BEST SPOOKY GAMES
TURN DOWN THE LIGHTS
By Josh LaFrance
Do you love halloween? I certainly
do, and the fact that it is coming
soon got all of us here at Classic
Console Magazine thinking about
some of the great "spooky" retro
games that we have played over
the years. These are not games that
are necessarily in the horror genre,
although they could be. These are
games that have that atmosphere,
whether it be the art direction, the
story or the music that just grab
your attention and make the hair
on the back of your neck stand up!
The first game we talk about
has to be Haunted House by
Atari (1982). This is probably
one of the first examples of the
survival horror genre, although it
probably is a little less horror and
more atmosphere if anything.
Left: Chiller by
Exidy (Arcade-1986,
NES-1990)
The game features you as a
set of eyeballs (apparently it is so
dark all that can be seen is the
whites of your eyes) exploring a
haunted mansion owned by the
late Mr. Graves. Your mission is
to discover all three pieces of a
broken urn. In the process you must
find a key to open the door and a
sceptre to warn off evil spirits
You are not alone in the
house however, as there are
various obstacles in your way
such as a bat, a tarantula and
the ghost of old man Graves.
Left: Haunted
House (Atari
2600, 1982)
Your one respite from the dark
is to strike a match and therefore
generate some light. (This action
is completed by hitting the fire
button on the joystick.) Just as
in real life, matches only last a
small amount of time, and before
you know it, it is back to just
you and the black of night.
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