Nightmare Busters
A long-lost SNES run and gun finally released.
Nightmare Busters is a run and gun action game for the Super Nintendo, created by Arcade Zone and Super Fighter Team. It was the first new North American release for the console in over a decade, following a 1998 game. The story follows leprechaun twins Flynn and Floyd as they battle Tyrant, who is corrupting children's dreams into nightmares.
Quick Facts
- Producer
- Brandon Cobb
- Designer
- Christophe Gayraud; Jean‑Christophe Alessandri
- Programmer
- Christophe Gayraud
- Artist
- Jean‑Christophe Alessandri; Lyes Belaidouni
- Composer
- Michel Golgevit; Olivier Rabat
- Platforms
- Super NES
- Released
- December 23, 2013 (WW)
- Genre
- Action, run and gun
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Nightmare Busters is a run and gun game where players blast through levels much like in Contra or Gunstar Heroes. It can be played alone or with a friend in co-op. The story follows leprechaun twins Flynn and Floyd as they try to stop the evil Tyrant from turning kids' dreams into nightmares. There are five stages to clear: a village, a forest, a cave, and a castle, all packed with hazards. To finish a stage, players must shoot every enemy in the way and defeat a boss. Flynn and Floyd both use playing cards and magic attacks, which they can switch between freely. They can also slide under danger or dash into enemies to hurt them. New weapons like fire cards, an energy axe, a twin shot, a sideshot, a thunder burst, and a shock sphere come from treasure chests and barrels. Collecting one hundred dominoes gives an extra life. Each character can take two hits from enemies before losing a life, but falling into pits or onto spikes kills them instantly.
Development and release
Nightmare Busters was created by Arcade Zone, a London-based company founded by former Loriciel and Titus Interactive members that had previously developed Legend and Iron Commando for the Super NES. The soundtrack was composed by Michel Golgevit and Olivier Rabat. The game was produced by Brandon Cobb of Super Fighter Team, a California-based company focused on publishing new titles for platforms such as the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Atari Lynx. Nightmare Busters was first previewed in 1994 and showcased at Shoshinkai 1994. It was originally slated to be published by Sony and Nichibutsu, but development stopped when Sony abandoned distribution of Nintendo-related products with the introduction of the PlayStation in Europe, and Nichibutsu dropped the title for unknown reasons. Arcade Zone shut down due to being unable to publish their own titles. In 2004, a mobile phone port called Flynn's Adventure was released, developed by Cybiko and produced by Eric Thommerot. A prototype ROM of the original SNES version leaked online in 2007.
Reception
Critics praised the mobile port of Nightmare Busters for its bright, detailed visuals. IGN's Levi Buchanan highlighted the sprites and backgrounds. GameSpot's Ryan Davis called the graphics technically and aesthetically pleasing, noting a dark fantasy style similar to Rayman, along with parallax scrolling and character sprites, and considered Flynn's Adventures one of the best-looking mobile games at the time. Davis liked the simple but well-executed gameplay and responsive controls, though he found fault with the audio and other issues. Mobile Game FAQS's Costas Stephanides largely agreed, applauding the audiovisual presentation, controls, playability, and lasting appeal. For the original Super Nintendo version, TechRaptor's Robert Grosso praised the European animation-style graphics, straightforward gameplay, and difficulty. Nicolas Gilles of Obsolete Tears also commended the beautiful visuals and gameplay. Classic-Games.net took a different view, saying the game had promise but was frustrating for the wrong reasons. In a 2016 interview, Brandon Cobb stated that Nightmare Busters was Super Fighter Team's best-selling title.
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