The Addams Family (SNES, 1992)
Graphics-6.5 Sound-6.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-8 Story-4.5
Level Design-6 Frustration-9 Fun-6 Originality-5
Overall Score-6
+
Best scrolling, detail and overall sound compared to other versions
Somewhat metroid-like gameplay (interconnected world, several paths to choose from early on)
Lots of hidden items and paths
Upgradeable lifebar (need to beat certain bosses (big bird, snowman, centipede) for each heart/hit point though and it can take a while to find the right ones (the bird is very close to the beginning though), can only get four hearts?)
Some fun gadgets like the flight helmet/fez (on a time limit though)
Hands out some clues to hidden paths via the thing (the hand pet)
Title cards for each area
Pretty good switch puzzles in some areas (the stove)
Doors leading back to near the beginning after bosses in remote locations (not the case after the crypt (goblin) or centipede bosses though)
Password save after bosses (short)
Fairly frequent checkpoints (at the beginning and sometimes middle of sub areas)
Temporary invincibility power ups
Some good bosses (snowman, witch)
The "behind the scenes" segment (similar to the parallel world in SMB2)
Some nice backgrounds (some others are too saturated/busy/high contrast)
Very little slowdown despite having a lot of sprites on screen in some rooms
+/-
Minor censorship (poop)
Can't move while ducking
No run/slide/dodge moves
Can't jump down through platforms you can jump up through (tedious in some rooms)
A bit odd how you can hold down the attack button to hold out the sword and it still damages enemies (the sfx also keeps playing over and over which gives an unfinished impression, good that you can hold the button and switch between forward and upward attack though)
No overall time limit
Sub areas leading up to bosses are linear and straightforward
Can't teleport out of the long areas leading to a boss (until beating it) or between visited areas
Some projectiles can be blocked and jumped on
Can't throw the balls upwards
No permanent abilities or items gained from beating bosses that you can use to access new areas elsewhere
Throwing in mid-air makes Gomez stop in mid-air
Can't look up/down (not really needed for the most part)
Collecting money replenishes health (every 30th $ or so?) and lives at every 100$ - can't choose to save the HP for later unfortunately
Speed shoes (can be fun but makes Gomez even more slippery, doesn't feel particularly Addams Family-like)
Fairly easy to rack up extra lives (needed since you're so fragile and for other reasons stated below)
Lifts several ideas from Mario
You can farm for items in some places where they're easily accessible near the entrance to the area
-
No map feature
Somewhat lacking jump height control (fairly easy to jump higher than wanted)
Somewhat unforgiving hit detection overall (annoying when trying to jump on enemies, sometimes very forgiving when jumping on enemies above you though)
Only two HP to begin with
Continuing is pointless since you start from the beginning?
Missing the second intro of the MD version
Somewhat floaty movement (similar to SMB1-3 but worse since you slide the same amount just from taking short steps forward)
Trial & error (some projectiles from off screen, snowballs can't be bounced on, finding some hidden doors and paths, fast enemy flyer attacks, cheap enemy placements here and there)
The flight fez disappears quickly if you move to a different area
Can't attack diagonally (swinging from forward to up doesn't work)
Lose your weapon or power up (except for the flight hat after taking just one hit (they're not that common either, at least they count as an extra hit point)
Somewhat hard to jump out of a tight space and onto the platform above without hitting your head
Enemies don't drop anything
Can't save items and weapons for later use (no item inventory)
Some unfitting backgrounds (hidden rooms near the main hall of the house)
Uneven difficulty (spikes: the stove area (insanely long, plenty of waiting for traps and platforms, repeats some rooms, no weapons to use for the boss), tedious slippery ice + spike ceiling segment, the centipede boss; dips at the bird boss)
No sfx when killing enemeis with the sword
Ugly final boss
Kind of repetitive (not enough new abilites or upgrades, few bosses, mostly horizontally scrolling areas that don't flow as well as Mario or Sonic, new segments tend to drag on, lacks puzzles overall; might've been a good idea to have a weapon or item to deal with the stove area enemies and traps (could've at least put a hidden invincibility power up or two there))
Somewhat generic looking sprites overall and Gomez looks kind of odd
Some unavoidable damage?
Annoying sfx when you get hurt (honk!)
