2026 Special - Elvira's Monster Party

Today's look is Monster Party for the NES. More specifically, it's Elvira's Monster Party, a romhack where players can get their hands on the Mistress of the Dark herself. Considering that the game features numerous parodies of monster movies, placing Elvira in the starring role instead of just some kid with a bat makes perfect sense. The goal is to explore 8 realms packed with ghoulish creatures and ghastly traps. There are several doors to enter. Some contain bosses, others don't. Slaying every one of these archfiends will give you the key needed to move on to the next realm. It's a basic formula that's kept afloat thanks to this game's aptitude for being silly.

It's hard to hate a piece of interactive entertainment that features a boss that's already dead, and I don't mean undead either. They even apologize! There are numerous creatures that are equal parts spooky and charming. Hooded figures turn out to be literal Elephant-men. One boss battle is a dance festival. Then there's the victim of a delicious experiment known as The Fry. I'd recommend at least a single playthrough just to play "catch the reference". 

Multiple playthroughs? That's... kind of a tall order. I suppose it depends on your tolerance for repetitive enemies and questionable mechanics, as well as a 6th realm that outright stinks. Regular monsters in this party tend to move left & right. They'll go a little this way, a little that way, sometimes hopping and sometimes throwing projectiles. Even when they change size and shape, their behavior often stays the same. In other words, I can't really appreciate the variety in encounters when so many of them are similar to one another. The biggest differences between each realm tend to involve the locales, which can be hit or miss.

The first realm, which turns from a wonderland of smiles to a nightmare of bleeding skulls, is as great an intro to this game as could be imagined. Shame that momentum is immediately lost by the second realm. It's a sewer stage, and an annoying one at that. I remember renting this game as a kid and never getting past it. While I won't deny that my suckage had a lot to do with failing to survive the sewers, I still contend that it's a flop. Narrow corridors in a hop & swat platformer just aren't much fun. The next couple realms are okay. Featuring layouts that offer a little more room to stretch one's legs. Realm #5 is a lake. Crystal Lake? Probably not, but it is fun dodging Nessies and little fish trying to disguise themselves as sharks. 

I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the uniqueness of this game's control scheme. It's got the standard attack & jump buttons yet gets a little creative with the details. Jumping while attacking allows Elvira to hold her sword out, making it so she doesn't have to time swings to do damage. Also, whether she's in human(?) or succubus form, she can "jump-cancel" by pressing down. This is a handy move for avoiding projectiles while in mid-air. Batting projectiles back at enemies is also a neat feature. Collision detection is sometimes iffy, with some projectiles failing to harm an enemy even if it looks like they made contact. 

The fact that there are multiple ways to battle the bosses is also quite nice. Whether it's rushing and slashing them to pieces, hurling their attacks back, or flying and gunning them down; there's enough flexibility to give the adventure your personal touch. Transforming into a Succubus is done by swallowing a pill of dubious origin or is sometimes granted via the magic of RNG. When you visit a boss room, be sure to grab the "?" that occasionally appears. It might restore health, unleash the succubus within, or add points to your useless score. Players desperate for a healing might have to "farm" these rooms, since ?s can continue to spawn long after the boss is dead (or was never there to begin with)

Outright stinky realm #6 is a teleporter maze. Nothing more should have to be said. Still, in the interest of humoring the one or two people in the world who believe that there's anything salvageable about a teleporter maze, allow me to explain what gives this maze a particularly odious stench. The layout is awful. There is precious little that differentiates one room from the next. If you're not 101% locked onto the slightest changes, then you'll miss that essential path to the exit. Comets, furniture, and pants are a constant pain in the rear, chipping away one's health while stumbling between rooms. Fed up with the nonsense, I went online and found a map. Turns out the solution hinges on the player noticing that they're actually in the second set of a pair of identical rooms, and to avoid the door that kicks them back to the beginning of the maze. What a mess.

The final two realms involve climbing a tower and then running through Heaven while being bombarded by witches and killer constellations. It's a massive improvement over that teleshitter maze. Drugs are in ample supply here, so staying in Succubus form to easily clear the remaining bosses is hardly any trouble. Altogether, it's a fine way to end the game, but I still had a lot of negative energy from being stuck in the sixth realm for so long. Maybe I should've taken advantage of the handy password feature and given myself a little break. Oh well.

Whether you prefer to be Elvira or some kid with a bat, Monster Party is an NES game that must be experienced at least once. It's a delightfully weird and occasionally endearing adventure. Uneven at times, but survivable. However, don't be like me and attempt to tough out the teleporter maze. Get a map and rush through it ASAP.