Cough, cough-in my very best Sophia Petrillo voice: Picture it- Las Vegas, Summer of 1989. It’s hot as balls outside in the desert sun, and even though I was a pretty tough hellion in my youth, some days in Vegas are meant for indoors. To hell with the eleven-foot deep swimming pool WITH a built-in slide in my backyard that landscapes the view outside my bedroom window. It’s too miserable to even bear. So I grab some Ecto-Cooler, a can of Planter’s Cheese Balls, and waste the day away on shag carpet with my beloved NES in the comforting air conditioning. The game of the Summer was FRIDAY THE 13TH, and you can imagine just how many times I threw my controller against the wall with that one. But it was Jason Voorhees and a game based on a fucking R-rated horror movie; a horror movie, mind you, every kid my age knew and secretly watched anytime one of the flicks was on television. So, based on that alone, I suffered through some preadolescent rage just to be the cool kid on the block who could take out Jason and save everyone at Camp Crystal Lake.
And not much has changed in the last 30 years. James Rolfe got this one right.
I still play these shitty games, but bless the NES Homebrews and people like Steve McCall (8-Bit Slasher), who have taken their love for horror and NES glory and mashed them together into a holy matrimony of what we all should have had in an NES cartridge growing up.
“I’ve always had a love for horror movies, and the NES & I always wanted to see all of these horror icons have their own NES games. With my background of making simple old school horror games in the late 90s for PC where you could play as the slashers, and later learning how to program for the NES, demaking my old flash games for the system felt like a natural step.“
“It was only a matter of time before I made a brand new horror game. The problem was.. I didn’t know which slasher to pick… so I said to myself, “All of them.” Well, as many as I could fit anyway lol… and that’s how All Hell Unleashed was born.“
8-Bit Slasher
You may have seen his homebrews before, as far back as the late 90s, where Steve made his own horror PC versions that mimic 8-bit gaming with titles such as A Nightmare on Elm Street: Son of a Hundred Maniacs (1999), Halloween: October 31st (1999), Friday the 13th: Return to Camp Blood (1998), and Candyman: Be My Victim (2006), also all avaible to download for free by clicking on those individual links. And believe me, they’re truly fun as hell, so give it a go.
8-Bit’s latest venture is ALL HELL UNLEASHED, a horror game that takes every horror fan’s favorite icon and throws them into a game of structured chaos. Every icon is a boss to fight at the end of a stage, once you’ve collected all the orbs to progress to the boss stage, and whoever you fight depends on what world of horror you dared to enter, which includes Jason, Michael, Freddy, Candyman, Ghostface, Leatherface, Chucky, Pennywise, Pinhead, and the Killer Klowns From Outer Space.
Also, you can fight Regan if you can find her secret hiding spot located in one of the horror icon’s stages. Hint: The window on the second-floor house blinks SIX TIMES! She was a pain in the ass, by the way…
GAME STORYLINE: Amidst a realm where darkness reigns and evil lurks in every shadow, a sinister cult has unleashed chaos upon our world. Introducing ‘All Hell Unleashed,’ the NES game that pits YOU against the most infamous horror icons of all time.. Jason, Michael, Freddy, Candyman, Ghostface, Leatherface, Chucky, Pennywise, Pinhead and the Killer Klowns. As the world teeters on the brink of eternal fear, you must embark on a perilous journey to confront these iconic villains. But beware, time is of the essence, for the shattered fragments of a cursed amulet hold the key to sealing the dimensional rift and saving our world from eternal darkness. Can you rise to the challenge, gather the fragments, and stop the cult before it’s too late? The fate of humanity rests in your hands. ‘All Hell Unleashed’ Confront the terror… or let it claim your soul.
I went through every stage, and it is GLORIOUS. The little details in the game are pixel-perfect, and why, yes, I very much like to listen to the Dickies’ “Killer Klowns” theme while taking out Shorty. Watch out for those pies, boys.
In the most recent upgraded version of ALL HELL UNLEASHED, THE V6.66 VERSION, you can play as 8-Bit machete-wielding Jason or Ash with his trusty chainsaw, with their own little mini-games included!
Head on over to Fista Productions’ website to download this game and all the others while you’re at it for FREE because you deserve to live like its the Summer of 1989. Also, for tips and tricks for the game itself, take a gander at the ALL HELL UNLEASHED exclusive web page by clicking here!
And the answer is yes: physical copies ARE available through a sister site for a mere $20! Which I totally prefer because I need to feel the nostalgia running through my veins from my 40-year-old NES controller.
Bonus points for you if you get to play it with the Power Glove.
