Top Ten Scariest Video Game Monsters and Villains

Continuing in the Halloween spirit we're rehashing another old,  but seasonally appropriate post:

Video games have an opportunity to provide us with horror in ways that television and film can not. A video game puts us in control. We decide our fate and we're the ones that need to figure out how to escape a deadly nightmare. Sometimes control is good and sometimes it's terrifying to literally have the power of life and death in these game worlds. On these twisted journeys through nightmares we will find monsters and villains of course, but some leave more of an impression than others.  That in mind we have compiled this list. For one reason or another, I believe that these characters have something to offer a true horror fan, even if sometimes you have to dig deep to see it. After all, horror is nothing without imagination.
The Top Ten Scariest Video Game Monsters and Villians of All Time

10. The W Star (Drahkken, SNES)

So to claim anything scary can happen in this particular title may seem odd at first, but there are a few moments that are noteworthy at least to nerds as big as we are. Drahkken is an old RPG from the early nineties which tried to utilize a three-dimensional, first person environment. It couldn't be called successful implementation (at least not in the SNES port) but did make the game unique for it's time. One aspect of the game was time change, days passed more or less normally as you were playing.  As with so many  frightening events, nightfall hit is when the terror strikes. The player would notice the many stars in the sky, shining quite brightly. As you trek forward you may notice a W-shaped set of stars in the sky,

The Monster itself

looking much like our earthly constellation of Cassiopeia. Thinking nothing of it, you continue on, when suddenly, those stars start to move, flapping up and down like a crazed bird while an eerie downward scale plays. Then suddenly you hear a loud, low "boom," and the whole world stops of a second. Then a flying creature with a skulllike head comes careening out of the sky and attacks. You inevitably think "What the
HELL is that?!" and proceed to fight this thing, hoping you're leveled up enough to take it on. This occurance actually happens with multiple sets of stars in this game bringing out different monsters.The first time we saw this though was with this set, earning the name we gave it, the W Star.  While the monster itself is certainly horror material (for 1991 anyway)  but the really element of terror comes from how bizarre and unexpected it is. Who expects the sky itself to attack you?

9. The Cyberdemon (DOOM, PC)

One of the greatest first-person bosses of all time in arguably the greatest first person shooter of all time. The Cyberdemon's level starts off with a warning, as you first enter his level their are dead Barons of Hell chained up on the wall (which, before this point your hapless space marine assumes are the baddest thing on two legs). Once you open one of the four doors leading to the exterior of his arena-like stage, and see the flaming skulls known as lost souls. Inevitably, you will sneer at this relatively simple and weak monster, and take it out with your shotgun. However, upon the first shot of your rifle ringing out into the air, you'll hear a staggering and terrifying roar from an unknown source, followed by an unknown "crash-BOOM!" sound which continuously repeats. You realize something else is here with you. And it is big. And it is coming for you. This is Cyberdemon making his presence known to you. What will likely happen next is that you will step out into the open area, turn a corner or two, and in the distance you'll see something. "What is - " will likely be all you have time to think before a missle comes flying right into your face, instantly splattering you all over Hell's floor. Although it's hard to get close enough for a look, the Cyberdemon gets his name from the steel, cybernetic right leg he sports and the rocket launcher inexplicably grafted on to his left arm. The rest of this towering hell beast includes a hooved left leg, huge black horns on the sides of his head, and all kinds of red, bloody wires sticking in and out of him. It's not good enough that all of Hell is trying to tear you apart, but now they're using cybernetic technology to do it with. What makes the Cyberdemon so terrifying is that he's incredibly large, incredibly strong, and is equipped with a one hit kill with unlimited ammo. Technically if you have 200% health, Doom Guy might take the first hit, but it's not a guarantee. Only experienced players can go toe-to-toe with this behemoth, most of you will have to run for you life, taking it whatever shots become available to you. The goat-legged Cyberdemon's discouraging endurance, terrifying attack power and horrifying looks give him a sure position among scariest video game monsters.

8. Michael Myers (Halloween, Atari 2600)

It might seem laughably improbable that an Atari game could do anything in the way of scaring you, but read on. In this game, you wander a house which is a series of  seemingly endless hallways, taking children to the safe rooms and looking for a weapon. Meanwhile, every time you enter a room (other than safe rooms) within seconds you'll be confronted by Michael Myers, with an Atari-appropriate version of the classic Halloween theme playing during his screen time, "Dee doo doo dee doo doo dee doo dee doo dee doo doo dee doo doo..." as the collection of pixels known as Michael Myers stalks towards you in a constant stabbing motion with the four or five white pixels that make up his "knife." If he gets you, you'll enjoy a rather humorous animation of your female character running frantically with her head cut off, red dots spewing from her neck. Michael will also decapitate the children if you let him, and I do mean "if you let him," as the game allows you to grab onto the children to take them to safe rooms for points, but you may also decide to use them as bait, as Michael seems more interested in killing them rather than you. So at first this isn't scary, just silly. But as levels progress, and you continue to stab Myers with the black knife, which for some reason you can only use once and then have to seek it out again, he gets faster and most aggressive until soon, you can barely outrun him. What's worse is that you'll enter rooms with faulty "wiring" causing the screen to flash from normal to pitch black while Michael's in the room with you. "Oh God, where am I?" you'll wonder and you hope to have run past the derranged mad man, only to find yourself headless once the lights come back on. With time, Michael Myers will make this one of your most stressful experiences in gaming.

7. Mr. Graves (Haunted House, Atari 2600) 

 Another Atari release. This time, you are in as the name suggests, a haunted house, trying to escape with all of the pieces of the urn of Mr. Graves. You enter the dead man's mansion and wander around, your character only being a part of eyes. You hit the button to light a match which will give you a small orb of visibility. Only with the match lit can you find items and realistically navigate the black squares and lines that make up this house.  There are a few enemies like an errant bat or two, but they're fairly easy to navigate around. So so far it's not very scary. However when entering certain floors, you may hear a noise which could be either thunder or wind. Then suddenly, the ghost of Mr. Graves appears and he blows out your match, leaving you essentially blind and helpless as he chases you down. Sure, he may look like one of those sheet-wearing ghosts from the cartoons, but this guy's not playing around. Something about the speed and frantically waving arms of this character gets you all high strung and desperate to escape. Should Mr. Graves, or any of his buddies such as the bat or spider touch you, your little eyes will violently roll around as thunder and lightning strike, costing you one life. This game is considered to be a classic and even prompted a remake on the Wii under the same name (which is somehow less frighting even with 2 years of technological advances.

