Game of the Day 4/6/2016: The Addams Family
The Addams Family was a fairly early SNES game, and was meant as a tie-in with the theatrical movie of the same name. It is an action/adventure title that is a little bit Super Mario and a little Metroid, creating an open world platformer in which Gomez must hop and bop his way through the Addams mansion and its grounds in order to rescue his kidnapped family members.
The Addams Family is pretty wide open, moving away from the need for items to progress, limiting your progress mainly by your own skill and life bar, which expands by finding hearts, usually by taking down bosses. Your main mode of attack is jumping on your enemies, though there are temporary powerups such as balls you can throw, shoes to lets you run faster, a fez to help you fly, and more. Each area typically has either a rigorous platforming section to traverse or a puzzle to solve that will allow you to reach the area boss and save your family members. The game is loaded with secret passages and items, so be sure to check out suspiciously placed platforms and odd backgrounds. You'll often find new areas or 1ups for your troubles!
Control is a little floaty but solid, and you must land squarely atop your enemies to defeat them lest you take damage yourself. You take a little longer to stop running when letting off of the D-pad than in most games, so at first most players will feel like it's sloppy or cheap. Once you wrap your hands around it, though, Gomez starts to do what you want him to, and progress moves on quickly. The graphics are a tad cartoony, but it kinda works given how goofy the property and especially the movie really were, and the music is decent if repetitive.
The Addams Family was also brought to the Sega Genesis, and was later re-worked to the NES as Puggsly's Scavenger Hunt. It's a fun, brief platformer that can easily be beaten in an afternoon, but has a nice atmosphere for the ride. It may not be A-list, but it's still pretty fun to play.
Played it?
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