Released all the way back in 1989, LJN’s Friday the 13th Nintendo game is an underrated classic that remains one of the best horror games of all time. Fun, scary, and an excellent adaptation of the feature films, the Friday the 13th game can especially be appreciated by big fans of the movies, despite the punishing difficulty and other typical NES game issues. To celebrate another Friday the 13th, let’s take a quick look back at the original video game which remains a nostalgic favorite for many old school gamers.
Directly inspired by the movies, the iconic cover art features Kane Hodder as he appeared as Jason in The New Blood. In the Nintendo game, Jason looks a bit different than his movie counterpart, bearing a bright turquoise mask with purple overalls. These colors may seem unbefitting of Jason at first, but many fans have really come around to appreciate the design in retrospect. It has since been made into a deluxe action figure from NECA and Hodder himself has even sold fan photo-ops at horror cons wearing the “Retro Jason” costume.
You can’t play as Jason in this game, as players instead take control of one of six camp counselors: George, Mark, Paul, Laura, Debbie, and Crissy. Each of the counselors hides out in separate cabins while playing the game, and you can alternate them out by using the map and visiting the cabins they’re holed up in. Meanwhile, there are cabins by the lake housing young children there for summer camp. It is your job to prevent Jason from killing the kids and the other counselors by taking him head-on with various weapons when he attacks one of the cabins.
The primary goal of the game was, of course, to scare players, and for many young gamers at the time, it certainly accomplished that mission. There are many overlooked aspects of the Friday the 13th game which make it stand out from similar titles. As you traversed Camp Crystal Lake and the day progressed, the sun would start to set, gradually getting darker before nightfall arrives. Jason is scary enough in the game when he sometimes pops up out of nowhere to throw axes at you, but searching for him from room to room in a cabin when it’s so much darker just made it that much eerier.
Another one of the best features of the game was, by far, its music. Composed by Hirohiko Takayama, the cabin and pause screen music in particular was oddly scary and very memorable. If you’ve played the game, you certainly already know what I’m talking about. The tune has endured the test of time and continues to get updated cover versions from musicians on YouTube, one of which you can take a listen to below.
The concept of permanent death was also present in the Friday the 13th game, which was unusual for an NES game. While gamers could always come back with extra lives and continues in Super Mario Bros. and other Nintendo games, Jason taking you out in Friday the 13th meant your character was dead. With six counselors in total, Jason will literally kill them off one by one until there’s nobody left, at which point a black screen bore this highly-memorable phrase: “YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD. GAME OVER.” Even still, this remains perhaps the darkest game over screen in a video game ever.
I’m not going to pretend that everybody likes this game. The Angry Video Game Nerd notably trashed Friday the 13th in one of his earliest reviews, and online discussions about the game bring about a lot of negative criticism. Among the chief complaints of the game is its difficulty, as it’s a challenge for most players to survive even the first (of three) nights at Camp Crystal Lake. Indeed, until you really get the hang of how the one-on-one battles with Jason work, the purple-and-turquoise clad murderer can literally kill you in seconds. The map is also a subject of criticism, as it’s sometimes it’s difficult to tell which direction you’re going.
Still, despite its flaws, the Friday the 13th Nintendo game is not without its charm. Its immense difficulty is not dissimilar to most other NES games, many of which required a Game Genie for young gamers to beat. We should also not expect for defeating Jason to be easy, because that’s certainly not the case for the characters in any of the movies. The fact is you’re most likely going to die quickly and easily in most plays until you discover the game’s secrets and learn to develop the right strategy to take Jason on.
Nowadays, gamers playing on modern consoles can (and should) check out Gun Media’s Friday the 13th: The Game. An online multiplayer title, this updated version actually lets players control Jason while seven others play as doomed camp counselors. Still, for as fun as the modern Friday the 13th video game might be, there’s just something about the original 1989 Nintendo game from LJN that keeps it high atop the mountain among the best horror games of all time.
Related Article: ‘Friday the 13th’: A Look at Jason’s Complete Video Game History
Friday the 13th NES is my all-time favorite game!!! I play the same route every time and I defeat Jason in exactly 45 minutes flat. My friends from elementary still make comments about how much I have always loved this game. I’m obsessed! I was shocked when I googled it once and it was rated one of the worst games.