6. Jason (Friday the 13th, NES) 

The Hockey Masked killer we all know and love naturally got his own video game back in the day. However it wasn't exactly the greatest piece of media you could own. That being said One thing this title has going for it, is it's undeniable ability to give you a cheap scare. The main idea was that you wander camp Crystal Lake, killing zombies, wolves, bats, and birds until an alarm sounds, indicating that Jason is attacking either the campers or a fellow counselor. You check the map to see which cabin was in distress and race to the location before time runs out. Upon reaching the cabin, the inhabitant(s) thank you for coming, and you search the cabin in pseudo-3D mode. This is where the scare takes place. As you turn corners and advanced forward, eerie but calm music would play as you found a lot of corners and spaces. Then without warning Jason appears before you. A loud and horrifying noise blares while Jason, tries to punch, slice, or axe you to death. You use whatever projectile you have to try and defeat him while dodging his attacks, repeating this entire process until he's gone. But Jason doesn't only appear in cabins. Without warning, you can be walking along the dirt road, totally care-free (as the zombies are annoying but far from scary), and them BAM - it's Jason! Hurling axes at you will sporting his baby blue hockey mask and purple jogging suit. Jason is also sometimes randomly in a cabin that isn't even inhabited. These random appearances are actually sort of the genius as being attacked totally out of the blue is something even modern games miss. Even if he looks silly, Jason IS very unpredictable and can get the jump on you like he did so many randy teenagers in his classic films. This game will never be noted for it's quality but is noted for its intense difficulty. Taking down Jason is a slow, methodical process that spans three stressful "days" and will likely be fruitless to you in the end.

YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD. GAME OVER.

5. Nemesis (Resident Evil III, Playstation) 

Resident Evil III eschews some of the main mechanics in there series. Instead of slowly peeking down dark hallways in the hopes of taking out your zombies before they get close enough to rip a few chunks out of your flesh, you spend the entire game running for your life. In essence, as you play through this game, you are constantly being stalked by Nemesis, a mutated version of Tyrant, or in other words, a really big, really powerful zombie. However, unlike Tyrant, Nemesis doesn't simply rely on brute strength, he has a rocket launcher with an endless supply of rockets. We really do mean constantly being stalked. You never get a respite (other than the safe save rooms), at every point in the game you're essentially running from him, and he's never too far away. He'll burst through doors and crash through walls to get to you, all the while never quickening his step beyond a walk. There's nothing like the feeling of constantly being chased, and Nemesis will never allow you a moment of ease, making him a high ranking monster in the video game world. The fact that he's a huge, lumbering pile of rotted flesh helps as well.

4. Sae (Fatal Frame II, Playstation 2) 

All of the Fatal Frame series is absolutely terrifying.  The concept of Fatal Frame is that you are attacked by ghosts and aparitions, but you cannot attack them, merely snap pictures of them to harm them. It sounds a little silly but it's absolutely terrifying. Fatal Frame II takes things up a notch. So you take the powerlessness of that situation, tack on the detail of not having even your camera, and then include a demonic ghost child which will kill you instantly with just a touch, you've got yourself a game that even a hardcore horror fan isn't necessarily eager to try and tackle. You're in a labrynthine area full of dead ends and little hope and Sae, an evil 15 year old girl who was murdered as an act of ritual sacrifice, stalks you while eliciting horrifying laughs and a exhibiting a taste for death. Go ahead, run into a different room and close the door behind you. Sae will open it up and follow you right in there. Hide in a closet, hope for the best, but if she thinks he knows where you are, she'll open that door right up. In the split second opportunity you'll have to run, you'd better hope you don't find a dead end, or you will indeed be finished. You can't kill her, you can't hurt her, you can only run. In most instances that's just delaying the inevitable.

3. Piggsy (Manhunt, Playstation 2)

 "Holy Shit!" is probably the first thing you'll say when you face this Pig Skin wearing miscreant at the end of Manhunt. You get the Leatherface experience with this character in slightly different packaging. Piggsy is a crazed, naked man who wears a pig's head as a mask, starring in many snuff films by Lionel Starkweather, an ex direction who essentially owns the city of Carcer. If his unsettling appearance weren't enough, as you'll find while you're walking down the seemingly quiet hallway of a dilapidated attic-like area of Starkweather's mansion, Piggsy also carries a loud, powerful and remarkably loud  chainsaw. He introduces himself and his favorite toy running right at you from behind a corner, revving it up while screaming at you. Again, "Holy shit!"  This obese man somehow manages to give you a frantic and brain-scrambling chase, the chainsaw roaring hungrily for your blood. With luck you'll find a shadowed area to hide in, while Piggsy stands just a few feet in front of you, searching the area as the motor of his massive-bladed chainsaw idles, intimidatingly. Piggsy is surprisingly smart for someone who looks like he'd be too dumb to be in Deliverance, he tries trick you into dashing out into the open by revving up the chainsaw once again, even if he doesn't actually know where you are. If you're patient and quiet, he'll lumber away to search elsewhere. You'll spend the first several moments of this time paralyzed with fear. When you can blink again, you may inch out of your hiding spot and take the nearby glass shard, trying to see if you can spot the location of the chainsaw-wielding maniac in the distance. You'll turn slightly, looking in a difference, direction, completely unaware than Piggsy has once again caught side of you from another angle until that saw revs up again and he charges you. As your brain and hands freeze in horror, you hope your mental capacity return in just enough enough for you to hold down that run button and get the hell out of there....

2. Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2, Playstation 2)

 Pyramid head is easily one of the all time iconic video game villains, and also one of the most frightening. Admittedly, fans of this guy can prove to be irksome, especially if they are mainly familiar with the movie version of him. And sure, at times he may seem a bit overrated, but anyone who's played Silent Hill 2 knows that he didn't get his reputation for nothing. This bizarre character wields a huge knife that's so heavy, even he must drag it behind him. Sure, he may be slow, but if that knife does hit you...that's it. It's over. Not only that, but he follows you for the entirety of the game, the very embodiment of punishment. You may call him Pyramid Head, you may call him Crimson Pyramid, but you could also accurately call him the Executioner. No matter where you go, he's waiting for you, an unstoppable wraith hell bent on making you pay for your sins. The giant pyramid which makes up what you know to be his head conceals intentions and thought in a fortess of mystery, as he slowly approaches to put you down for all time. Encountering him in a tight space is the stuff of nightmares, and naturally is the way in which you will most often meet him. The battle you have with him early in the game in the stairwell will have you in a death grip of stress, as you are always no more than a foot or two out of the reach of his Great Knife, vieing for any position that may or may not be available. You'll put clip after clip of bullets in his head before he finally retreats, waiting to confront you again at a later time. And that's the truly horrifying part about Pyramid head. It's not so much having to see or fight him. It's that you KNOW he's going to come back. But you won't know where, and you won't know when.

1. Sinistar (Sinistar, Arcade Coin-Op) 

 "Run, Coward! Run Run Run!" There's only one thing worse than a giant, interstellar juggernaut chasing you down and hell bent on catching and devouring you. It's hearing him tell you about it. Yes, Sinistar is the original badass of the video game world and with good reason. Never before had a video game villain had such personality and such charisma while being so unstoppable. The idea of Sinistar is that aliens are working to build a huge monster known as the Sinistar, a demonic face among a circular border which flies powerfully and without inhibition throughout the universe. To destroy this beast, you must take your tiny ship and shoot planetoids to mine crystals to make Sinibombs, made from the same crystals which are used to build Sinistar, himself. There is no time to fool around. The sounds of Sinistar's construction act as a ticking clock of sorts as you race to be ready for the monster once he is completed. "Beware, I live!" exclaims Sinistar from somewhere deep in space as he announces his own completion. You pray that you have enough bombs to smash the Sinistar as you race away, Sinistar hot in pursuit. "I hunger, coward!" He shouts, revealing his intentions. "Run, coward!" As the huge monster comes closer, you shoot off all of your Sinibombs. You hear his terrifying screams as the bombs connect. He has taken damage but a moment later you come to the heart-sinking realization that not all of the bombs connected, having been intercepted by planetoids and smaller aliens. And now Sinistar is after you, chasing you down with no distraction, no diversion, and no mercy, knocking planetoids out of his way as if they were mere marbles. He's right behind you, as you race as fast as you can into endless space, twisting and turning, unable to shake him. What will you do? The answer - nothing. You can do nothing now. Inevitably, Sinistar will catch up to you. "RAAAAAARGGHHH!" he roars as your ship spins out of control and is pulled to his mouth as if caught in a tractor beam. Finally, as you enter that terrible maw, his teeth snap snap down, shattering your ship into dozens of tiny pieces. Approximate play time: 35 seconds. It's hard to believe a game like this was available in 1982, and it's even harder to believe the cult following it still has, today. There is perhaps no game that imbodies a seemingly inescapable chase better. Perhaps no other game can instill this kind of stress and fear in the player, either. Sinistar was a game that was well ahead of its time, and Sinistar is a villain that simply can't be matched as a character or a villain. Sure, you can destroy him. But he'll be back. And one way or another...he's gonna get you. Although this character and game may not be expected by many contemporary gamers, fanw of classic gaming, know Sinistar truly deserves to enjoy the top tier of the scariest video game monsters/villains of all time. He was groundbreaking, he was legendary, and most of all...he was terrifying.


When it originally appeared this list was largely written by regular contributor Richard, this 2013 reboot has been edited with a more general tone.

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Top 10 Horror Games

It's the Halloween season which is a time of year all of us here at Avane are particularly fond of. Unfortunately fondness doesn't translate into time or writing ideas so instead bringing you something new and spooky we're rehashing an old top 10 list from several Halloweens past. Don't let the age fool you though it's still just as relevant now as it was then. After all, when was the last time a company made a really horrifying game anyway? So if you're looking for a way to get into the spooky spirit any of the games on this list will certainly help you along.

10: Friday the Thirteenth on the NES. Most people think of this title as the awful epitome of LJN's game making career. However there's actually some genuine 8-bit terror going on here. The music is excellent, with the cabin theme taking the cake for some of the eeriest video game music of the 8bit era. The music when you encounter Jason is the perfect NES adaptation of classic theatrical killer themes. The real terror though, comes when you make your way to one of the surprisingly labyrinthine cabins never knowing where exactly Jason going to pop up until BAM! he's on your screen. If you want to know even more about the sordid tale of 8 bit Jason, we did a full in depth review on this game, because as group we really love it. Two of us even got the limited edition comic con action figure to terrorize out other action figures with his hairbrush axe.



See the rest after the break

The Top Ten Scariest Video Game Monsters and Villians of All Time

With the exception of initial input, this entire post was thought up and brought to life by regular contributor Richard.

Video games have an opportunity to provide us with horror in ways that television and film can not. A video game can put us in control, make us decide our fate and the best way to try and escape a deadly nightmare. And on that journey we will find monsters and villains that truly left an exclamation point. Here I have compiled a list of what I feel to the ten scariest video game monsters. For one reason or another, I believe that these characters have something to offer a true horror fan, even if sometimes you have to dig deep to see it. After all, horror is nothing without imagination, if newer horror films and fans are any indication. So with nothing else to say, let's get right into it. Don't lose your head.