Can't play as or talk to the people you've rescued
The game is missing most of the humour of the show and movie
So-so dialogue overall
Lame death animations (looks and sounds like you're popping bubbles)
No sfx when bouncing on uncle fester's head
The tip to wednesday's location is the same after rescuing her
Tedious labyrinth near the finale
Several enemies are sprite swaps of earlier enemies
No difficulty options
Level Design-6 Frustration-9 Fun-6 Originality-5
Overall Score-6
+
Best scrolling, detail and overall sound compared to other versions
Somewhat metroid-like gameplay (interconnected world, several paths to choose from early on)
Lots of hidden items and paths
Upgradeable lifebar (need to beat certain bosses (big bird, snowman, centipede) for each heart/hit point though and it can take a while to find the right ones (the bird is very close to the beginning though), can only get four hearts?)
Some fun gadgets like the flight helmet/fez (on a time limit though)
Hands out some clues to hidden paths via the thing (the hand pet)
Title cards for each area
Pretty good switch puzzles in some areas (the stove)
Doors leading back to near the beginning after bosses in remote locations (not the case after the crypt (goblin) or centipede bosses though)
Password save after bosses (short)
Fairly frequent checkpoints (at the beginning and sometimes middle of sub areas)
Temporary invincibility power ups
Some good bosses (snowman, witch)
The "behind the scenes" segment (similar to the parallel world in SMB2)
Some nice backgrounds (some others are too saturated/busy/high contrast)
Very little slowdown despite having a lot of sprites on screen in some rooms
+/-
Minor censorship (poop)
Can't move while ducking
No run/slide/dodge moves
Can't jump down through platforms you can jump up through (tedious in some rooms)
A bit odd how you can hold down the attack button to hold out the sword and it still damages enemies (the sfx also keeps playing over and over which gives an unfinished impression, good that you can hold the button and switch between forward and upward attack though)
No overall time limit
Sub areas leading up to bosses are linear and straightforward
Can't teleport out of the long areas leading to a boss (until beating it) or between visited areas
Some projectiles can be blocked and jumped on
Can't throw the balls upwards
No permanent abilities or items gained from beating bosses that you can use to access new areas elsewhere
Throwing in mid-air makes Gomez stop in mid-air
Can't look up/down (not really needed for the most part)
Collecting money replenishes health (every 30th $ or so?) and lives at every 100$ - can't choose to save the HP for later unfortunately
Speed shoes (can be fun but makes Gomez even more slippery, doesn't feel particularly Addams Family-like)
Fairly easy to rack up extra lives (needed since you're so fragile and for other reasons stated below)
Lifts several ideas from Mario
You can farm for items in some places where they're easily accessible near the entrance to the area
-
No map feature
Somewhat lacking jump height control (fairly easy to jump higher than wanted)
Somewhat unforgiving hit detection overall (annoying when trying to jump on enemies, sometimes very forgiving when jumping on enemies above you though)
Only two HP to begin with
Continuing is pointless since you start from the beginning?
Missing the second intro of the MD version
Somewhat floaty movement (similar to SMB1-3 but worse since you slide the same amount just from taking short steps forward)
Trial & error (some projectiles from off screen, snowballs can't be bounced on, finding some hidden doors and paths, fast enemy flyer attacks, cheap enemy placements here and there)
The flight fez disappears quickly if you move to a different area
Can't attack diagonally (swinging from forward to up doesn't work)
Lose your weapon or power up (except for the flight hat after taking just one hit (they're not that common either, at least they count as an extra hit point)
Somewhat hard to jump out of a tight space and onto the platform above without hitting your head
Enemies don't drop anything
Can't save items and weapons for later use (no item inventory)
Some unfitting backgrounds (hidden rooms near the main hall of the house)
Uneven difficulty (spikes: the stove area (insanely long, plenty of waiting for traps and platforms, repeats some rooms, no weapons to use for the boss), tedious slippery ice + spike ceiling segment, the centipede boss; dips at the bird boss)
No sfx when killing enemeis with the sword
Ugly final boss
Kind of repetitive (not enough new abilites or upgrades, few bosses, mostly horizontally scrolling areas that don't flow as well as Mario or Sonic, new segments tend to drag on, lacks puzzles overall; might've been a good idea to have a weapon or item to deal with the stove area enemies and traps (could've at least put a hidden invincibility power up or two there))
Somewhat generic looking sprites overall and Gomez looks kind of odd
Some unavoidable damage?
Annoying sfx when you get hurt (honk!)
Can't play as or talk to the people you've rescued
The game is missing most of the humour of the show and movie
So-so dialogue overall
Lame death animations (looks and sounds like you're popping bubbles)
No sfx when bouncing on uncle fester's head
The tip to wednesday's location is the same after rescuing her
Tedious labyrinth near the finale
Several enemies are sprite swaps of earlier enemies
No difficulty options