‘90s Apogee Adventure ‘Monster Bash’ Gets Shocking Remastered Steam Release, Out Now

Talk about a blast from the past with hard plastic case covered 3.5" floppy disks. There's a horror story for you!

An updated adventure 30 Halloweens in the making

DALLAS — Oct. 29, 2021 —Monster Bash HD, the remaster of the classic bash'em and smash'em adventure from the legendary Apogee Entertainment, rises from the dead today on Steam for PC and Linux with a surprise reveal and launch in the Steam Halloween Sale. Fall under the spell of this stunning definitive edition thanks to the costumed wizards at Emberheart Games, who celebrate the spooky season with retouched graphics, a level editor with Steam Workshop support, new secrets, leaderboards, and more.

The blood moon rises and the time is nigh for a haunting rewind to the early ‘90s, when Monster Bash delighted and frightened in equal measure. One of the most challenging games of its time, Monster Bash packed 28 (!) scary levels full of witches, zombies, demons, and puzzles. As Johnny Dash, venture into the Underworld to rescue kidnapped pets from the villainous Count Chuck. Fend off creepies with a slingshot, save your beloved dog Tex, and wake Johnny from this nightmare.

Whether returning to the Underworld or setting foot for the first time, enjoy touch-ups like new environmental effects, smoother and improved gameplay, and support for modern resolutions. These updates and enhancements preserve the nostalgic look and feel of Monster Bash, but there’s even more to love with brand-new secrets and hidden achievements in fan-favorite levels. That’s right—for the second time this year, Apogee is releasing new content for a 30-year-old game. Madness!

Track progress against friends while pushing for every last extra point to dominate online leaderboards. Make an even better game (good luck!) with the new level editor, powered by Steam Workshop. Bash some baddies anywhere with cloud save support and take your best shot at new difficulty levels. But don’t worry—Apogee didn’t touch the soundtrack.

“We’re learning a ton from today’s talented developers about how to bridge the gap between our past and present,” said Scott Miller, Apogee founder and game industry pioneer of shareware, episodic releases, bullet time, and more. “It’s the perfect time of year to revisit Monster Bash and update the classic to scare a whole new generation, plus the seasoned gamers who’ve been with us since the beginning.”

Monster Bash HD smashes its way onto Steam for PC and Linux today for $9.99 / £7.19 / 8,19€ with English language support. To see what Apogee’s up to next, follow the legendary studio on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord.

About Apogee Entertainment

Apogee Software’s pioneering journey began in 1987, when Scott Miller decided to split his new game, Kingdom of Kroz, into three episodes, with the first episode available as free shareware. The “Apogee model” of distribution revolutionized PC gaming at the time and catapulted Apogee Software to global renown. As an indie publisher, Apogee (and it's later incarnation, 3D Realms) would introduce the world to id Software, Remedy Entertainment, Parallax Software, and other video game superstars in the making. As a developer, Apogee would innovate and inspire in equal measure, creating treasured characters and franchises like Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, and Prey en route to earning over a billion dollars in commercial revenue.

The new Apogee Entertainment, with founder Scott Miller and longtime partner Terry Nagy at the helm, will empower today’s incredibly talented indie developers, paving the way for their global success with innovative ideas, cutting-edge marketing, and the same fearlessness that changed the industry.

Posted by Pierre-Yves

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Pumpkin Jack - PC Review

Pumpkin Jack by developer Nicolas Meyssonnier and publishers Headup, Beep Japan—PC (Steam) review written by Susan N with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Pumpkin Jack is a Halloween inspired 3D platformer that amuses its players with hilarity and simplicity. This is no Spelunky in difficulty so don't expect it to be a rough experience. It also has a unique feature that I enjoyed, so let's jump into it!

Gameplay

At the beginning of the game we learn that the Devil is bored with peace and happiness, so he unleashes a curse on the lands. But the humans find a wizard to thwart the devils' plans. Jack is sent by the devil to get rid of the wizard. In the meantime, we get to cause all types of mayhem by destroying crates and corn husks which also drops healing orbs. In some cases, lanterns will cause a fire that we are not immune to!

We have a special ability that is similar to a magic missile from Dungeons & Dragons. It is useful for bringing down drawbridges and hitting ranged creatures. But the primary weapons are a shovel, a sword, and a scythe!

Players are introduced to characters that make me appreciate the writers of Pumpkin Jack. When you meet one of them, he says to you, "I'm a salesman." Jack retorts, "Well now I just want to kill you anyway." This interaction had me in hysterics because - well - evil!

