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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
By RoyalRanger

Yes, it has been a while since the web has seen the likes of a new RoyalRanger review, but I finally got my motivation back and have decided to comment on one of the worst NES games to ever be played. Yes, Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde is truly a horrible game, despite what they say about it... no, wait... they do say it's a horrible game (I must really be tired or something). Anyway, Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde is truly a horrible game (Wait a second, didn't I already say that? I know I've been experiencing déjà vu a lot lately. I know I've been experiencing déjà vu a lot lately.) ARGH! Please read on before I lose my mind! Please read on before I lose my mind!

*RoyalRanger pounds déjà vu to the ground*

Before I go totally bonkers, let me explain the story of this horrid game. Dr. Jekyll is about to get married to his fiancée. (I don't know what her name is, so we'll just call her Miss No-Name for this short review session.) Jekyll has to make his way to the marriage ceremony for the great event, but there is a huge problem that he must face. Mr. Hyde, Jekyll's evil self created by a scientific formula, still exists and transform from Dr. Jekyll whenever Jekyll become irritated. If Jekyll's evil side prevails over his good side before he makes it to his wedding with Miss No-Name, both Jekyll and Hyde will be utterly destroyed.

So how does this work anyway? Well, you start the game by playing Dr. Jeykll. As Jeykll, you can... walk. Not only that, but you can also... walk. Actually, just about all you ever do as Dr. Jekyll is walk. That is, unless you consider poking people with a cane as "doing something." Oh, and you should see how slow he walks! In a race, this guy would take second place to a snail with a cold. Very little can take away Dr. Jekyll's health, but he can get aggravated very quickly. And with all those animals running around all over the place, I think I'd get angry, too. Once the aggravation and pressure become too much, Dr. Jeykll falls to the ground and becomes Mr. Hyde.

When Mr. Hyde shows his face, the scene becomes dark and creepy looking (though they didn't do a heck of a good job with the "creepy" part). This is where the company really screwed up because the screen automatically scrolls for you (in the opposite direction of Dr. Jekyll). This means you can't walk around and wreck things but must go where the game wants you to go while you shoot this one little weapon at weird monsters and some creatures that look like bad mushrooms. If you get hit by an enemy while playing Mr. Hyde, you will lose some of your energy. After killing enough enemies, Mr. Hyde will transform back into Dr. Jekyll. You just have to watch out because if Mr. Hyde walks a little too far, he will be struck by lightning, ending the game.

One of the things I hate most about this game is the game control. I've already mentioned how slow Dr. Jekyll moves, but I haven't yet mentioned that, as Jekyll, it seems you can get hit by an enemy by merely coming close to it without touching it. Plus, his jump is slow, as well as the cane when you try to use it (not that it does anything). Mr. Hyde is a lot better and faster with control than Jekyll is, but it's still not all that great. The automatically-scrolling screen makes moving around seem a little awkward. And when Hyde jumps, he goes up and down too fast, giving the game an even more strange feeling to it. I was not the slightest impressed with the control at all.

The graphics of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is perhaps the only thing I was even slightly interested in. Despite the fact that some of the objects were too oversized and the fact that the houses look like colored cardboard cut-outs, the rest was pretty good. Some of the people you pass along your path are well done, even though they wear old-style 19th-century clothing. You don't see the same person with different clothing every time, like in other games I've played. One exception to the people is one man I've seen who looks like one of those Lego characters. What got me most was the background, mostly the trees. The houses and plain green grass aren't so good, but the trees are some of the most realistic I've seen in any NES game yet.

The music in this game will make you wish Dr. Jeykll would hurry up for a change. The dull Jekyll music is enough to drive anyone crazy. That slow little tune is the kind that would make your television get up and throw itself out of the top window of a twenty-story building. Enough said about that, we lead on to the Hyde music. While the Hyde music is a little better composed and more mood-fitting than the Jeykll music, it's still rotten. What was supposed to be a creepy song is far from creepy, being more of the type that would make you laugh at the game. Just thinking about the game music makes me want to laugh. Hahahaha...

There's not much good to say about the sound effects, either. The sound you hear when Dr. Jeykll turns into Mr. Hyde sounds something like the buzz of a machine that's about to go bezerk. Then there's that common dog you see, who's horrible bark makes it seem like the dog is sick or something. Just about all you hear during Mr. Hyde's scene is a bunch of pointless and annoying sounds that resemble the sound of boiling water. You hardly hear anything in Dr. Jekyll's scenes, and what you do here is not good at all. The designers could've done a lot better than this.

Because I usually get bored quickly when playing this game, I never really tried to make it through, meaning that I don't have much to comment on the challenge. From what I have played, the game just seemed to keep going on and on and on, getting harder and harder as you proceeded. It makes you wonder if the wedding ceremony is in another country! As you go along, more and more bugs and animals appear, causing for more problems. And just when I thought it couldn't get worse...

So what's my take on the entertainment of the game? I can sum it all up with just six letters: B-O-R-I-N-G! As if it isn't bad enough that you have to play a character that moves slower than a parked car, but you also have to play a character of whom you can't control where he can go! That leaves half the game with some flexibility and no action and the other half of the game with no flexibility and more action. It's not at all a good balance, if you ask me. Trust me, the only good place for this game is the city dump.

Well, I come to the conclusion of my review, leaving not much more to say. All that I can say about the game has been said. It is just a lousy attempt to let people have fun. This game never succeeded and with good reason why. It's really hard to believe that a company can make a game like this and actually think the consumers are going to like it. It really amazes me sometimes. Well, at least the game has good-looking trees to observe in the background.

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Story (2/10): This plot may be good for a book, but it just doesn't cut it for a game.
Gameplay (1/10): The gameplay constantly offers either no flexibility or no action.
Control (3/10): Very bad control, dominated by slow character movement.
Graphics (4/10): Some of the characters and backgrounds look okay. Especially the trees!
Music (3/10): Half of the music is boring, and the other half isn't spooky like it should be.
Sound (1/10): Not many sound effects in the game. What there is absolutely terrible.
Challenge (Medium/Hard): You'll have a hard time just playing this without falling asleep.
Replay (1/10): Once you play it once, you'll probably never play it again.

Overall (1/10): This is an absolutely horrible game, but at least the trees look good.

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Thank you for reading my review; you've been a great audience. Thank you for reading my review; you've been a great audience.

ARGH!

*RoyalRanger chases déjà vu all around the room* My Score: 1/10

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