Customer Reviews

Fester's Quest

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

6/11: If you were to conduct a survey and try to find out the top ten hardest NES games, you will invariably see Fester's Quest in there. Yes, its reputation for being notoriously difficult to play is much richly deserved. Some have said that it is a straight rip-off from another game made by Sunsoft called Master Blaster. Quite frankly, I just don't see it. Fester's Quest is in a class of its own for different reasons. I am not going to say that it is a good game to play because it is not. For most part, I feel the difficulty of the game is attributed to bad programming. One thing is for sure: there are no passwords, making it a very arduous and draining game to play because once Fester dies, he will have to start all over again from square one. He can be hit by anyone, and it only takes two hit points to die. The maximum is four, if two health bars are found, which is nearly not enough. At least, the programmers had the decency not to take away my inventory and also force me to go through the bosses all over again (thank you...because if that is going to be the case, I guarantee you that Fester's Quest deserves the number one or two spot for being the hardest NES game ever made). Two, the problem with gun upgrades, it's impossible to go from level 8 to 7 (or 6, 5) and then back to 8. So, what do you do when this happens? You need to downgrade (yes...purposely downgrade) the level of the gun to level 4 before rebuilding it back up because you won't see a blue gun upgrade ever again in the game until you do this method. It takes a good ten to fifteen minutes of killing off the spawned green balls in areas 1 to 5 or green crowns in the spaceship area to pick up the downgrades and upgrades. So, it is absolutely imperative that once you have level 8 gun and level 4 whip, do not ever touch the red ones in the entire game; do not even think about going crazy with the whip. Most of my time playing Fester's Quest was wasted due to restarts, walking from square one to back to where I died (I must have done it like dozens times including going from square one to the spaceship about five times), and gun downgrade snafu. Ok, I am going to give some strategies in each area and how to beat it as I beat Fester's Quest without a game genie which took me roughly 9 hours to accomplish in one sitting with a normal NES controller. Yes, the game takes a great deal of concentration and energy out of you. That's why it is one of the hardest games in NES history.
Area 1: A word of warning, you may notice that Fester, if he is hit, will walk extremely slow. A lot of players is misunderstood, after the moment it happens, that's how the entire game will be like, and then they will proceed to turn off the power. To solve the problem, you need to go to menu and select Vice Grips and then press A in the game to enable it. Now, Fester can move fast. If you have no Vice Grips from beginning, it's best to restart it and make sure to never get hit again until you reach the second house where Wednesday is in to get them. Anyway, to start the game off, it's imperative to build your gun up to level 8 before going to first boss. The whip (an extremely important item to have) won't come until Area 2. I just find Area 1 very straightforward. The Area Boss is pretty easy to defeat if you move around it in circles and setting off the TNTs as it goes from left to right and vice versa while avoiding the whips. You will find yourself going through Area 1 all the time, so make a habit of going to every house to pick up the TNTs, Vice Grips, Potions, and Invisibility.
Area 2: Make sure to pick up the whip and start upping it to level 4. Now, a word of warning: DO NOT GO CRAZY WITH IT. Just take your time with it, and if in doubt, use the gun very often. Otherwise, be prepared to farm for gun downgrades and then upgrades for a good ten to fifteen minutes. Of all bosses, Area 2 Boss is the toughest. So how to beat it: when the Boss throws the whip on one side, get over to there immediately and use the missiles until it's gone. For example, if you are moving to left side and the Boss throws a whip on the opposite of your direction, immediately turn around until you are where the whip was previously thrown. Then, use level 4 whip and whip the Boss. It will take a good twenty or so hits to beat it (not an easy task). Use your instincts to when to use the Invisibility, and go to the Boss and whip it as fast as you can before giving up to avoid any hits. When you are low in health (preferably one hit point left), use Potions.
Area 3: Make a habit of picking up the Missiles every time. The Knight Boss is easier this time. He is just too slow, so use the missiles and move around a lot. When you are all out of missiles, use the level 4 whip and Invisibility. When you are low in health (preferably one hit point left), use Potions.
Area 4: Thankfully, the shortest area of the game. The Boss is easy as well. Just watch his jump before he begins to shoot three bullets in a predictable angular fashion. So, just get in between the gaps and use the missiles. Make sure to move from left to right and vice versa in a small segment of path. There is no reason to go all the way to one side and also the other side. When you are all out of missiles, use the level 4 whip and Invisibility. When you are low in health (preferably one hit point left), use Potions.
Area 5: Finally, we get Nooses, arguably the best item of the game, but sadly, it's not allowed in fights with Bosses. You may use all Nooses as you like prior to fight with next Boss, but when you have defeated all of the Bosses and have to start all over again by walking from square one to Spaceship, don't ever use any of the Nooses. In fact, don't ever waste any Missile, Potion (one is okay, but that's it), and Invisibility until you get inside the spaceship. Once inside, it is okay to use Potions, but nothing else. I demand you to have at least 3 Potions, exactly 5 Invisibility, and exactly 20 Missiles during the Final Boss of Spaceship Area. You must have 15 Nooses inside of Spaceship Area, no exceptions. If you feel that you are in a serious shortage of any, well...all I can say is: Good Luck and enjoy your walking all over again. The Boss is easy because it's the same as before yet with an additional feature. Like before, find your gaps and use missiles when ready. Just keep walking left to right and vice versa. When you are all out of missiles, use the level 4 whip and Invisibility. When you are low in health (preferably one hit point left), use Potions.
Spaceship: Be absolutely sure to have gun at level 8 and whip at level 4. The whip is more important than the gun anyway. If you find yours low in any, it's fine. Just go to the hallway where you see the green crowns and use the gun to farm them all until you are properly geared. A word of advice: I do not recommend ever using the Nooses on the Eyeballs. You can easily kill them with level 4 whip. Just time it perfectly to get them as soon as it lands. Don't even think about using the gun on them either because you will get them all mad and they will all come at you mad hopping. The only times you will use the Noose are when you see the big monsters with flying arms, the wheelie bugs with bright green mass in center, and the huge green robots. Going from start to finish in Spaceship Area, there is enough of Nooses to take care of them all with probably two to three leftover. So, it's pretty easy actually.
Final Boss: Probably the easiest of all Bosses, as soon as the fight begins, use the Invisibility and start whipping (level 4 is a must) at the machine gun box as fast as you can until it dies. Every time your invisibility runs out, keep using another and use Potion as soon as you have one hit point left. Move over to the other machine gun box to take it out in the same way as before. When both boxes finally are destroyed, walk to the farthest right side. Now, you are completely 100% safe from being hit. Now, time to use all of the missiles. Notice that the targets will be on two boxes and the center mass of the organism. Switch around the target until it's at the center mass, and unleash it. You will beat the game when you take your time with the missiles. Like I said before, it's very imperative to have 5 Invisibility and at least 3 Potions to beat this Boss.