The Top Ten Scariest Video Game Monsters and Villians of All Time

10. The W Star (Drahkken, SNES) - So to claim anything scary can happen in this particular title may seem odd at first, but there are a few moments that are noteworthy at least to nerds as big as me and my circle. Drahkken is an old RPG from the early nineties which tried to utilize a three-dimensional, first person environment. It wasn't exactly successful but did make the game unique for it's time. One thing the game would do is change the time of day as you were playing. Once nightfall hit is when some shit would really start to go down. The player would notice the many stars in the sky, shining quite brightly. As you trek forward you may notice a W-shaped set of stars in the sky. Thinking nothing of it, you continue on. And then suddenly, those stars start to move, flapping up and down like some kind of crazy bird while a creepy music tone on a downward scale begins to play. Then suddenly you hear a loud, low sounding "boom," and everything stops of a second. Then out of nowhere, a flying creature with a skulllike head comes careening out of the sky and attacks. You inevitable think "What the HELL is that?!" and proceed to fight this thing, hoping you're leveled up enough to take it on. This occurance actually happens with multiple sets of stars in this game but the very first time we saw it was with the W-set, earning the name we gave it, the W Star. No matter how much you get used to this, it's always bizarre and unexpected granting it a place on this list.

9. The Cyberdemon (DOOM, PC) - One of the greatest first-person bosses of all time in arguable the greatest first person shooter of all time. As you first enter his level, noting the dead Barons chained up on the wall (which, before this point you assume are the baddest thing on two legs), the Cyberdemon will likely first make his presence known to you once you open one of the four doors leading to the exterior of his arena-like stage, and see the flaming skulls known as lost souls. Inevitably, you will sneer at this relatively simple and weak monster, and take it out with your shotgun. However, upon the first shot of your rifle ringing out into the air, you'll hear a staggering and terrifying roar from an unknown source, followed by an unknown "crash-BOOM!" sound which continuously repeats. You realize something else is here with you. And it is big. And it is coming for you. What will likely happen next is that you will step out into the open area, turn a corner or two, and in the distance you'll see something. "What the fuck is - " will likely be all you have time to think before a missle comes flying right into your face, instantly splattering you all over Hell's floor. Although it's hard to get close enough for a look, the Cyberdemon gets his name from the steel, cybernetic right leg he sports and the rocket launcher which is inexplicably attached to his left arm. The rest of this towering hell beast includes a hooved left leg, huge black horns on the sides of his head, and all kinds of red, bloody wires sticking in and out of him. It's not good enough that all of Hell is trying to tear you apart, but now they're using human cybernetic technology to do it with. What makes the Cyberdemon so terrifying is that he's incredibly large, incredibly strong, and is essentially equipped with a one hit kill. I mean okay, if you have 200% health, Doom Guy might take the first hit, but he's probably not takin' that second hit. Only experienced players can go toe-to-toe with this behemoth, the rest of you will have to run for you life, taking it whatever shots become available to you. The goat-legged Cyberdemon's discouraging endurance, terrifying attack power and horrifying looks give him a sure position among scariest video game monsters.

8. Michael Myers (Halloween, Atari 2600) - It might seem laughably improbable that an Atari game could do anything in the way of scaring you, but here me out, here. In this game, you essentially wander a house which is a series of hallways, taking children to the safe rooms and looking for a weapon. Meanwhile, every time you enter a room (other than safe rooms) within seconds you'll be confronted by Michael Myers, with an Atari-appropriate version of the classic Halloween theme playing during his screen time, "Dee doo doo dee doo doo dee doo dee doo dee doo doo dee doo doo..." as the collection of pixels known as Michael Myers stalks towards you in a constant stabbing motion with the four or five white pixels that make up his "knife." If he gets you, you'll enjoy a rather humorous animation of your female character running frantically with her head cut off, red dots spewing from her neck. Michael will also decapitate the children if you let him, and I do mean "if you let him," as the game allows you to grab onto the children to take them to safe rooms for points, but you may also decide to use them as bait, as Michael seems more interested in killing them rather than you. So at first this isn't scary, just silly. But as levels progress, and you continue to stab Myers with the black knife you can't seem to hold on to, he gets faster and most aggressive until soon, you can barely outrun him. What's worse is that you'll enter rooms with faulty "wiring" causing the screen to flash from normal to pitch black while Michael's in the room with you. "Oh God, where am I?" you'll wonder and you hope to have run past the derranged mad man, only to find yourself headless once the lights come back on. With time, Michael Myers will make this one of your most stressful experiences in gaming.

7. Mr. Graves (Haunted House, Atari 2600) - And yet another Atari release. This time, you are in yes, a haunted house, trying to escape with all of the pieces of the urn of Mr. Graves. You enter said dead man's mansion and wander around, your character only being a part of eyes. You hit the button to light a match which will give you a small orb of visibility. Only with the match lit can you find items and realistically navigate the black squares and lines that make up this house. So when entering certain floors, you may hear an intimidating noise which could be either thunder or wind. Then suddenly, the ghost of Mr. Graves appears and he blows out your match as he chases you down! Sure, he may look like one of those sheet-wearing ghosts from the cartoons, but this guy's not playing around. Something about the speed and frantically waving arms of this character just gets you all high strung and desperate to escape. Should Mr. Graves, or any of his buddies such as the bat or spider touch you, your little eyes will violently roll around as thunder and lightning strike, costing you one life. This game is considered to be a classic and even prompted a remake on the Wii under the same name.

6. Jason (Friday the 13th, NES) - The Hockey Masked killer we all know and love would get his own video game back in the day, even if it wasn't EXACTLY the best piece of media you could own. One thing that couldn't be denied however is that this game could certainly get a cheap scare in on you. The main idea was that you wandered camp Crystal Lake, killing zombies, wolves, bats, and birds until an alarm would sound, indicating that Jason was attacking either the campers or a fellow counselor. You'd check the map to see which cabin was in distress and race to the location before time ran out. Upon reaching the cabin, the inhabitant(s) would thank you for coming, and then you'd search the cabin in pseudo-3D mode. This is where the scare would take place. As you turned corners and advanced forward, eerie but calm music would play as you found a lot of corners and spaces. And then without warning, a loud and horrifying noise would blare and boom, there's Jason, trying to punch, slice, or axe you to death. You'd use whatever projectile you have to try and defeat him while dodging his attacks, repeating this entire process once he's gone. But Jason doesn't only appear in cabins. Without warning, you can be walking along the dirt road, totally care-free (as the zombies are annoying but far from scary), and them BAM - it's Jason! Hurling axes at you will sporting his baby blue hockey mask and purple jogging suit. Look, I assure you, it IS scary, sometimes. Especially when Jason is randomly in a cabin that isn't even inhabited which DOES happen, which is sort of the genuis of this game. Even if he looks silly, Jason IS very unpredictable and can get the jump on you like he did so many randy teenagers in his classic films. This game will never be noted for it's quality but is noted for its intense difficulty. Taking down Jason is a slow, methodical process that spans three "days" and will likely be fruitless for you in the end.

YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD. GAME OVER.

5. Nemesis (Resident Evil III, Playstation) - This is a character that I myself have never met, but have heard much about. I have never played a Resident Evil game, save for the weird one on the Gameboy Color, so I'm going by what my sister has told me about this guy. In essence, as you play through this game, you are constantly being stalked by Nemesis, a mutated version of Tyrant, or in other words, a big fucking zombie. However, unlike Tyrant, Nemesis has a rocket launcher. How fun. Now when I say "constantly being stalked," I do mean that. At every point in the game you're essentially running from him, and he's never too far away. He'll bust through doors and crash through walls to get to you, all the while never quickening his step beyond a walk. There's nothing like the feeling of constantly being chased, and Nemesis will never allow you a moment of ease, making him a high ranking monster in the video game world and on this list, even if I myself have never met him.

4. Sae (Fatal Frame II, Playstation 2) - This is another example of a character and game I've never experienced, but just hearing about this awful child is chilling in and of itself. The idea of Fatal Frame is that you are attacked by ghosts and aparitions, but you cannot attack them, merely snap pictures of them to harm them. So when you take the powerlessness of that situation, tack on the detail of not having even your camera, and then include a demonic ghost child which will kill you instantly with just a touch, you've got yourself a game that even a horror fan such as myself is not necessarily eager to try and tackle. What happens is that you're in a labrynthine area full of dead ends and little hope. Sae, an evil 15 year old girl who was hung for ritual sacrifice, stalks you while eliciting horrifying laughs and a exhibiting a taste for death. Go ahead, run into a different, close the door behind you. Sae will open it up and follow you right in there. Hide in a closet, hope for the best, but if she thinks he knows where you are, she'll open that door right up. In the split second opportunity you'll have to run, you'd better hope you don't find a dead end, or you will indeed be finished. You can't kill her, you can't hurt her, you can only run. And in most instances, you'll only be delaying the inevitable. This very situation taps into my greatest type of fear when it comes to gaming, and for that reason, even if I am unfamiliar with this character and series, Sae ranks highly on this list.

3. Piggsy (Manhunt, Playstation 2) - "Holy Shit!" is the first thing I remember saying when I first encountered Piggsy at the end of what I often call my second favorite video game of all time, Manhunt. You get the Leatherface experience with this character in slightly different packaging. Piggsy is a crazed, naked man who wears a pig's head as a mask, starring in many snuff films by Lionel Starkweather, an ex direction who essentially owns the city of Carcer. Oh, and I forgot to mention, as you'll find while you're walking down the seemingly quiet hallway of a dilapidated attic-like area of Starkweather's mansion, Piggsy also has a loud, powerful and huge fucking chainsaw, which he introduces to you by running right at you from behind a corner, revving it up while screaming at you. Again, "Holy shit!" Instantly you'll run for the fucking hills while this obese man somehow manages to give you a frantic and brain-scrambling chase, the chainsaw roaring hungrily for your blood. With luck you'll find a shadowed area to hide in, while Piggsy stands just a few feet in front of you, searching the area as the motor of his massive-bladed chainsaw idles, intimidatingly. In fact, Piggsy may even try and trick you into dashing out into the open by revving up the chainsaw once again, even if he doesn't actually know where you are. In time, he'll lumber away to search elsewhere. You'll spend the first several moments of this time paralyzed with fear. When you can blink again, you may inch out of your hiding spot and take the nearby glass shard, trying to see if you can spot the location of the chainsaw-wielding maniac in the distance. You'll turn slightly, looking in a difference, direction, completely unaware than Piggsy has once again caught side of you from another angle until that saw revs up again and he charges you. As your brain and hands freeze in horror, you hope your mental capacity return in just enough enough for you to hold down that run button and get the hell out of there....

2. Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2, Playstation 2) - Pyramid head is easily one of the all time iconic video game villains, and also one of the most frightening. Admittedly, fans of this guy can prove to be irksome, especially if they are mainly familiar with the movie version of him. And sure, at times he may seem a bit overrated, but anyone who's truly played Silent Hill 2 knows that he didn't get his reputation for nothing. This bizarre character wields a huge knife that's so heavy, even he must drag it behind him. Sure, he may be slow, but if that knife does hit you...that's it. It's over. Not only that, but he follows you for the entirety of the game, the very embodiment of punishment. You may call him Pyramid Head, you may call him Crimson Pyramid, but you could also accurately call him the Executioner. No matter where you go, he's waiting for you, an unstoppable wraith hell bent on making you pay for your sins. The giant pyramid which makes up what you know to be his head conceals intentions and thought in a fortess of mystery, as he slowly approaches to put you down for all time. Encountering him in a tight space is the stuff of nightmares, and naturally is the way in which you will most often meet him. The battle you have with him early in the game in the stairwell will have you in a death drip of stress, as you are always no more than a foot or two out of the reach of his Great Knife, vieing for any position that may or may not be available. You'll put clip after clip of bullets in his head before he finally retreats, waiting to confront you again at a later time. And that's the truly horrifying part about Pyramid head. It's not so much having to see or fight him. It's that you KNOW he's going to come back. But you won't know where, and you won't know when. Pyramid Head would be a gross oversight if he were to be omitted from this collection, and although it may be a surprise to most that he doesn't make up the crown of this list, it is certainly expected of him to be positioned very high in the world of video game monsters.