There are many other brilliant moments throughout the game that contribute to its overall charm. After every death, the game keeps a counter! Twitch streamers can rejoice knowing that they don't have to set up a manual counter. *cackles*

Another unique feature of Pumpkin Jack is the ability to take off your head to participate in a couple of mini-games. I'm not even joking! The pumpkin head has plantlike legs to move around and it's hilarious. It adds a different element to the platforming genre and I can't tell you how entertaining it is. I loved every minute of this. Besides, how could you not love this head? (See below.)

Collectibles

There are two types of collectibles in the game.

Crow Skulls which are used to purchase 'skins'. I put that in quotes is that when players get skins, they are buying literal skins. Talk about keeping a creepy aesthetic!

Gramophones which shows a fun cutscene of Jack dancing! Considering the idea behind this game, it fits and I'm here for it. Trust me, this is worth playing!

Other Points

If there is anything to criticize about Pumpkin Jack, it's that water is continuously seen as bad in video games - especially in platformers - and I'm tired of it. Honestly. Water is not a bad thing and I rarely see them not being pools of death! But the real issue with it is that there were multiple times when I fell off a platform that landed me UNDER the water. Yet for some reason, I was still alive? I then jumped out of it so that I could continue the level but instead, I died because of the surface. Huh? This occurred a couple of times and I think that it needs to be fixed.

Graphics and UI

I have to say that part of the appeal of Pumpkin Jack is graphical aesthetics. I do enjoy the art style of the game which includes the hand-drawn pictures, level design, and atmospheric additions. The cornstalks and the cauldrons are nice touches. I also loved the evil wizard, a conniving witch, and a mummy wrapped skeleton as characters.

That said, I was elated when I discovered a few options included in Pumpkin Jack. For one thing, it has camera sensitivity options that help players like me who are finicky about such things.

Another element that I'm thankful for is the ability to choose which type of gamepad you are playing with! It is very uncommon to find a controller focused game that displays either the PlayStation buttons OR the Xbox buttons without defaulting to one type. As a person that grew up with computers, not consoles, I appreciate this feature.

In terms of the user experience, I found Pumpkin Jack to be quite well optimized. The camera was quite smooth and I didn't find any places where there were graphics glitches, which is good. There didn't appear to be any places to sneak off the map area either, which is a rarity.

Audio and Music

The music in Pumpkin Jack is something I want to focus on because I adore the compositions. During different sections like the horse racing or the trips on railway tracks, the music featured was a neat blend of synthesized sounds and classical music.

The official soundtrack was composed by Yohan Jager who lives in Montreal, Quebec. He combined the distinct sounds of church bells, synthesized drums, and deep tones in a few of the compositions to achieve the evil vibe of the game. In other pieces, he uses something that sounds like a dogs' squeaky toy. And if that doesn't explain it well, I don't know what does.

However, what I love about the music he created is that keen listeners can hear its classical influences. Notable inspirations are the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini and Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Listen to the creepy version of Willian Tell Overture here:

Check out Yohan Jagers Social Media here:

• Website: https://www.yohanjager.com

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/edgarlerouge

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/60vevdDdMEBmpeONqaWBLs

• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/edgarlerouge

• Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/album/pumpkin-jack-original-game-soundtrack/1535200378?l=fr

Pumpkin Jack Thought

Pumpkin Jack is a fantastic experience for a few hours of gameplay. It's witty and caused me to laugh at multiple points. The game has brilliantly composed music and excellent audio quality. Its graphics are spectacular considering the game was developed by one person. This is especially important because I did not find any graphics glitches or ways to cheat my way into places.

No game is truly perfect, as is the case with Pumpkin Jack. At one point, I was platforming away and ended up missing a jump. I fell into the water and it didn't kill me. Imagine my surprise when I tried to hop up, to instantly die. This might have been a glitch but there were a couple of points where this happened during my playthrough.

Summary

Overall, Pumpkin Jack is a hilarious platforming experience that had me smiling from ear to ear. It absorbed a few hours of time and I loved taking my head off for a bit (literally). This is a game that will amuse fans of the genre. As such, I give Pumpkin Jack a 9 out of 10!

