It simply says that you have to protect the neighborhood from the Wet Bandits. That is good enough for what this game is, I suppose.

Gameplay

There is a crafting system in this game. It isn’t all that elaborate, but it is a very cool mechanic. You gather items and use them to make weapons that can stun one of the enemies. I wish this idea had been further developed, because it is such a cool concept.

There are five houses you have to protect from the Wet Bandits. When you enter a house, you can set traps for them. There is also an environmental trap that you can’t control:

• Robot
• Cat
• Spider
• Ghost

These environmental traps can hurt you and the Wet Bandits indiscriminately. I like this idea, even if it can get a little annoying.

The best part of this game is that you can craft your own weapons from household items. It is a very cool idea, and I wish the sequel had done something like this. While it is very cool to craft new weapons, there is a little problem with it. The system isn’t all that deep, and it felt like a proof of concept instead of a fully realized game mechanic.

There are three meters when you get into the house:

• Ammo – How much ammo your current gun has
• Loot – The amount of loot in the house with the Wet Bandits
• Pain – This tells you how much damage you’ve done to the Wet Bandits

Once a house is runs out of loot, the Wet Bandits flood it. When the pain meter is full, you’ve saved the house. Those are the basics of the game. To travel between the houses, you slide around on a sled. You can knock over snowmen to find items. As far as I know, you can’t get hurt.

Overall, I really like the gameplay. It has some great ideas, but they aren’t fully realized. This is a very creative take on the game, and I really enjoyed that. I wish the game were a little longer and the map were better set up.

Visuals

Home Alone has very good graphics. Everything looks very good, and I especially like what effect the guns have on your enemies. It is one of the funnier parts of the game.

The guns can cause some hilarious moments. These include electric shocks, turning them into snowmen, or having people transform into a giant rubber ball. This is the best part of the game. The houses look different, but are lacking in complexity.

While the levels and the world look good, there isn’t much to the game. Each house looks a little different, but not enough for my liking. It is a step up from the NES game, which is what you should expect from a game on the Genesis.

The world map looks pretty cool. It can be a little difficult to know which house the Wet Bandits are in. I also didn’t like how the map was laid out. When I first started playing, I didn’t know where anything was, and that got a little frustrating.

Overall, it is a good looking game. It has problems, but it is much better than the NES version. I didn’t see anything that looked out of place or bad. It is a funny game that is helped out by the graphics.

Reviews at the Time

I was shocked by the reviews of this game at the time it was released. The scores were much lower than I was expecting to see. It was also a pain in the butt to find the reviews, as many of them weren’t archived. I had to look at the Video Game History Foundation’s digital archive, which is a pain to navigate.

Mega gave the game a 24/100. The reviewer went in hard on this game! They hated everything in this game. I don’t normally give long quotes, but here is what the reviewer said about the game: “Yet another wasted film license and yet another cart with massive potential to rip off unsuspecting game buyers. Disgraceful.”

Mean Machines gave the game a 43/100 according to MobyGames. I couldn’t find the original article, so I’m not sure what they said. Only two sentences were saved. The reviewer called it “dull and tedious.”

I was really surprised by the vitriol that reviewers directed at this game. It is very surprising to see this from back in the early 1990s. For a moment, I thought I was reading a review from the 2000s.

8/10. This would’ve been higher if the game had been longer and if the gameplay had been refined. It has some great ideas that were ahead of their time. I wanted to like this game more than I did. The crafting system and graphics are a real standout to me.

Pros

• Fun concept
• Weapon Crafting System
• Funny Graphics
• Decent Controls

Cons

• Short Game
• Poor Level Design

Conclusion

Home Alone is one of a handful of creative licensed properties on the Genesis. It is much better than the NES version, but it has some problems. This is a very ambitious game, and I wish the developers had worked on the second game.

There are so many ideas that I like in this game. They just aren’t fully realized. The level design isn’t all that great, but it does work for a quick game like this. Home Alone is all about the high score. I can understand why, but it would’ve been nicer if that wasn’t the focus. This feels like a proof of concept in some ways.

At some point, I’ll have to take a look at the other Home Alone games. It has been a while since I’ve played the NES version, and I’ve never played the SNES versions. The Genesis version really stands out for being as creative as it is.

If you liked this post, please check out my other posts on Sega Genesis games. Some examples are Dick Tracy and Altered Beast.