GIMMGP Pumpkins Return In: Anger of the Gourds

On the very first year of this blog, Chip and Laura compiled a list of pumpkins that appear in video games.  Keeping in the tradition of so many horror movie franchises, GIMMGP has decided to release a remastered post, now with 30% more spooky squash!  We hope you enjoy this gathering of gourds in gaming.

We can start with the NES oddity, Monster Party!  In the first level of the game, our hero Mark comes across a pumpkin-headed ghost who spits smaller pumpkins from its mouth.  Even more odd is the fact that this boss was originally an ape-man riding on horseback.  Since it was a bit risky to feature such a blatant parody of Planet of the Apes, the simian rider was replaced with a pumpkin ghost.  You can read all about the various changes to Monster Party at The Cutting Room Floor.

Super Mario Land 2 featured good ol’ Mario traveling to six different worlds to retrieve coins which will open a door to the palace where his Princess Daisy is being held.  One of these areas is the Pumpkin Zone, which is filled with spirits, slashers, and a wicked witch as the final boss.

Thanks to the efforts of Disney and Hot Topic, The Nightmare Before Christmas saw quite a revival during the early 2000s.  Along with piles of other merchandise flooding stores, a pair of video games was released in 2005.  While there were plenty of pumpkin decorations and sprites in the Game Boy Advance title, it was the PlayStation 2/Xbox game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge that allowed players to take control of The Pumpkin King.  Developed by Capcom, this game featured combat similar to Devil May Cry, where players could switch between different forms for Jack Skellington: Santa Jack (who battles with booby-trap presents) and The Pumpkin King (who sets his foes aflame with lantern magic).

Even robot pumpkins exist!  A mid-boss in Mega Man 7, this cyber-pumpkin (adorably known as Van Pookin) has three gourd-geous layers that protect a tiny seed-spitting pumpkin robot core.  A fun secret in this level, if you only shoot the eyes on the outside of the pumpkin, he will bust through the floor, allowing Mega Man to face his brother, Proto Man.

Mega Man isn’t the only robot fighting mechanical pumpkins.  The 1993 arcade game Ninja Baseball Bat Man features a variety of odd robot ninjas, including some pumpkin-headed foes.  Although this game was extremely popular in Japan during its initial release, Ninja Baseball Bat Man had a rather limited run in North America.  Since then, this strange and wonderful beat ’em up has become a cult hit in emulation circles.

Ogre Battle was an interesting strategy game for the Super Nintendo.  One of the bosses you fought was the witch Deneb, who commanded pumpkin-men to do her bidding.  After defeating her, Deneb would offer to join your party, providing you with the ability to produce pumpkin soldiers who would gladly throw their gourds at your command.

A bit of a tribute to the attack of the pumpkin-men from Ogre Battle, Quina, the blue mage/weird clown maid in Final Fantasy IX, could learn the attack Pumpkin Head.  This attack was rather strong, but very risky, as the damage it would inflict was equal to the difference in your max health versus your current health.

Continuing with the pumpkins in role-playing games theme, the developers over at Atlus have featured the character of Pyro Jack in several of their series.  This little spectre has shown up in the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games as an enemy who can be convinced to join your team as a fire-based familiar.  Pyro Jack also starred in his own title…

Jack Brothers on the now (very) defunct Virtual Boy gaming system!  Three goblin brothers Jack Lantern, Jack Frost, and Jack Skelton had to conquer several puzzle based levels on Halloween Night.

Silhouette Mirage was an obscure Sony PlayStation title from Treasure Games.  In this game, the heroine Shyna has to shoot her way through two equally dangerous races, the Silhouettes and Mirages, with the basic enemy for the Silhouettes being little green pumpkin men.  Like so many other Treasure titles, Silhouette Mirage is cute, fun, and deceptively difficult.

There are several pumpkins to be had in the wonderful PlayStation action-RPG Legend of Mana!  One of the missions in the game culminates with a battle against an evil little doppleganger witch in an enchanted pumpkin patch.  A victory in this fight unlocks a new piece of produce to cultivate in your garden in the game: the Bumpkin!

Even Link has faced his share of orange gourds.  The boss Pumpkin Head appeared in Oracle of Ages for the Game Boy Color.  Link would have to knock his gourd off and then throw the pumpkin at the dungeon walls to smash this poor creature’s head.

Not all pumpkins in the Zelda series are sinister.  In Twilight Princess for the Wii, Link collects an Ordon Pumpkin as an ingredient for a very tasty looking pumpkin soup.  Be warned, this soup is prepared by a yeti, so expect some stray hairs in the broth.

When Ness and Paula enter the cursed town of Threed, they are accosted by several spooky foes.  Violent ghosts, possessed dolls, and shambling zombies are all wandering the streets, looking for humans to terrorize.  Marching right along with these monsters is the Trick or Treat Kid, a maniacal little ghoul that will spit pumpkin seeds at our heroes, which deal a surprising amount of damage.

