Was Fester's Quest originally intended to be Blaster Master 2?

[Aussie2B]

I've heard some talk about this, but I don't know if they're fabricated rumors or actually backed up by something. Obviously the original Blaster Master and Fester's Quest have an immense amount of similarities, including minor enemy versions of the Blaster Master bosses in Fester's Quest. Fester's Quest also gives off a striking feeling of only really being half complete. There are so many discordant elements, like how some graphics tiles are nicely detailed and others look like they were thrown into the game at the last second. There are the 3D mazes that contain nothing but the door to the boss room, the fact that there are only about about 5 songs in the entire game, the recycled sound effects, the fact that there are only three main area types (streets, sewers, and the spaceship), etc. I can't help but get the feeling that something far different was intended for the game, the plans got scrapped for whatever reason, the Addams Family licensed was acquired, and then salvaged what had been developed and finished if off hastily with the Addams Family theme.

Considering that Sunsoft had other strange happenings involving licenses (like how Journey to Silius originally had the Terminator license), I wouldn't be surprised. Does anyone have any concrete information on the development history of Fester's Quest or any interesting links?

[Edmond Dantes]

I wish I could answer your question.

But relatedly, it makes me wonder about the development history of the actual Blaster Master 2 which was released for Sega Genesis.

[Aussie2B]

Well, it was developed by a UK studio and only released in North America. Blaster Master was pretty successful in the US, more so than it was in Japan, it seems. Supposedly the Japanese staff was completely unaware of Sunsoft of America using Software Creations to make a sequel. Of course, that still leaves plenty of years for the Japanese staff to consider a sequel. Gremlins 2 also used some similar concepts, and just like Fester's Quest, it used a license. I think it's very plausible that the developers realized that they had a great game with worthwhile concepts on their hands and perhaps wanted to make their own Blaster Master 2, but higher ups may have felt it wasn't commercially viable as a standalone property. Perhaps they valued the concepts but only felt they could be successful with the backing of a license.

[retroman]

hmmm..wow..never thought about it, but i can see your point..

[kupomogli]

I don't really think so judging by the graphics. While Fester's Quest may not be what it was originally based on, everything looks like it was made more for that game than a Blaster Master title. More than likely it was just going to be a random character saving the world from aliens, and then changed to Fester saving the world from aliens.

[exit]

I guess the real question is, was the game Fester's Quest originally intended to be going to have a password system? Because I can only die soo many times and restart all the way from the beginning without saying fuck it and turn the game off.

[Shingetter]

I guess the real question is, was the game Fester's Quest originally intended to be going to have a password system? Because I can only die soo many times and restart all the way from the beginning without saying fuck it and turn the game off.

Heh, this.

[Zing]

Fester's Quest was actually rather easy for me. I could consistently get to the final boss without dying. However, I was never able to defeat that boss.

I don't suspect it was a Blaster Master sequel at all. They simply used the existing overhead engine for the game.

[Aussie2B]

I don't really think so judging by the graphics. While Fester's Quest may not be what it was originally based on, everything looks like it was made more for that game than a Blaster Master title. More than likely it was just going to be a random character saving the world from aliens, and then changed to Fester saving the world from aliens.

Well, yeah, obviously. I'm not suggesting that, if it started as Blaster Master 2, that the final product is the same as it would've been had it been released as Blaster Master 2. Obviously there are some elements that were created solely for the Addams Family license, although I'd argue that most of the game's elements don't particularly match the license.


I don't suspect it was a Blaster Master sequel at all. They simply used the existing overhead engine for the game.

But there's more to it than the gameplay engine. How, for examples, would you explain all of the Blaster Master enemies that appear in Fester's Quest? I personally find their presence too suspicious to write them off as cameos (and it's not like Sunsoft was aiming to make mascots out of them).

[ubersaurus]

I guess the real question is, was the game Fester's Quest originally intended to be going to have a password system? Because I can only die soo many times and restart all the way from the beginning without saying fuck it and turn the game off.

My friend showed me how she used to do it, and it involves turbo controllers and power grinding the first section of the game until you're maxed out.

[allyourblood]

When we were little, my cousin and I puzzled over this for a while, and swapped out the games over the course of a day, trying to figure out why they were so similar. I always took it as the Sunsoft just being a bit lazy, and borrowing a ton of assets from Blaster Master for Fester's. I don't believe it was intended to be a sequel, or another BM game -- at least, it doesn't look like it to me.

[Simply Dave]

Fester's Quest was actually rather easy for me. I could consistently get to the final boss without dying. However, I was never able to defeat that boss.

I don't suspect it was a Blaster Master sequel at all. They simply used the existing overhead engine for the game.

If you feel like being cheap, there's a spot on the right side of the screen where the boss can't hit you at all. Easiest final boss ever.

[kupomogli]

If you feel like being cheap, there's a spot on the right side of the screen where the boss can't hit you at all. Easiest final boss ever.

What about the final boss on the Incredible Hulk?

[CRV]

Fester's Quest was designed by Michael Mendheim (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13214).

[Aussie2B]

Very interesting. I had assumed it was made solely by the Japanese, but with no credits in the game, it's hard to know. I see that on GameFAQs the US release came out prior to the release in Japan, but that doesn't mean much in and of itself as there are even NES games that were made by the Japanese for US release only, like the StarTropics games. This creates even more questions than answers, though. Was the game completely created by Westerners? Even if so, given the fact that Sunsoft of America used a Western developer to create the real Blaster Master 2, it's still plausible that a Western team was making Blaster Master 2 and it got turned into Fester's Quest. Or it's also possible that it was being worked on in Japan and after it was scrapped as Blaster Master 2, they could've dumped the existing work on Sunsoft of America which could've added the Addams Family theme and finished it off themselves.

[CRV]

You'd have to ask him. It was definitely developed in Japan, though.