Granny Vinnie Reviews

7800 Rank: 2nd Genre Rank: (Action/Adventure) 2nd Awards: 2nd Best Originality, 3rd Best Value Caving with Frog Men with Hot Legs Pros: Varied Gameplay/ Excellent Boss Battles Cons: Story may be Too Silly for Some Dr. Evil has the Big Head

Overview: This was the last game made for the 7800. The design team must have dropped a few hits of acid at the farewell party when they came up with the idea for this weird game. Grandpa Munster (but only referred to as Grandpa so Atari wouldn't have to pay for the Munster name) makes an appearance in Midnight Mutants as your own personal Grandpa. Obviously, you must have been Marilyn’s son because you are a plain looking 12 year old boy, not a werewolf or a mummy. As you and Grandpa look for the perfect pumpkin for your Halloween jack-o-lantern, you run across an evil optometrist (aren't they all?). Aptly named Dr. Evil, he has just recently risen from the dead and is out to seek revenge for being burned at the stake. He takes his rage out on Grandpa and has imprisoned him in a plasma pumpkin (the best kind of pumpkin for holding hostages). Since Grandpa is stuck in his makeshift cell, it's all up to you to find items and weapons so you can defeat Dr. Evil and free Grandpa Munster!

Graphics: Graphics are real solid in this wacky game. This game is pretty darn big for a 7800 game, and most backgrounds are done well. Characters are big and detailed, and there is over 15 different kinds of bad guys you will face. Most are mutant zombies with different heads: normal heads, no heads, diamond heads, wolf heads, heads on two foot necks. Believe me, you will get your fill of cranium variances. The best graphics are actually seen when you destroy a mutant zombie. It looks like they swallowed a hand grenade. Believe me, this is a good thing! Maybe the next best graphics are the three boss scenes. Though you just kind of float in space, the huge mutated boss heads are detailed and look cool. (See, more heads) Even the hit/menu screen is well done and is even easy to navigate. Grandpa's fat head is there, and though he is enclosed in a pumpkin, he doesn't seem to be very uncomfortable. The Grandpa head is detailed and big enough for old women to photograph and to put on their walls to lust after.

Sound: Well this is your typical 7800 game sound wise, but there are several tunes that are catchy and non-annoying. I've got one ping-ponging through my head right now. I think it is real interesting that the dark cavern music is the same as Fatal Run's background audio. And consequently, the worst audio loop in the game. Sound effects are standard 7800 fare, complete with some events taking place with no audio. But, the sound effects they have included are pretty solid.

Gameplay: The gameplay is simple and easy to grasp. Basically, when you have a weapon, you just fire away. It is real fun when you get the highest rated projectile, the Master Blaster, because mowing down hordes of zombies makes you feel like Rambo. The only programming flaw that I see is the way the background and the line the main character walks along is not aligned correctly sometimes. On a few boards, it's off by a few degrees, so the boy looks like he's drunk or his right leg is shorter than the other. He just kind veers to the right. I also don't like how he can't move diagonally. If you can get over these small complaints, you will find you have a great game on your hands. The menu is easily brought up with a click of the right button. There you can sift through the easy to understand inventory, or listen to the old bat ramble. Sometimes Grandpa has sage advice, but at other times he sings songs or asks if you've been a good boy. Well, Grandpa is getting senile, children. Jimmy is easy to control, although firing at something above or below you will take some practice.

Originality: Talk about original...or should I say quirky. Though the game reminds me of an old Zelda game of search and destroy, it's only because of basic early 90's adventure game principals. The game has a plot unlike any we have never seen before or since this game was released. I wonder what the programmers were smoking in the Atari bathrooms. This game is really ridiculous. Especially the one sentence quips that appear at the top of the screen when you enter a new board. Quips like, "Damon kept a collection human eyeballs," "The air smells of doom," "Damon Mohler was a feared Optometrist," "Simon's Experiments involved body fluids from his rams," or the ever insightful "Walking dead don't need shoes."

Value: This game could have been a tough game to beat. But between the hints in the instruction manual, the detailed map in the instruction manual, and Grandpa constantly giving you clues, this game is an easy game to navigate through. The hardest challenge comes from the final two bosses, especially Dr. Evil. This will have you coming back for more several times until you beat the fool. Another part of the game that will have you pulling your hair out are the seemingly endless woods, caverns, and the pumpkin patches. The trick here is not getting frustrated and trying to race past everyone. All this will do is get yourself beat up. You have to be patient my child.

Overall: As far as a true adventure game goes, this was the only one released on the 7800, and it was a darn good one. The story might be very silly, but it is actually very deep. Still, I have a hard time trying to figure out what the differences are between Simon, Damon and Dr. Evil, but hey, you don't really need to know. Again, I think what hurts this game more than anything is all of the help the instruction manual and Grandpa gives you. But that was before the infamous hint guides started selling for 12 bucks a pop. If you like RPGs, adventure games, or big Grandpa Munster heads, Midnight Mutants is a must have.





Other Reviews:
CV's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo: 4.5 out of 5.0 (Excellent)
Digital Press: 9 out of 10
Video Game Critic: B
Atari Gaming Headquarters: 8 out of 10
The Atari Times: 8 out of 10





Additional Info: I would like to take this time to thank Mitch Orman, owner of The Atari 7800 Page for allowing the use of his screenshots for this review.

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Fighting the bosses Cutting down Zombies Exploring the mazes/ caverns/ woods Grandpa's witty remarks Searching for items

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