Fester's Quest (NES)

The Addams Family: Fester's Quest

Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System Year: 1989 Developer: Sunsoft

For other games in the series, see The Addams Family.

Fester's Quest (also known as Uncle Fester's Quest: The Addams Family) is a top-down action-adventure game developed and published by Sunsoft.

Grandmama predicts an alien UFO that will come and invade the city, but the rest of the Addams Family didn't believe her. Then, one night, while Uncle Fester is "moonbathing", the UFO Gradnmama predicted shows up and abducts everyone in the city. It is up to Uncle Fester to defeat the alien force and save the city.

The game plays from an overhead perspective, and takes place over a giant map. Uncle Fester must traverse through the city streets, as well as finding his way through the underground sewers to reach the UFO. Fester can upgrade (and downgrade) his weapon, and can obtain useful items by locating the various members of the Addams Family. In addition, Fester much search through buildings to reach the boss of each area. Each time a boss is defeated, Fester will collect a piece of map which is the blueprints of the UFO. There are various alien lifeforms to battle on the streets and in the sewers. Dispatching one can reward the player with items such as money, weapons upgrades (and downgrades), and money. Fester must also obtain keys from enemies which allows him entry into the buildings throughout the city.

Fester's Quest received negative reviews from players and critics alike, and for good reason, as the game is notorious for being plagued with several gameplay flaws. Some of the gun upgrades hit the wall and move in a wave-like pattern, rendering them useless. This is especially true in the sewers which are narrow passageways. In addition, while the game offers a continue feature, it also punishes the player by sending them all the way back to the start of the game, whilst keeping their weapons upgrades and map pieces. The European version actually fixed the gun issue, in which projectiles can go through walls, making the game significantly easier, but still very difficult.

The game was designed in the USA by Richard Robbins (with assistance from Michael Mendheim), who had to convince the Japanese development team at Sunsoft that the idea would work. In addition, he also had to convince Charles Addams' wife of the same in order to give him permission to use the Addams Family property. The game was under heavy time constraints, so there was not enough time to add polish to it. On the lack of a save feature, Robbins also explained that due to teleport codes being available during development, he didn't think to ask for a save feature to be implemented. Robbins also explained that most of the development team of this game also worked on Blaster Master (NES). According to Robbins, he got the concept of the game when he had a dream about a game called "Fester's Fun House", in reference to Pee-Wee's Playhouse which was airing around the time of the game's development.

Screenshots

The title screen. Battling mutant frogs on the streets. Making my way through the complex sewer system. Fighting one of the bosses. Game Over.

This page needs more screenshots.

Music

Out of all the game's faults, the music is perhaps the one thing that sticks out from the game. Most of the music is fast action-packed anthems to immerse the player into the role of Uncle Fester trying to save the city. Each major section of the game gets its own theme, and some music is used in multiple areas. In the buildings, you get a slow, suspenseful tune to accompany you as you try to find your way out. The boss music is epic and starts out in the 7/8 time signature.

Naoki Kodaka sent Sunsoft his compositions, likely through either a score or other tangible media, and Naohisa Morota implemented it into code using Sunsoft's sound driver by Akito Takeuchi. The game makes use of the DPCM channel of the 2A03 by using orchestra hits and a slap bass. The driver also makes use of using the square and noise channels together for more realistic drums and percussion.

There is also an unused song in the game's code, primarily featuring the slap bass. It is likely the song was intended to test the samples in the sound driver.

The song titles are taken from the NSFE file.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Listen	Download
01	Opening	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	1:01		Download
02	Title Screen / Ending	Vic Mizzy, Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	0:41		Download
03	Outside Streets / Final Boss	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	2:14		Download
04	Underground Sewers	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	3:40		Download
05	Building (3-D Hallway)	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	1:25		Download
06	Boss Battle / Mothership (UFO Platform)	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	1:14		Download
07	You Rang? (Noose)	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	0:05		Download
08	Mothership Defeated (Game Clear)	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	0:53		Download
09	Game Over	Vic Mizzy, Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	0:10		Download
10	Title Screen / Ending (Alternate)	Vic Mizzy, Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	0:43		Download
11	Unused Theme	Naoki Kodaka	Naohisa Morota	1:23		Download

Credits

• Ripper: MrNorbert1994
• Recorder: Doommaster1994
• Game Credits:
  • Uncredited Composer: Naoki Kodaka
  • Uncredited Composer: Vic Mizzy
  • Uncredited Arranger/Sound Effects: Naohisa Morota
  • Uncredited Sound Driver: Akito Takeuchi

(Source: Verification from game's producer; Game lacks credits)

The game does not have credits. At the end of the game, a Sunsoft copyright screen is displayed and stays until you turn off the game. We have received verification from Hiroaki Higashiya that Naoki Kodaka composed the game's music while Naohisa Morota arranged his music to the target console and did the sound effects.

Game Rip

Format	Download
	N/A

Ripping NES music is an arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site. The music was recorded in NSFPlay Synthesia mod.

Audio Devices

The game uses the NES's RP2A03. The game uses the Sunsoft sound driver, written by Akito Takeuchi.

Releases

USA Title: The Addams Family: Fester's Quest Platform: NES Released: 1989-09-?? Publisher: Sunsoft     UK Title: The Addams Family: Fester's Quest Platform: NES Released: 1990-09-14 Publisher: Sunsoft

Links

• gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/563413-festers-quest/ - GameFAQs.
• mobygames.com/game/11116/festers-quest/ - Mobygames.
• kidfenris.com/2014/11/interview-festers-quest.html - Interview with Kid Fenris.