Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Good
If you're the sort of person who enjoys "creative re-imaginings", or "modern re-tellings", then baby, this game is for you.

If you think reading "boring old classic books" need a modern shot in the arm to invigorate them with peeing statues, fireballs, unintelligible looking monsters, and the removal of trivial details, like say, the overall plot, again, this is your lucky day.

And to the game's credit, when you place the game in a NES and power the system up, the game comes on. Whether or not this is truly a "good" thing is subjective on the player's perspective.

The Bad
It's hard to pinpoint which area is the most outstanding, much less where to even begin on this game.

For starters, every living creature that exists in London absolutely HATES Dr. Jekyll with such intensity, it makes one wonder why he would dare leave his house, much less have found anyone willing to marry him. Seriously, dogs attack him, well-to-do women and vagrant children make every effort to hurt him, birds drop so much poop on him, you'd think they'd die from rupturing their colons or from dehydration. Gravediggers and opera singers hate him, sharply dressed men will risk the safety of anyone within proximity of Dr. Jekyll just to casually drop bombs at his feet. Bombs that have magically random blast proximities, no less.

Dr. Jekyll himself is fairly useless, with a weak jump, and his only offense/defense being a cane that does nothing. Poke at your enemies, it goes right through them, and the enemy gets off their intended potshot. He walks, he suffers... there's no way he can take on the entirety of London, and he doesn't.

That's where Mr. Hyde comes in.

While Mr. Hyde is more "game" than Jekyll's part, it's completely undesirable to be in this role. Not only does Mr. Hyde fight generic demon-like creatures with his fireball attacks (I must his skipped this particular chapter), the game treats this section as a punishment for the player. If Jekyll and Hyde end up in the same spot as each other despite their worlds, lighting strike Hyde, who dies instantly. Boom. Dead. Game over. No checkpoint. Even more comical is that Hyde moves WAY faster than Jekyll, and the screen is forced scrolling, so basically, you're kind of in deep bird poo the second the Hyde play starts.... if you even still care at this point.

On the same token, surviving puts the player back into the Jekyll gameplay, a prospect that is about as appealing as hiring a midget to kick you repeatedly in the crotch.

The Bottom Line
After playing this game, one would question if the developers of this game ever actually READ the novel at all. A comic book, trading cards with gum, something, ANYTHING. This is probably why a series of games based on Jane Austen or "The Bridges of Madison County" weren't attempted by even the most notorious of NES publishers who would attempt to make a game out of anything.

This game redefines "illogical". Of all the subject matters to choose from, why Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (a book from 1886) was suddenly screaming relevance to be an action platforming video game a century after publication is a greater mystery than connecting the evil behaviors of Mr. Hyde. Why does everyone hate Jekyll so? Why does Hyde enter a demon world? Is there even a reason to care?

With all of its "Seal of Quality" mantras, the NES still put out some real stinkers, and this was one of them. It's an unplayable mess that is too hard and unforgiving for its own good, and provides no logic to its actions, or even a means for the player to defend themself in the Jekyll persona. Turning into Hyde meant instant death if the character moved too far in the level, so either form was unappealing, much like this game.

This game is about as stupid as it gets. Avoid it at all costs, unless you just want to experience first-hand the level of Hades that is this game.