There are a few power-ups to collect - speed increases, the ability to throw your fire further and somehow make it hotter so that your foes burn even faster - but the mechanics never change and the only stages that veer away from the standard scheme of things are the occasional boss battles. You jump with one button, and the other button makes Gravedigger throw fire from his lantern to immolate his opponents. There's not that much else to say about the gameplay, really. Also, while the Snow Brothers use, well, snow to defeat their enemies, the Gravedigger takes the rather more full-on approach of setting fire to everything that so much as looks at him funny.Д¬ombine his raging pyromania, his constant proximity to dead bodies and his exclusion from society and you've got a man who should be on every single government watch-list ever. While Snow Bros is set in a cutesy and cheerful world where princesses get kidnapped and snowmen wear dungarees, (presumably to avoid exposing impressionable young minds to the sight of an intricately-carved ice-wang,) NitD is a horror-themed cavalcade of zombies, ghosts and haunted ostriches. The only real difference between NitD and its frosty ancestor is the theme. Kill all the enemies on the screen and you'll move onto the next monster-packed area filled with hovering masonry. The enemy-balls roll around the screen, hopefully hitting some other enemies along the way and adding insult to injury by killing them too. You do this by repeatedly hitting an enemy with your standard attack until they become a ball, which you can then pick up and throw. The objective of NitD (and, of course, Snow Bros.) is to clear each single-screen stage of enemies. That's the story, at least - in terms of gameplay, it's a clone of Snow Bros.ДЄnd when I say clone, I mean that it's rare to see a game so obviously and completely copied from another. A humble gravedigger, shunned by the townsfolk because his face looks like a dog vomited onto a rubber Mickey Rourke mask, saves the world from the depredations of the many grave-robbing ghouls and demons that appear each night. Where was I? Ah yes, Nightmare in the Dark.

Is this spontaneous retreat into a nonexistent videogame a sign of underlying mental problems? Probably, but I can't shake the feeling that given their clearly-defined personas, the members of the Village People would make excellent videogame bosses. I must admit, the first time I read this intro text I thought it said 'he kept away from the Village People' and I immediately constructed an elaborate fantasy game in my head, a Metal Gear Solid-style stealth title in which you must help the Gravedigger traverse a late-seventies New York while avoiding the various members of the Village People. There's a reason VGJUNK isn't presented in video format, folks. The Hallowe'en aspect is part of it, but I think it's also something to do with the plot.ДЇinally, a main character I can really empathise with. This is a game that really speaks to me, you know? Like the creators just get me or something.

Inspired by H.P.Nightmare in the Dark: a good description of my trip to the local cineplex to watch the Transformers movie, but also the name of a Hallowe'en-themed arcade game by SNK.A memorable soundtrack, excellent voice acting, and a thrilling story will keep you hooked for hours.The grand-daddy of survival horror genre.But alas, you accepted, and now you must make your way through this spine-tingling adventure alone. Had you known, you might have refused this task. You couldn't anticipate the brooding, gloom-filled rooms, the pervasive weight of dread, the heavy sense of evil that gills the atmosphere and the very house itself. You didnвЂ™t foresee the shadowy corridors that seemingly have no end. You weren't prepared for the torturous howls that resound from deep within its halls. But, you didn't know that, by entering Derceto, you'll be plunged into the daily nightmare that was Jeremy Hartwood's life. This is Derceto, a legendary Louisiana mansion where, against your better judgment, you're drawn into a world of shadows to explore the darker side of Jeremy Hartwood's imagination.Дespite a paralyzing sense of personal danger, your quest for truth drives you to investigate the old house.

Nightmare in the dark game