Ah, Friday the 13th on the Nintendo Entertainment System. This menacing little cart has gone on to have quite the legacy, being referred to as one of the worst games of all time since its release back in ’89. It’s easily the most criticism that’s been slung Jason Voorhees’s way since that time he got thawed out in the middle of space on the way to Earth 2.
If you popped this baddie into your NES expecting a mindless romp, you’re in for a scare, because Friday the 13th is an intense strategic operations simulator and survival horror ancestor disguised as a typical action game. Furthermore, diving headfirst into it without doing some extracurricular research into how it’s supposed to be played spells certain doom for you, because this cryptic game has one hell of a learning curve behind it.
You start the game with six camp counsellors who must run, jump and battle their way to the end of three days at Camp Crystal Lake, with the end goal being killing the machete-wielding slasher three separate times. I guess that means the game begins on the significantly less intimidating Tuesday the 10th. Each counsellor starts with the infamous rock weapon that arcs over enemies (unless you fire it while ducking), but you can quickly upgrade that piece of crap to a knife, and then to a machete, an axe, a torch, and a pitchfork…if you know how, that is.
As you traverse the camp, you’ll find plenty of cabins to duck into along the way. The small cabins are used as safe zones to switch between counsellors on the fly, while the bigger ones serve a different purpose. Once you’ve got your counsellor a lighter, they can use it to light fireplaces in the big cabins. Lighting fireplaces is basically a way to measure that specific counsellor’s progress through the game; once they’ve lit four, they can seek out a series of secret notes hidden away in cabins that will lead them to the torch weapon; one of the most effective weapons against Jason. By the way, lit fireplaces and found notes aren’t shared between your characters, meaning you have to repeat this process for each counsellor you want to have a torch. Sounding convoluted? That’s because it is.
So while you work your way towards getting your counsellors torches, Jason is being his usual murderous self behind the scenes. He’s constantly skulking around the camp in real-time, looking to spill the blood of any dumbass teenagers and not so happy campers that happen to be in his path of destruction. Once he launches an attack, you’ll be alerted to it thanks to a shrill beep that doesn’t stop until you head over to fight Jason back, he kills his victim, or 60 seconds pass, whichever happens first. If all six counsellors or all fifteen children die it’s game over, so you have to intercept his killing spree whenever it pops up.
Yes, whenever it pops up. It doesn’t matter how inconvenient this may be, or how far away you are from the problem area; if you want to make it to the end of the game, you need to drop everything you’re doing and go fight Jason ASAP. You repeat this game of killer cat and mouse while trying to upgrade your characters’ weapons until you eventually whittle Jason’s health bar down to zero. Drain his health two more times, and you win the game!
Friday the 13th is definitely not without its quirks. Heading to the left only to find the map says you’ve been heading to the right is something that makes zero sense. How frequently Jason decides to take a literal stab at the characters that need protecting can get aggravating, especially when you’re in the middle of trying to do something else. If you accidentally collect extra items, the other characters will miss out, because items are strictly finite. The fireplaces aren’t nearly as important as the game’s introduction and manual make them out to be. The difficulty spikes of the Jason battles between days is also irritating and unpredictable – trial and error being your only ally in a game that doesn’t allow you to bring your dead counsellors back to life is less than ideal. There’s a lot about it that’s simply unintuitive, which has turned off many a player over the years…and I understand that, buuuut…
I thought Friday the 13th was a real cool time. I found myself falling into a trance while navigating my way through the camp, and letting Jason run amok while picking up torches was a lot of fun once I actually understood what the heck I was doing. When I put the game down for the day, I found myself looking forward to getting further the next time I got to try for a good run.
Friday the 13th‘s biggest strength is in the heavy horror atmosphere it manages to convey, which I find very impressive for a game from this era. That they managed to still make Jason intimidating as he shambled around in his purple onesie is something to be praised. Sometimes while you’re wandering around the map, Jason will jump out of nowhere to attack you, with a startling sting of music accompanying his sudden appearance. It’s highly effective, and does a great job of replicating the tension that slasher movies have turned into a fine art. I’m not gonna lie, his sudden appearances made me jump more than a few times. The song that plays inside the cabins has quickly become one of my favourite NES tunes with its eerie, melancholic melody being the standout piece of music in the game by a mile. Friday the 13th is also a candidate for the darkest NES game of them all; being chased by a homicidal maniac as he takes time out of his busy schedule of murdering children in cold blood isn’t typical fare for the house that Mario built, to say the least.
Though the level of crypticness at play has mystified and irritated gamers over the years, Friday the 13th‘s rotten rep has finally begun to wane. Only somewhat, mind you; plenty of people still think this game sucks the big one. But in more recent times, folks have finally begun to see past the surface level faults and appreciate the eerie adventure that lies beyond them. If you think you’ve got the patience to learn the rules, you’re in for a cool time that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Something I’ve learned about myself over the course of my challenge to complete every NES title is that I really dig a game with a steep learning curve. Koei titles and Spelunker are just two examples that have managed to thoroughly capture my attention despite the difficulty and complicated rules that come with them. Friday the 13th was a pleasant surprise that I would absolutely play again in the future! Working my way through the camp and building up my characters until the hunter finally became the hunted…now that was satisfying. If this sounds as interesting as filing your taxes, however, it’s best to avoid Camp Crystal Lake like the plague…like those dopey counselors should in every Friday the 13th movie.
Final rating:
NESJunk 
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