Most of Castlevania’s entries into the world of the third dimension have been… lacking.  Castlevania: Lament of Innocence was forgettable, save for a hidden character that unlocked once you beat the game twice: Little Pumpkin!  An enchanted pumpkin toy who decided to join the fight against Dracula, this hero is seemingly harmless, yet…

He can unleash a super-powerful attack known as the Grand Pumpkin, where giant pumpkin spirits rise from the ground and destroy his enemies with seasonal magic.

Little Big Planet is a great reason to own a PlayStation 3, as it provides hours of super fun co-op play.  One of Chip and Laura’s favorite things to do in this game is dress the little Sack Boy (and Girl!) in silly costumes.  Sure enough, a jack o’ lantern mask was provided for Halloween fun!

When Street Fighter II released for home consoles in 1992, a glut of other fighting games soon followed.  Many of these games were pretty basic imitations of the Capcom classic, but there were some titles that stood out, such as Clay Fighter.  This goofy game featured digitized clay characters who were brought to life with the magic of stop motion photography.  The aesthetic of Clay Fighter was appropriately silly, featuring punny characters like the pumpkin ghost Ickybod Clay.

My friend Grant would be sad if I didn’t include the pumpkin transformation from Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64.  In the Mad Monster Mansion area, our hero Banjo the Bear is shrunk down into a pumpkin in order to sneak through the hedge maze and small corridors.  He even got to keep his little blue backpack, adorable!

Well, there you have it boils and ghouls!  A list of digital jack o’ lanterns to light your way back home on this Halloween weekend.  Be safe, have fun, and make sure to dress as your favorite video game characters!

Monster Party – Stage 1 (World of Horror)

The early days of Nintendo were some strange times indeed.  Despite several strong censorship policies, Nintendo of America still released many dark and potentially frightening games for the NES.  Horror movie franchises like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street had licensed releases on the console, while hit series like Castlevania featured monsters from Universal movies and gothic literature.

One particularly odd title was Monster Party.  Released in 1989 by Bandai, the game featured a young boy named Mark being enlisted to save an alien planet from evil monsters.  The opening of the game is pretty goofy, as Mark is asked to aid in battle as he is walking home from a baseball game.  A purple gargoyle named Bert insists that Mark’s great weapon (a baseball bat) will be the perfect tool to fight off the evil oppressors.  This lighthearted tone continues into the first level, where pastel pink, purple, and green decorate a whimsical world.  A silly looking tree stands at the half-way point through the stage, covered in smiling faces and lush leaves.  But the moment Mark crosses this adorable monolith, everything goes wrong.

The sound of crashing thunder rumbles from the television speakers, colors begin to shift, and this magical environment turns sinister.  The candy colored stones become scowling corpses.  The mossy grass and leaves melt into gelatinous ooze.  The once friendly looking tree has become a towering monster, looming down at Mark.  All of these jarring visuals are matched by a change in the soundtrack.  The once calm melody is replaced by a dismal tune that echoes a haunting, unsafe mood.

This particularly gruesome imagery is mostly isolated to level 1, but other scary stuff pops up over the course of play.  How so much potentially frightening content made it past Nintendo’s censors is unknown, but the release of a game prototype in the early 2000s revealed a much darker game in the original concept.  All of the differences between the American release and the Japanese prototype have been detailed at The Cutting Room Floor, a site dedicated to researching and showcasing unused and cut content from video games.  Take a look, if you dare!

Pumpkins

Halloween is upon us, the witching hour is at hand! Around this time of year, most video game sites tend to ask people to send in pictures of their video game themed Jack O’ Lanterns. We at the GIMM-GP staff (just us two…) decided instead of showcasing video games ON pumpkins, let’s take a look at pumpkins IN video games!

We can start with the NES oddity, Monster Party!  In the first level of the game, our hero Mark comes across a pumpkin-headed ghost who spits smaller pumpkins from its mouth.  Please enjoy the pun of pumpkin picking.

Super Mario Land 2 featured good ol’ Mario traveling to six different worlds to retrieve coins which will open a door to the palace where his Princess Daisy is being held.  One of these areas is the Pumpkin Zone, which is filled with spirits, slashers, and a wicked witch as the final boss.

Even robot pumpkins exist!  A mid-boss in Mega Man 7, this cyber-pumpkin has three layers which protects a tiny seed-spitting pumpkin robot core.  A fun secret in this level, if you only shoot the eyes on the outside of the pumpkin, he will bust through the floor, allowing Mega Man to face his brother, Proto Man.

Ogre Battle was an interesting strategy game for the Super Nintendo.  One of the bosses you fought was the witch Deneb, who commanded pumpkin-men to do her bidding.  After defeating her, Deneb would offer to join your party, and could eventually produce pumpkin soldiers who would gladly throw their gourds at your command.

A bit of a tribute to the attack of the pumpkin-men from Ogre Battle, Quina, the blue mage/weird clown maid in Final Fantasy IX, could learn the attack Pumpkin Head.  This attack was rather strong, but very risky, as the damage it would inflict was equal to the difference in your max health versus your current health.