The ending is garbage, but the game is garbage anyway. All in all, Fester's Quest is not an easy game, and after beating it, I don't feel like playing it ever again in my life.

This game had some cool aspects, but like so many other NES games, was lacking in a few things. One thing that would definitely have helped was a password or save feature, because every time you played this game, you HAD to start at the very beginning, which could get old after a while, and the controls could be rather clunky, which was a drawback especially in the later stages of the game so Fester could not always escape enemies when it started to get overwhelming at certain points. It would also have helped if Fester had a bigger health meter. Otherwise, this was pretty good for a NES game.

this game is fun especially when you get an upgrade to your blaser gun you go visiting houses to collect items to help you beat bad guys and bosses ithe only thing that i don;t like very much ias the hallway maze to reach the boss but now i solved that problem by mapping out the level now its no problem

This is an example of a game that I feel could have been up there with some other classic titles for the NES, but it's unfortunate that I can't do so, as there are plenty of flaws that tend to drag the experience down.

The layout for this game is in an overhead view, and it's been known to draw comparisons to another Sunsoft title, Blaster Master. Even at that, I still find Fester's Quest to utilize this style of gameplay in a decent way. You must walk around town and save the town from aliens. By using a gun (and later on, a whip), you can kill enemies to pick up the appropriate items that can be used with the A button. There are bulbs that have to be used every time you enter the sewers, keys to gain more items from noteworthy Addams Family members and enter buildings in a primitive first person perspective, potions to restore health (which I guarantee you will need multiple times), vice grips to regain your speed if stung by a bee that makes you move slow, and that's just a sample from the first area.

The guns are rather flawed. There's the obvious upgrade that can make your gun stronger and have a wider projectile range, but a flaw to some of the gun patterns include shots being blocked by the walls, and shots bypassing the enemies. The major issue with the gun is that it is constant tapping with the B button, which means that a controller with a turbo button would be a far more suitable option in this case. Also, the guns are capable of downgrading, and it's going to be necessary at times when progressing throughout the game.

Another flaw with this game is the unfair life meter and continue options. Fester starts off with two blocks of health, which can get up to four, and it's going to be necessary to save up the potions in the games for the bosses. With the flaws of the gun and the sluggish pace that can affect Fester's movement, it's inevitable that you might die the first couple of attempts in this game. There is not even a password feature, let alone a save option a la The Legend of Zelda. Instead, there is a continue option, but it starts you back at the beginning of the game. The fortunate part is that you keep all of your items and power ups accumulated from the last session, so that's a plus.

If there's anything that I actually admire in this game, it would be the sound spectrum. Because Sunsoft developed this game, the music is excellent, memorable and suits the game perfectly (not to mention we get to hear the familiar Addam's Family jingle in the title screen as well). Also, the graphic spectrum is rather good for a console of its time, especially in the boss battles and menu screen. The gameplay itself isn't really that bad despite the aforementioned flaws. It's rewarding to see the accomplishments made by entering new sections of the game, even if it must be done multiple times, but overall, this game is a passable addition to the NES catalog. Just make sure that you have a lot of free time, patience, and a turbo controller if needed.

This game is so amazing for Me and I never get tired of playing and indeed owning it considering it is My ALL-TIME FAVORITE Video Game! The Rest Of The Members Of The Addams Family Are also awesome For Me! :)! I have got to the 3rd Main Boss without cheating But Thank God For Game Genie! Due to being Blessed to also own An NES Game Genie as well, I have been able to beat Fester's Quest many times and I find Myself ALREADY KNOWING that I will Love it more and more, regardless! I would definitely point-out here that Fester's Quest is A MUST-HAVE Legendary Video Game FOR ALL Gamers As Myself! :)! Blessings ALWAYS!

This is great but it does not work! For some reason it does not like my NES system and will not work. No not evne on my sisters old system.

This has to be one of my family's all-time favorite games. Played on the original platform, it was so much fun. Unfortunately, our copy died after long-time use.