1. Sinistar (Sinistar, Arcade Coin-Op) - "Run, Coward! Run Run Run!" There's only one thing worse than a giant, interstellar juggernaut chasing you down, hell bent on catching and devouring you. And that's hearing him tell you about it. Yes, Sinistar is the original badass of the video game world and with good reason. Never before had a video game villain had such personality and such charisma while being so unstoppable. The idea of Sinistar is that aliens are working to build a huge monster known as the Sinistar, a demonic face among a circular border which flies powerfully and without inhibition throughout the universe. To destroy this beast, you must take your tiny ship and shoot planetoids to mine crystals to make Sinibombs, made from the same crystals which are used to build Sinistar, himself. There is no time to fool around. The sounds of Sinistar's construction act as a ticking clock of sorts as you race to be ready for the monster once he is completed. "Beware, I live!" exclaims Sinistar from somewhere deep in space as he announces his own completion. You pray that you have enough bombs to smash the Sinistar as you race away, Sinistar hot in pursuit. "I hunger, coward!" He shouts, revealing his intentions. "Run, coward!" As the huge monster comes closer, you shoot off all of your Sinibombs. You hear his terrifying screams as the bombs connect. He has taken damage but a moment later you come to the heart-sinking realization that not all of the bombs connected, having been intercepted by planetoids and smaller aliens. And now Sinistar is after you, chasing you down with no distraction, no diversion, and no mercy, knocking planetoids out of his way as if they were mere marbles. He's right behind you, as you race as fast as you can into endless space, twisting and turning, unable to shake him. What will you do? The answer - nothing. You can do nothing now. Inevitably, Sinistar will catch up to you. "RAAAAAARGGHHH!" he roars as your ship spins out of control and is pulled to his mouth as if caught in a tractor beam. Finally, as you enter that terrible maw, his teeth snap snap down, shattering your ship into dozens of tiny pieces. Approximate play time: 35 seconds. It's hard to believe a game like this was available in 1982, and it's even harder to believe the cult following it still has, today. There is perhaps no game that imbodies a seemingly inescapable chase such as Midway's classic Sinistar. Perhaps no other game can instill this kind of stress and fear in the player, either. Sinistar was a game that was well ahead of its time, and Sinistar is a villain that simply can't be matched as a character or a villain. Sure, you can destroy him. But he'll be back. And one way or another...he's gonna get you. Although this character and game may not be expected by many comtempary gamers (better known as 'posers'), as a fan of classic gaming, I feel that Sinistar truly deserves to enjoy the top tier of the scariest video game monsters/villains of all time. He was groundbreaking, he was legendary, and most of all...he was terrifying.

~Richard


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Top Ten Horror Video Games

Happy Halloween!

Thia Halloween instead of candy, we're gonna to give you the Top Ten Horror Video Games. Clearly this list is very subjective but we'll do our best to explain our reasoning.

10: Friday the Thirteenth on the NES. Most people think of this title as the terrible epitome of LJN's game making career. However there's actually some genuine 8-bit terror going on here. The music is excellent, with the cabin theme taking the cake for some of the eeriest video game music of the 8bit era and the music when you encounter Jason is the perfect NES counterpoint to classic killer themes. The real terror though, comes when you make your way to one of the surprisingly labyrinthine cabins never knowing where exactly Jason going to pop up until BAM! he's on your screen.



See the rest after the break

Collection oddities: Mario and Zelda II Halloween Decorations

It's October 30th so it's quite and understatement to say we're a little behind on doing Halloween themed posts, but I've got a good one today: Some super vintage Mario and Zelda II Halloween decorations. We spotted these on auction a few weeks ago and HAD to have them.

This is an official set from 1989 with the official Nintendo seal of quality so you know you're getting only the finest crack approved by Nintendo. They're flocked too so you can finally fulfill your fantasies of stroking Mario's Velvet-Soft Pumpkin.

First up the Mario 2 side:

I'm a little disappointed that it's clearly just the same art we always see from Mario 2 merchandise stuck in with some Halloween themed stuff instead of new art. However, that being said Mario + Halloween=Happy Nerd , so I'm still thrilled with the concept enough that it's OK that it's old art.

Naturally there are some things I'm not as OK, like why doesn't even freaking Nintendo know that Bowser wasn't in Mario 2?

Dressing up Bowser like Wart does not make him Wart nor does it mean he was in the game. Wart was a frog if you played the game you know this, if you've forgotten here he is for reference:

Note how that's a frog and not the demon lizard turtle we've all come to love. The Bowser in Warts clothing problem plagued a lot of the merchandise from this period possibly due to Nintendo of America's inablity to make a frog character look like a frog instead of various other green creatures, but that's a long rant best left for another time.

Moving to more positive things, my favorite part is The Ninji with his little basket full of stars.

I never got stars for Halloween, but maybe it's because I never dressed as a Ninjii. I'll work on that for next year.

Next up the Zelda side:

As you can probably tell from many of my previous posts. I LOVE the Zelda series, I'm a little fanatical about it honestly. So I was even more excited about getting Zelda Halloween decorations than I was the Mario ones. That being said they're kind of a disappointment. They just used straight up Zelda art here they didn't even bother trying to incorporate random Halloween stuff. No I'm not saying that Stalfos aren't a creepy skeletons or that it's isn't an impressively rabid evil Goya.

But c'mon would it have been so hard to put Link in a pumpkin for me? Really?  Also not that I'm sad it's there, but is the Zelda II logo/title really an appropriate Halloween decoration? What's that supposed to say to the trick-or-treaters? Don't bother stopping here, the occupant is too engrossed in Zelda to care about candy? I can't see that there's really one highlight to this set, they're all great and full of Zelda-y goodness. Though if there's one thing I must point out it's that Link's tights are flocked which naturally just invites stroking, our set of decorations is sealed so I can't partake. However, I'm sure somewhere there's some fanfic which will allow me to live vicariously.

 Mostly though this set just makes me wish that Nintendo still made decorations so we could happily display these for a festive mood rather fiercely keep them in the original packing intact like the nerds we are.

~Stephanie

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Uzumaki Horror manga review

First off let's get one thing straight, Uzumaki has nothing to do with a certain blonde spikey
haired ninja, if You're looking for that you'll need to go elsewhere. If you're looking for one of the best horror themed graphic novels you can get your hands on, you'll be right at home.