Score: 9 / 10

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Phantom Halls - PC Review

Earlier this year I got the chance to take my first steps into the Phantom Halls of an evil house up on a hill. Armed with baseball bats, shotguns, molotov cocktails and a good old fashioned set of legs to help you run away from the monsters, join up with a Goth, a Cheerleader, your typical book Nerd and a Jock in order to combat the evil of the house before it escapes into the nearby town.

Feeling a tad like an adult Scooby-doo episodes once the monsters come out to play, Phantom Halls is a lot of fun. Each Stage gives you an objective as to why you would put one or more of your available “cast” into danger by sending them into the house. Once inside of these evil halls, all bets are off until you finally trigger the “end-game” in which the quiet and horror inspiring darkness turns to a crimson red making you want to do nothing more than run for dear life as everything is now truly out to kill you instead of simply wanting to kill you on sight!

What makes Phantom Halls neat, especially for a horror themed title, is that it’s not scary. The atmosphere will settle in making you cautious but for the most part when moving from left to right across each hall and the rooms that they connect to, your biggest worry will be how many weapons your packing, if you have any health kits left and how you’re going to tackle the obstacles before you.

Not all foes are created equally and while sometimes a good bat to the head of a zombie will do the trick, you’ll need to be a bit more creative with skeletons that launch their own bones at you or maggots that explode upon contact damaging you regardless of how long your stick was. It’s a good thing that there are ranged weapons and that often enough, there’s more than one of you!

In Phantom Halls you don't just control a single character, you can control multiple simultaneously. While this sounds a bit daunting at first, it becomes rather simple once you realize that your characters move in a group and that they all aim wherever your cursor is pointing together. This can sometimes be a bit tricky when dealing with both melee and ranged weapons but each character has been assigned an attack key that is precisely above the A and D keys to move left or right. If you only want to deal with your main character then the left mouse click is enough to do the job as it will only trigger them into action.

You'll be seeing the house a lot but it doesn't get boring or repetitive. While you may see a lot of the same over and over, you're often going to be more concerned with that lurks within than whether or not you can move a clock or table to use as a barricade. With each run switching things up on the inside as well, you never know what you're in for.

In order to move further along your missions you're going to have to finish a couple first in order to buff up your party and their abilities. Each character has a skill tree with some passive abilities that can be leveled up as well as actual abilities to use while in mission. The cheerleader can heal while the jock can block damage and the goth can essentially make the party invisible. Each of these have a hefty cool down so you shouldn't use them unless you really have to as a minute can often feel like an eternity in this haunted house.

Phantom Halls was a lot of fun. I really appreciated the B-Horror esque feeling that it gave off which when combined with the graphics and the gameplay elements just worked. Having played in Early Access and now in Full Release, the gameplay was just as solid but the small additions and refinements just made an already good title that much better and this will be one worth coming back to especially for Halloween!

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Incendium LLC
Publisher(s):
Incendium LTD
Genre(s):
Side-Scroller
Shooter
Survival Horror
Mode(s):
Single Player
Local Coop
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Jaggy's Corner - Saturday October 27

As I mentioned last week, I'm covering Halloween game events. This week I'm covering Guild Wars 2's Halloween event which has seen some pleasant additions to this year's festivities.


In previous years, players could only do Mad King Says, the Labyrinth, the Mad King's Clocktower JP, and the Ascent to Madness Dungeon. This year ArenaNet included a couple more activities for players to take part in.

New Activities

First up is the new Mad King's Raceway where players speed through gravestones and fields filled with exploding pumpkins. Its inclusion is meant to showcase the drifting skills of the Roller Beetle mount. That said, I discovered that players can use any mount to win the race since some of us haven't yet mastered the beetle skills. (Believe it or not, I tend to use my precious Griffon for most of my adventuring.) It's fun, it's challenging, and I like that the race has its own map. Though, don't mistake it for taking the place of the race within the Labyrinth! That still exists.

Second up is the Lunatic Inquisition! Players in this area are PVPing but it is designed very differently than other holiday PVP matches like the Dragon Ball event or the Wintersday snowball fight. Players begin alive but without combat abilities. And instead of trying to get a certain number of points to win, players are trying to save the towns people by bringing various supplies. At the same time, players can still pick up items to fight other players who are also trying to save the towns people. Once a player dies, they are transferred to the other team which consists of the now dead players. Eventually the dead team of players will over take the towns helpers, but that doesn't guarantee a win. The objective of the dead players is to kill the players helping the town.

Did that make sense? If not, check it out in the game! I promise it is far more fun to experience than to describe. The concept is neat and I've enjoyed playing it when not farming for candy corn.

