The Addams Family
System: TGCD
Release Date: November 1991
Developer: ICOM Simulations
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Action
They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re all together ooky, they’re the Addams Family! You take the role of the Addams Family Lawyer, Tully Alford. A long piece of exposition given as a voice over on top of a digitized photo from the film begins the game. Gomez challenges you to find the treasure vault and take your pay from it. But it won’t be easy, because the entire Addams Family is there ready to get their jollies by getting in your way. Can you survive the obstacles of the mansion?
This is a very typical and very easy mazelike platformer. Tully is equipped with an umbrella that he can thrust forward to attack with. Gomez messes with you off the bat with an unavoidable golf ball shot to the dome. Making your way into the mansion sets off a duel with the returning Uncle Fester. When you beat him, he drops a key. This key allows you to open the same colored rooms in the hallway. Some rooms have treasure, which are good for points. Others have apparitions that dance around. Some rooms unceremoniously dump you back outside. But what you’re looking for are short platforming segments before a boss battle. Defeat these for the next colored key.
You do this enough to collect four more keys. Along the way, you can defeat Pugsley and transform into a werewolf. This acts as an extra life. You’ll transform back to human form if you get drained. Before you finish the main portion of the house, you’ll find a sword, which you need to duel with Gomez. This dumps you off into the labyrinth. You have a choice of rooms to go into and the wrong ones will put you back to the beginning, which isn’t ideal.
Then you come to a choice of 5 pull chains. Pick the right one or… you guessed it, back to the beginning. Another battle with Fester gets you into the vault and thrusts you into the final area. This caps off with another battle against Gomez. Treasure drops and you need to grab it before Thing can take it away. Besting Gomez finishes the game and leaves you with new riches.
Graphics: 2.5
This isn’t a great looking game, nor a terrible looking one. There are some nice details.
Sound: 2.0
As always, the voice clips are at incredibly low volumes, so you need to crank it up. There’s not much in the way of music, but everything that is there sounds quality enough.
Gameplay: 2.0
It’s a simple platformer that doesn’t try to do too much.
Difficulty: 2.5
I’d say overall this is an easy play, but there are points that will frustrate.
Fun Factor: 2.5
It doesn’t overstay its welcome and can be completed in under an hour, so that’s nice.
Overall Rating: 2.3
The Addams Family earns a C+. If you pay attention, it looks as if this is a movie with an audience watching. Certainly not one I want to watch, but playing it isn’t too bad.