Uzumaki isn't what most Americans would think of as your typical Japanese Horror manga. There aren't long haired shrine
maidens, no forbidden rituals, haunted video tapes, or vengeful ghosts, in fact pretty much no religion and no hauntings. What is does have though, is disturbing imagery, bizarre paranormal events and a complete descent into to madness.

Uzumaki translates into Spiral and tells the story of how an entire town becomes fixated, contaminated and possessed by the evil of the spiral. The concept seems completely silly at first, barring the hypnotism angle, spirals seem pretty benign. They are among the common and most primitive of human symbols Additionally, if you believe in Fibonacci's Spiral the entire world is possessed by spirals and most of us to seem to have gone crazy yet. But Junji Ito really pulls it off and while you may not be quaking in your bed after reading it, you should definitely be feeling some mental discomfort.

The story is told through the main character, Kirie. A pretty young girl who lives in the town with her parents and younger brother. One day she comes across her boyfriend's father staring at a snail shell on a wall, she attempts to talk to him, but he ignores her and she chalks it up to a case of mistaken identity. She tells her boyfriend, Shuichi about the incident who is sure that it was his father and that lately he has becomes completely obsessed with spirals and has been collecting them. Shuichi also confides in her that he feels that there's something wrong with the town, something that will drive them both crazy if they stay there. His father's obsession becomes worse and worse, until he decides he no longer needs the spiral collection, because he himself has the ability to become a spiral. This culminates in a particularity disturbing scene of his death. Stranger still, he is when cremated a column of black smoke spirals into the sky before spiraling down again into the dragonfly pond in the center of the city, and right next to Kirie's home. Shuichi's mother is driven mad after her husbands death and fears spirals. She becomes determined to rid body and environment of them, dying in the process. When she's cremated, the same smoke incident occurs and that's just the beginning.

Soon the towns people become stranger and stranger. More bizarre events and unexplained deaths begin happening and with every death and cremation the column of smoke spirals into the sky and down into the pond. Shuichi tries to convince Kirie that the town is contaminated and possessed by the spiral, things happen there that don't happen in other towns: swirling of the clouds, whirlwinds, whirlpools, and curled plants and begs her to leave with him before it's too late. Naturally Kirie believes he's just stressed after the deaths of his parents, but soon she founds out he was right and she and her family become contaminated by the spiral, but it's too late to leave.

The story gets progressively darker and more disturbing chapter by chapter as the true madness of the "spiral contamination" really starts to grip the town. As you follow the characters, it very easy to like them and really feel for their plight. Their circumstances are completely fantastic and not something we'd every really expect to see, but the character themselves react in ways that are human and normal. You believe that these people could really exist, they just happened to have been caught in a wave of bizarre and frightening circumstances. Which is exactly the sort of thing that scares us the most. That being said I do think a couple of chapters were missteps. Medusa in particular was just absurd as far as I'm concerned and really broke the mood. Having a hair battle isn't scary, it's funny. To be fair there's a bit of dark humor throughout, but a whole humorous chapter (if even that wasn't the intent) definitely breaks the suspense. I wasn't a big fan of the "mollusk people" either, it seemed to be going for something Like Kafka's Metamorphosis, but instead of conveying the sort of bleak misery and desperation of that story, the mollusk people just seem silly.

Graphically this manga looks older which might be a turn off to some readers. The character themselves remind me more of old shoujo characters than the sort of gritty style that I'd expect to see in horror. And there's it's not the same slick heavily shaded gore you'd find in something like Battle Royal. However, the imagery is fantastic, it's dark, detailed, disturbing and highly effective. The Mosquitoes, Jack in the Box and Black Lighthouse chapters in particular have some of the worst (the image is from black lighthouse). I won't post it here but there's an image in the mosquitoes chapter that gives a particularly warped and disturbing look at at childbirth and motherhood, probably one of the most disturbing images in the entire series and one that will stick with you long after you've closed it. The characters are extremely expressive, Ito does fantastic job of showing their wide range of emotions. Fear, disgust, horror, sadness, concern, determination and even love are all portrayed with accuracy and believability.

Uzumaki deserves it's place among horror classics, it's go great writing and fantastic imagery. Even if you're not interested in "traditional"J-horror, anybody with even a passive interest in the horror should read this. I've read a lot of horror comics and I can say this is one of the finest examples of the genre, from east or west.

~Stephanie

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Retro Review Tuesday: Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Atari

Today's retro review will be an extra special super vintage Atari double feature dedicated to the two releases by the short lived games division of Wizard Video, Halloween and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Introduction

It's a common cliche. "It's so bad it's almost good." Maybe that's not quite what describes Halloween on the Atari 2600. But something makes us keep coming back to it. Perhaps it's the repetitive music, the amusing death scenes, the character designs or maybe just the captivation of seeking an end to one of an entire generation of games not exactly known for having one.

Overvew

Michael Myers is loose in the house. You must run from this pixelated maniac and avoid his "attacks" until you can find the weapon and...well, you don't really stop him, you just...poke him and he...runs away. Then he comes back. Faster. Perhaps you...shouldn't have done that.

The controls are simple. If you're lucky enough to be enjoying this piece of work with a joystick then it's as simple as push up to move up, pull back for down, left goes left, right goes right and you can even move diagonally, Fancy! You can push the button to perform actions like controlling and using the weapon or drag one of the kids along as bait. (If you're on an emulator then it's whatever you set the controls to) Overall, the function doesn't seem to be too bad.

The graphics of the game are Atari graphics. What else can be said. Your character does manage to be clearly female, however, and everything is reasonably distinguishable. You can even tell that your lives are represented by what are supposed to be pumpkins.

The music is...yeah, get used to the music. The classic score from the Halloween series plays every time you see Michael Myers on the screen (And you'll see him on just about every single screen). Although when he's not yet present the lack of music can almost be seen as...eerie?

Gameplay

You start off inside the corridor of a "house" consisting of a random collection of hallways. Right away, Michael will come after you, just stabbing his "knife" over and over. Contain your laughter, (although, really...just look at that) and run to either end of the screen to switch areas. Unless you're at the end of a hallway, Michael will appear in the next area and just about everywhere you go. Some areas will have a "door" you can run through to change areas of the house or you can change floors by going through the doors at the hallway ends. Some uppers rooms flash from light to dark, blinding you to your own whereabouts and the position of Michael, often proving to be problematic for you, if not fatal.