Continuing with the pumpkins in RPGs theme, the developers over at Atlus have featured the character of Pyro Jack in several of their series.  This little spectre has shown up in the Persona and Shin Megami games as an enemy who can be convinced to join your team as a fire-based familiar.  Pyro Jack also starred in his own title…

Jack Brothers on the now (very) defunct Virtual Boy gaming system!  Pyro Jack (Jack Lantern), along with his brothers Jack Frost and Jack Skelton had to conquer several puzzle based levels on Halloween Night.

Silhouette Mirage was an obscure Playstation One title from Treasure Games.  In this game, the heroine Shyna has to shoot her way through two equally dangerous races, the Silhouettes and Mirages, with the basic enemy for the Silhouettes being little green pumpkin men.  Cute and fun game all around.

There are several pumpkins to be had in the wonderful Playstation One Action/RPG Legend of Mana!  One of the missions in the game culminates with a battle against an evil little doppleganger witch in an enchanted pumpkin patch.  A victory in this fight unlocks a new piece of produce to cultivate in your garden in the game: the Bumpkin!

Even Link has faced his share of orange gourds.  The boss, Pumpkin Head, appeared in Oracle of Ages for the Game Boy Color.  Link would have to knock his gourd off and then throw the pumpkin at the dungeon walls to smash this poor creature’s head.

It seems Link doesn’t always have to face sinister pumpkins after all!  In Twilight Princess for the Wii, Link collects an Ordon Pumpkin as an ingredient for a very tasty looking pumpkin soup.  Be warned, this soup is prepared by a yeti, so expect some stray hairs in the broth.

Most of Castlevania’s entries into the world of the third dimension have been… lacking.  Castlevania: Lament of Innocence was forgettable, save for a hidden character that unlocked once you beat the game twice: Little Pumpkin!  An enchanted pumpkin toy who decided to join the fight against Dracula, this hero is seemingly harmless, yet…

He can unleash a super-powerful attack known as the Grand Pumpkin, where giant pumpkin spirits rise from the ground and destroy his enemies with seasonal magic.

 Little Big Planet is a great reason to own a Playstation 3, as it provides hours of super fun co-op play.  One of Laura and my favorite things to do in this game is dress our little Sack Boy (and Girl!) up in silly costumes.  Sure enough, a Jack O’ Lantern mask was provided for Halloween fun!

My friend Grant would be sad if I didn’t include the pumpkin transformation from Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64.  In the Mad Monster Mansion area, our hero Banjo the Bear is shrunk down into a pumpkin in order to sneak through the hedge maze and small corridors.  He even got to keep his little blue backpack, adorable!

Well, there you have it boils and ghouls!  A list of digital jack o’ lanterns to light your way back home this rather chilly Halloween Day.  Have a safe and fun night, and be sure to dress as your favorite video game characters!

Monster Party

The early days of Nintendo were some strange times indeed.  Programmers and developers alike had to rely on their innovation and the players’ imagination to convey ideas through the limited systems at their disposal.  This (along with almost no sort of reliable translation process for games) lead to several strange and wonderous games being produced for the NES.  One of these games in particular entertained my brother and I for hours and hours without end: Monster Party.

Monster Party was a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System where a young boy named Mark gets approached by a gargoyle-like monster named Bert while he is on his way home from a baseball game.  Bert explains that he is a kindly monster from a planet far away.  Bert’s home planet is in trouble, as all of the good monsters of his world are being oppressed by an evil force.  He asks Mark to save his world, with the help of his baseball bat.

The game itself is a side-scrolling platformer, where Mark battles random enemies on his way to the exit of each stage.  Along the way, there are doors which contain the boss encounters of each level.  The first boss you “battle” on your way through Stage 1 is a dead spider.  Not an UN-dead spider, just a dead one.  The boss apologizes for being dead, and dissipates before your very eyes.  Boss encounter over.  This happening sets the bar pretty high for weirdness, but it only gets more odd once you get to Stage 5 and the Zombie Twins appear.

As you enter their lair, they merely ask the player to “Watch My Dance.”  Unlike modern zombie foes, the twins make no effort to attack (or eat) our hero.  If Mark (or Bert) hits the zombies, they will decay into the ground, and then reanimate and continue their romp.  The only way to win this “battle” is to watch the twins dance until they dance no more, and return to the grave.  Skip to about 40 seconds in to see the twins in action.

Very odd, but a damn catchy song.

Horror Games Month

For those who know me personally, October is my favorite month of the year.  The leaves are dressing in all sorts of brilliant colors, the weather is getting colder, and the food served in the Autumn is the best of the year (Pumpkin is delicious).  But October is also that magical time of year when Horror is King once again.  All of the major television stations are playing scary movies, Halloween decorations and festivites are everywhere (save for Target, where there is already Christmas stuff, what the hell?), and it is time to play spooky video games in full force.

Over the next month, expect a lot of survival horror/scary/just plain silly video game related content.  We hope you enjoy!