Thirdly, another skirmish called Reaper's Rumble was added to the game which requires the assistance of skeletons to assault the other team. There is some strategy to this game mode where players have to decide whether they are going to focus more on the skeleton army or raw pvp skill. Either the skeletons run across the map to take weaken the enemy base or players duke it out on the map. Perhaps the players will use both to their advantage. Stealth based players can hide in the fields which gives players invisibility only while in cover. The moment players step between patches or in the open, they lose their invisibility. As a result of the game mode's different style, it feels MOBA-like and certain savy players would recall that it was originally introduced in 2012!

On top of those new things, players have access to mount skins, new minis, and brought back favorites like the three Halloween Choya mini. If players don't want to spend money in the Black Lion Trading Company, they can get a single Halloween Gourdon Choya for 20 Candy Corn Cobs at one of the vendors in Lion's Arch.

As an aside, if you don't recall Gourdon the Choya, he's the one that wore bikini bottoms during the Festival of the Four Winds. *cackles*

Final Thoughts

I love participating in the Halloween event. It is my favorite time of year and I need that Choya mini in my life! It runs until November 2 and so don't miss out on all the fun activities!

And just to make this time of year extra special, for a limited time Guild Wars 2 is 50% off! Go buy it here if you don't have the new content in Heart of Thorns or Path of Fire.


Article by Susan N.

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Jaggy's Corner - Saturday October 20

Rocket League Halloween and More!

As we lead up to Halloween, I thought it'd be fun to cover some of the in game events in various video games. This first week, I will talk about Rocket League with all its changes and the Halloween swag.

Rocket League Overall

So far, this year has brought some exciting changes like the introduction to the Rocket Pass and a new competitive playlist. We've also seen the revival of a familiar organization coming back to the Rocket League scene, as well as Psyonix sponsored monthly events!

Renegade Cup

Psyonix graced the Rocket League community with a new tournament called the Renegade Cup, a $5000 prize pooled event with players who are not already competing in RLCS. That said, those who compete in the Rival Series are allowed to play in the Renegade Cup. These monthly tournaments will be running for a couple of months until there is a true Renegade Cup Finals, which will be announced closer to the main event, so keep your eyes peeled!

This tournament is split into two regions, one for North America and one for Europe – with some exceptions, and there are clear rules as to which countries are permitted. All of the relevant rules regarding these monthly tournaments can be found here.

The first Renegade Cup has been showcased on Rival Esports Twitch channel and it wraps up on October 24th and 25th. Be sure to tune in on Twitch for the finals! Also keep an eye out on their Twitter for all the information about the Renegade Cup.

Final Bracket A is set!

These 8 teams will be competing to get a piece of the $5,000 prize pool and to clinch a spot in the Renegade Cup Finals.

We'll see you back here on October 24th and 25th.

📝 https://t.co/jtbrUyqTHj
📺 https://t.co/PrabA45MBM#RenegadeCup pic.twitter.com/NnCnD7TFNz

— Rival Esports (@RivalEsportsGG) October 19, 2018

The Nexus comeback

Late in September, Nexus Gaming announced that they would be returning with Bi-Weekly tournaments. These tournaments have been going on strong for the last month and the community is happy that the organization came back from an unknown hiatus.

To make things juicier for the organization, Nexus applied for a spot to showcase the Renegade Tournament in November.

Nexus Gaming Presents:
Fall Frenzy - Sponsored by Psyonix
The North American Renegade Cup November Monthly!

Prizepool: $5000
Format: 3v3 NA
Signups open now until Oct. 30th!https://t.co/N7UsiQM4RG

We hope you're ready for all the action we have in store for you this November! pic.twitter.com/Q8NAWchqVT

— Nexus Gaming (@NexusGamingRL) October 17, 2018

Sign-ups for the tournament will continue until October 30th. It also has a prize pool of $5000. Any teams interested in signing up for the tournament can go to this link to register. Don't miss out!

Halloween Event

Tis the season many of us love, really I'm talking about myself here, which is the Haunted Hallows event! Players can collect candy corn from playing any online game, allowing the purchase of decals, banners, toppers, etc...  

The list of candy corn bought items are:

Decals

• Octane: Trick or Treat
• Breakout: Ghost Fever
• Mantis: Megabat
• Any Car: Arachnophobia

Toppers

• Candy Jack
• Haunted House

Wheels

• Demon Disc

Rocket Boost

• Night Terror

Banners

• Ghost Story

Titles

• Demolition Demon

Players can also purchase five Golden Pumpkins for 150 candy corn each. These are limited crates, though I've yet to discover their contents. (I know.. First world problems! There are so many awesome games to play!)