The game can actually manage to "scare" you since Michael doesn't always appear at the same time, or from the same areas. He can appear from the right, from the left, or even from a doorway, and this can cause you to jump a little, especially if you're heading in that direction. It's especially bad in flashing room where it's difficult to tell where your own character is.

Ultimately the goal is to lead the children you're babysitting to the safe rooms, the ends of the hall. The truly glorious thing about this is that Michael seems to be more interesting in killing them than you. Sure, perhaps that's not how it works in the actual series, but who's to prove if your character is even Laurie? Frankly I've taken to calling her Connie just for the hell of it. Maybe it says for certain in the booklet who exactly Connie/Laurie/Ms.Feminine pixels is, but I don't have that luxury. Anyway, by pushing the button, you can take children with you or just use them as bait to distract Michael while you haul ass out of there. This becomes especially useful the further you get in the game. When Michael touches them, he decapitates them so you lose a chance to save one but it's better their heads than yours. The hardest part will be trying not to laugh, and leaving the area.

Additionally, you're looking for the "weapon" to use against Michael so that you may gain points. What kind of weapon is it? Who knows. Maybe you see a knife. Maybe you see a hammer. Maybe you're something of a cynic and just see a collection of black pixels, but at any rate, when you find this item, you push the button while standing over it to pick it up. Then, once you encounter Michael again, you wait until he's just about on top of you, and push the button to "thrust" your weapon, giving him a real mean poking, and he'll run away until...you change rooms. Do this twice or save enough children and you'll go up a level. Meaning when you see him again, he'll be faster. Eventually, he'll get so fast that he matches your speed and you can no longer outrun him, just avoid touching him.

Should you let ol' Stabby get too close, before you know what could have possibly actually happened in your altercation, you'll find yourself headless, with delightful little "blood" pixels erupting from your neck. Not unlike a beheaded chicken, you run away, seemingly in distress, off the screen. You've now lost a life. .You repeat this process until you lose all three. Then the game is over, and there's nothing else to do now but reflect upon this interesting little experience. If there's an end other that to this game, most people, including us, wouldn't know about it.

Conclusion

If you're a horror fan, a retro-gaming fan, or like me, both, then honestly, this is a must have for your own Collection of Geekery. However, this game is incredibly rare, and expensive for just a used, boxless copy. So it would be unrealistic for me to tell you to go buy it. However, if you've got a computer (and I have it under decent authority that you do) you just may want to download this oddity. It's certainly one hell of a novelty, and it's hard not to somehow enjoy it.

~RM

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Introduction

Even back in 1983 companies were trying to bombard consumers with different incarnations of their franchises by marketing shoddy poorly conceived merchandise. Wizard Video was no different. Being the original home video distributors of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre they thought it would be a great money maker to introduce their film and themselves to the budding video game market. The result was not well received by most consumers but it was innovative. It brought the first horror video game into the home market, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Overview

In a role reversal from most of the survival horror games of today, you play as Leatherface, the terrifying chainsaw wielding nutjob. Your goal is simple, to kill as many screaming Texan women as possible before you run out of gas.

Controls are simple, it is an Atari joystick after all. But, it's still got everything you need to be a killing machine. You move up down left and right with the joystick and run the chainsaw with the button.

Soundwise it's pretty standard for the Atari. There's the sound of Leatherface walking, the sound of firing up your chainsaw, the shrill beep (scream) of a potential victim and the sound of a triumphant kill.

Graphically, once again, it's an Atari game, you can't expect much if you're used to all sorts of newfangled 3d rendered perfectly polished games. But for the time period they were pretty good. Everything is easily recognizable from the girls, to the cow skulls to the truck in the background. There's even enough detail on Leatherface to give him a grimace. My only real complaint here is that Leatherface's chainsaw is the saw color as his body leaving things open to some rather unwholesome conclusions.

Gameplay

The game starts of with you as Leatherface out in the Texas countryside looking for fresh young victims. You can walk either left or right seeking your prey. You'll know you've found one when you hear the extremely shrill beep to signify their screams. You're faster than they are so if you just keep up the chase you'll eventually get close enough to use the chainsaw leaving a bloodied corpse in your wake. Though you'd better enjoy it in the moment because it disappears pretty quickly leaving you to wander off looking for another victim to quench your blood lust.

This sounds pretty easy so far, but it wouldn't be much of a game without a few obstacles to overcome. The first of which is gas, your chainsaw uses a bit of gas while you're just standing around letting it idle and it uses considerably more every time you fire it up. Leatherface can only carry enough for three refills so no matter how important it makes you feel, it's best not to leave the chainsaw running when you're not using it on some poor woman.

The Second problem is that on your way to the fresh meat you'll have to avoid fences, bushes cow skulls and wheelchairs (one has to wonder if the developers of the silent hill series started off their young lives playing this game). If you run into one of these obstacles you'll have to use your all purpose handy dandy chainsaw to cut it out of the way using some of your precious gas in the process.

The final obstacles is your victims themselves. The women will try to dodge you when you get close and will change directions, suddenly appearing on the other side of you This is not only annoying, but a big gas waster. The women in pink seem to be slightly more prone to doing this effectively.

Once you've used up all your gas by either slaughtering victims or cow skulls, the screen goes black and Leatherface is left with a useless chainsaw. Meaning Leatherface himself is totally powerless. While a stationary useless Leatherface sits on screen grimacing off into oblivion one of his potential victims comes up behind him and gives him a sift kick ending the game.

Conclusion

While wantonly killing is fun and a great stress reliever for a short period, it gets pretty old pretty quickly unless you've got friends to play and compare scores with. Playing it makes it pretty clear that it wasn't ever supposed to be a great video game, only a great marketing ploy.
However while not the best Atari game you can play, not by a long shot, this game has earned is place in the annals of classic gaming for it's unique "killer perspective" and bringing video game horror into the home.

~Stephanie

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