Mad Nurse
A controversial 1984 game about rescuing babies in a ward.
Mad Nurse, a 1984 video game for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, was coded by Simon Pick and released by Firebird Software Ltd. The player controls a nurse who moves between three floors of a children's ward via a lift, tasked with retrieving babies that have crawled from their cots. The goal is to return them before they drink medicine, touch power points, or fall down lift shafts. The player manages three trainee nurses, each able to survive three mishaps, and can use stun‑gas to calm unruly children. Room furniture layouts change with each game.
Development cost £650. Firebird initially rejected the game because the depiction of dying babies was too controversial, but reversed its decision after a change in the head of development. Some retailers also refused to stock it. The game's music adapts the friska from Franz Liszt's *Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2* and Johannes Brahms' *Brahms' Lullaby*.
*Crash* magazine described *Mad Nurse* as a dull game masked by a few decent graphics.
- field
- Video game
- platforms
- Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
- developer
- Simon Pick
- publisher
- Firebird Software Ltd.
- year
- 1984
- budget
- £650
Lore & Background
Mad Nurse was programmed by Simon Pick and published by Firebird Software Ltd. in 1984 for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The game had a budget of £650. Firebird initially refused to publish the game because dying babies were too controversial, but changed their minds when their post of head of development changed hands. Some outlets also refused to sell the game.
Reader's Guide
Mad Nurse is a video game from 1984 that stands out for its controversial subject matter: the player controls a nurse overseeing three floors of a children's ward, moving between them via a lift to pick up babies who crawl out of their cots and return them before they can drink medicine, touch power points, or fall down lift shafts. The player manages three trainee nurses who can each sustain three mishaps, uses stun‑gas to subdue unruly children, and navigates rooms whose furniture layouts change each game. The game's music is adopted from Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt (the friska in the second section) and Brahms' Lullaby by Johannes Brahms. Reception was mixed: Crash called Mad Nurse a dull game covered up with a few neat graphics. Its legacy lies in its controversial development history and its place as an example of early 1980s British video game publishing.
Did You Know?
- Mad Nurse had a budget of £650.
- Firebird initially refused to publish the game because dying babies were too controversial.
- The music in the game is adopted from Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt and Brahms' Lullaby by Johannes Brahms.
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