What Made Jekyll and Hyde (NES) So Bad?

A mainstay on the video game Hall of Shame, Jekyll and Hyde has remained as infamous as it has enigmatic. The AVGN's most hated game, what's so wrong with it? Why? What is even going on in this game??
Website: taigenmoon.com
Instagram: @retro.game.cellar
Music Used
Focus - Quake OST
Actor's Anteroom - Melty Blood OST
Ending Theme - Castlevania OST
Mostly the stage themes from this game's OST, shoutout Gbelair.

[@ruminator3570]

its calledl Jekyll and Hyde. Not Jekyll and.......
This game is like those water gun games you play at the carnival.

[@chuckbiscuits8407]

Dude when you discussed patterns and the music came on I literally laughed out loud. I’d like to think I’m not an easy laugh but that was awesome. Well done

[@ThePreciseClimber]

18:51 All these years later, I STILL have no idea what's the deal with Letule. It just raises so many questions. It's a specific villain with a specific name and design. That wasn't even in the book! What's his backstory? What does he want? What the hell is going on???
If they wanted a final boss, why couldn't it just be Jekyll vs. Hyde or Hyde vs. Shadow Hyde or whatever? Why go through the effort of creating a nemesis for Dr. Jekyll and not elaborating on him at all?

[@masonasaro2118]

from what i could gather letule is a demon that’s the reason the villagers have been attacking jekkyl, via a plauge of madness.

[@ASLB247]

4:49 actually, there is. I ended up playing this game a while ago on the NES and when I got to level 3, I figured it out…it’s the bomb maniac. Any time he appears, he causes any civilian on screen to go crazy and give you touch damage/deplete your stress meter.

[@AluminumFusion22]

I actually appreciate the vibe this game is going for. The music kind of establishes this regality of the Victorian era with something ugly brewing just underneath the surface, not unlike Doctor Jekyll. While the gameplay may be obtuse and frustrating, I can also appreciate the game's artistic merits as well, such as the lack of any on-screen text, so the game is told entirely through its visuals. Not a lot of NES games did that with such an emphasis on story. Super Mario Bros. barely has any "cutscenes" because it's primarily a simple side-scrolling platformer. I also appreciate the presentation of the game's final boss being in such an ambiguous way. Is Hyde fighting off an objectively greater evil? Is it the embodiment of Hyde himself? The end of the fight resulting in Hyde being pierced on the steeple of the church was something I didn't initially notice at first until close examination. That would make the game's True Ending make much more sense in my opinion, as it's saying that Jekyll, despite his best efforts, can never fully rid himself of his inner Hyde. That's why Hyde appears as a silhouette in the game's True Ending with the piece of the steeple through his torso. It may not be a good game, but it's definitely an interesting piece of art. There's definitely some artistic merit to it, I think.

[@thecinematicmind]

The Japanese title called Dr Jekyll’s Hour of the Wandering Monstrosity sounds more like the title for a review of the game.

[@TheCellarTaigenMoon]

Good one

[@luisreyes1963]

A game so rotten, makes you wonder if Nintendo gave it its seal of approval as a gag. 😖

[@GokuMcDuck]

Where did you get your Ave María song?

[@TheCellarTaigenMoon]

czcams.com/video/2H5rusicEnc/video.htmlsi=nQgyIDVo2xfzV9YT

[@skylinefever]

The AVGN recently beat Jekyll and Hyde for the NES and Famicom.

[@downtownbrown35]

I enjoyed this game.

[@noobfl]

actualy, the game idea is pretty neat, just not what modern gamers expected. the duality of Jekyll and Hyde is very well thought out.. also: if you beat the Hyde Part of the Game, the Jekyll part becomes realy idylic. its a a realy early take on "serious gaming", if today this kind of game would be made, it would be releaced on itchio. oh, and of cource, its a damn hard sucker of a game - but thats nothing, to complain, i mean, so is mega man, castlevania, metroid, vvvvvvv, super meat boy etc. pp.

[@childofcascadia]

FYI - Festers quest is actually ok if you play the PAL version. Walls dont absorb your gunshots and your guns do more damage, its way less frustrating to kill enemies. I mean is it a great game, no. But its nowhere near as bad as the NTSC version.