The Haunted Hallows event started on October 15th and will continue until November 5th so be sure to collect all the items!

Spoopy Thoughts

Psyonix also included another competitive playlist tab which allows players to rank in Dropshot, Hoops, Rumble, and Snow Day. Since implementation of these competitive modes, I've heard that many players have been playing them more than solo standards or standard!

Overall, I think Psyonix has scored when it comes to Rocket League updates. They continue to add more fun content, tournament possibilities, and quality of life changes (like better information about server connections to help with troubleshooting).

Anyways, over the coming weeks I'll cover a couple of other games and their Halloween events. Hopefully, there will be plenty of time to farm all the special rewards in each game. Personally, I'm trying to juggle four different games for the Halloween events (because I'm awesome like that!)

What do you guys think about the Halloween events? Which game has your favorite event and why?

Until next time!


Article by Susan N.

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That feeling of being behind in... everything!

I just cannot seem to get caught up over the last couple of weeks.  And going forward?  I can't imagine it's going to get much better for another week or two.  We have a wedding this weekend, Halloween coming up for our youngest, I am getting sent off in the near future for work for a bit... chaos people, chaos.  That's not to say things are all bad - just busy.  I'm still getting some gaming in, just in smaller doses than I would like.

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Gaming thoughts... 10/31/11 - Halloween edition

I like scary movies, and I love scary games. In honor of Halloween I thought I would do a quick rundown on some of my favorite spooky games from over the years.

My favorite scary game: Fatal Frame 2

The entire Fatal Frame series on the PlayStation 2 was amazing. My wife and I bought part 2 from a friend online with a couple of other games, and had no idea what we were getting. He needed money, I just wanted some cheap games. Turned out to be the creepiest game we had ever played, and we loved it. Went out and got the first Fatal Frame right afterward and played that, then when part 3 came out, we immediately bought and beat that one. We were disappointed when the Wii Fatal Frame was released in Japan, but not ported over here.

Good series:

- Silent Hill and Resident Evil

My entry into those games came on parts 2 for both. I've played a few over the years since, but never quite got into them the same way. Somewhere along the way, they became more action and less fright-oriented. Still good games, but the series definitely lost some fright-factor.

That said, I did pick up Silent Hill game for the Wii, which got solid reviews. I need to get around to playing and reviewing that one.

- Phantasmagoria:

What a mouthful, huh? Right about the time I met my wife, she and a friend of hers wanted to introduce me to this PC game. The graphics for the time were solid, and the gameplay was that of point-and-click adventure stuff. The storyline was decent, and it definitely had a creepy feel to it. Just don't bother with the second game in the series, where it goes from haunted house to aliens, if I recall correctly.

- Amnesia: The Dark Descent:

I talked about this title back when I reviewed the Potato Sack by Steam. As a game, it is a little clumsy in places. As an experience, this is probably one of the most atmospheric games I have played in awhile. The game is very creepy, and while the graphics engine is not the best, they make excellent use of what they have. Great independent title.

- Limbo:

Not really a horror game, but like Amnesia, this title sets up the atmosphere beautifully, and there are some genuinely creepy moments in the world of living shadows. Amazing title in my opinion.

Honorable mention:

- Dead Space

I still haven't played #2, which is odd since I absolutely loved #1. Sure, it's more "Aliens" scary that "Nightmare on Elm Street" with its sci-fi theme, but it's a good blend of action and tension.

Honorable mention - runner-up:

- Condemned series

These games were more akin to action titles, and I was not a huge fan of the storyline, but the titles themselves had me jumping here and there. The first person view and excellent use of light and sound had me on my toes throughout both titles. Condemned may have been the first suspense/horror title I played this console generation.

Dishonorable mention:

- Friday the Thirteenth on the NES

This may have been my first 'horror' game ever. I had never even seen any of the movies before playing this game, but Jason was an iconic figure by that time, and I knew I was supposed to be scared of him. Thing is, instead of 'horror' the game was simply 'horrible'. It was boring, repetitive and did not scare me in the least - it was quite a let down. Luckily the titles above it in this list have more than made up for this game's sins against me.

So, what about you? Any fans of horror games out there? If so, what are some favorites (or least favorites) and why?

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