Friday the 13th (Nintendo, 1988)

This game is about wandering around a summer camp as a camp counseller in an effort to save the children from a serial killer, hoping to avoid getting killed yourself.

This game has nostalgic value for me. As a kid I saw others playing and would be scared senseless by Jason's abrupt attacks, which can come at any time. I bought it again now so I could have a chance to conquer it for once and overcome how scary the game always has been to me. Other games that scared and overwhelmed me as much are Jaws and Maniac Mansion, both of which I own and have now beaten.

I love how tense and scary it is. I hate how difficult it is to navigate and how random the item appearances are. A lot of beating this game is random chance, and a game should never be like that because it takes away from the satisfaction of improving one's skills to overcome the challenges.

The game was made too difficult and repetitive, and these factors combined with the random chance of item appearances are what keep the game from being too enjoyable. As a game I'd say it was poorly designed because of the ridiculous difficult and steep, steep learning curve, but if you want a ridiculous challenge and don't mind not being able to save your progress, this is the game for you.

Friday the 13th is the kind of game that people assume will be awesome because it's based on the awesome movie of the same name and admititly when I was a kid I did enjoy playing this but looking at it today I can't help but wonder why. You play as one of the camp counslers and your weapon is a rock that arcs over everything unless it's clear across the screen or right on top of you...getting the knife is a must it shoots straight out. Anyway you go around into cabins collecting potions, lighters, and more. The problem occurs when you hear the "JASON ALARM" which is a counter that tells you that Jason is in a cabin after the children and you have a short amount of time to get there and save them. That in itself isn't a bad thing but you'll soon notice that your map is backwards if you go to the map when the Alarm's going off you'll see yourself and one cabin blinking...that's where you need to go BUT if the cabin is left from where you are exit the map and go right. There is also a cave and a forest that you can get lost in because you won't see where you are on the map and the background all looks the same. This game is ok but in the long run they could have done much better. All in all I give this game a 5 out of 10

Here's something that I really like about Friday the 13th on the NES: you're an idiot for reading past that colon. Nothing is even mildly fun about this game. All you do is just go around the camp, lighting fires in cabins. I don't think I even need to explain that. Come on, LJN, really? That is probably the worst idea ever for a game. It would've been more fun if you could play as Jason, but nope, you'll just have to settle for these crappy counselors who can't do diddly-dick.

Summary: Music = balls. Gameplay = Testicles. Fun = 0.5/10

This is one of those awful movie based game's that you have to play.What makes it so awful here is a list?
1)Replay value zero
2)Monster's are in the game that has nothing to do with Jason
3)Jason wear's a purple jump suit
4)The game is very hard to navigate and the map is a pain to use
5)When you fight Jason it's like a playing a certain NES game that I will not mention but trust me once you play the game you will know what game it is
6)Fighting in the game is hard unless you get the better weapons to use
7)You can't heal yourself
8)You can't switch items between players
9)Worst ending in a game you have ever seen besides ET
10)And lastly Jason is the easiest monster to beat in the game.
But I enjoy playing this awful game because it's one of those game you just have to own a copy of it so enjoy and play this game.

Good, Ol' LJN. How many memories of frustration and anger come to the mind of every single kid that grew up playing any of your terrible games in the 80's??.

Yes Friday the 13 is another in a long running series of NES games based on iconic horror movies from the 70's and 80's (the others are Nightmare on Elm Street, Jaws and Bettlejuice) Don't read this review go and watch the Angry Videogame Nerd video instead.

Anyway, bad control, horrible music, terrible ideas (random weapons that came from nowhere) are part of this primitive sandbox game. The sad part is that with modern technoloy a sandbox horror game based on Fruday 13th could be an awesome experience.