Monster Bash

Monster Bash is a horror-themed platformer in which young Johnny Dash falls asleep, wakes up in a realm of monsters, and sets out to rescue kidnapped puppies and kittens. The enemies form a whole classic gallery of spooks, from skeletons through mummies and zombies to bats, and the player fends them off with a slingshot whose shots can be upgraded. Besides combat, the game is above all about exploration: the levels hide secret rooms, locked cages with animals, and bonuses tucked behind walls, so thoroughly searching the map matters just as much as reflexes. The layout of graveyards, cellars, and castle corridors is intricate, and the game happily rewards those who try even unconventional paths.

The game uses the same technological lineage as Apogee's other platformers of the time, so it runs smoothly and controls precisely. Visually, though, it stands apart with its dark palette, moonlight, cobwebs, and a wealth of small details that make it one of the most atmospheric DOS platformers. The horror charge is playful rather than truly scary, more in the style of childhood spooky tales. The soundtrack through a sound card uses gloomy themes with a dash of humor, and it's one of the reasons players remember this game so fondly. The slingshot can even fire diagonally upward, which is often the difference between surviving and a sudden end.

Monster Bash came out at a time when other genres were already gaining the upper hand on PC, so it didn't leave as strong a mark in the press of the day as the publisher's more famous titles, but it earned a solid place among shareware fans. Today it's a short yet very distinctive experience whose mood evokes an animated spooky fairy tale more than an action game. The difficulty is pleasantly balanced, the levels can be replayed, and the effort to rescue absolutely every animal gives a reason to come back. For fans of retro platformers, it's one of the best-aged pieces in the genre. Revisiting it, meanwhile, won't take more than one evening.