10/06 Update: Since we no longer write for the Edmond Sun, this section is temporarily housing our podcast links for our iTunes feed. All of the columns are in the archives menu if you feel like exploring.

These columns (as well as the 'releases') come from weekly content that we write for the Edmond Sun, out of Edmond, OK (though we live in Chicago). This page contains the archives for said column, many of which are in their pre-published, unedited state. Some titles and editing by Brendan Sinclair.

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Lock the children in the closet, it's scary game time
Saturday, October 30, 2004

Just in time for Halloween I have a treat for you. What follows is a list of some of the scariest moments in gaming history. I will not bore you with the all too common tales of lurching zombies and creepy little girls from the survival horror games that would normally populate a list such as this. Rather, I will focus on games that may not have been made with the expressed intention of scaring the bejusus out of gamers, but have made me scream on more than one occasion.

First up, Solomon's Key for the NES. In this action/puzzle game, you control a wizard who can create and destroy blocks with the flick of a wand. The ultimate goal of unlocking the door to the next level was made difficult by a fast moving timer and a plethora of enemies. This game was able to create a tense feeling from the moment you picked up the controller to when you finally threw it down in frustration. What moment made my heart jump and a scream rise from my throat? Two words: flying eyeballs.

They are the most dangerous enemy in Solomon's Key because they can travel anywhere they want. While most enemies were either stationary or destined to spend their lives walking aimless back and forth, the eyeballs could shoot down from above or fly right towards you when you thought you were safe. Oh, you may think you're hot stuff when you avoid the first wave. You may even get lucky and leap over one on its return trip. But they will get you. Late in the level, just when you think you finally figured out how to get through the magic door, an eyeball will come flying towards you from out of nowhere.

You try to jump but there's a block above you. You try to run but you're against a block that cannot be destroyed. Your last resort is to build a wall in front of you. You try desperately to construct a makeshift forcefield, but it's too late. The eyeball has caught you. No one ever escapes the eyeball.

Next up, Mortal Kombat 3. Maybe I'm just a baby (there better not be an editor's note agreeing with that statement) but Shao Kahn has always terrified me. He may not have had the freakish proportions of his centaur friend Motaro, but there was no one better at making my controller drip with fear sweat. For starters, he was a giant of a man dressed in the calculating manor of confidence mixed with intimidation. When I wear a skull shaped helmet with protruding horns people laugh at me, but Shao Kahn could pull it off. He moved with speed for a big guy and could always nail you with an uppercut at the most inopportune time. The thing that always got to me, and
still sends shivers down my spine as I think about it, is his booming voice taunting me. "Pathetic" he would yell, sending my on screen character spiraling to the ground and my real life psyche crashing from the harsh reality of failure.

From the in your face taunting of the most evil boss in fighting game history to the empty expanses of Talon IV, Metroid Prime was able to create a game that should have carried the warning "Not for those with weak hearts or bladders." Prime was able to keep me in a state of constant panic by relying on incredibly detailed environments, moody music and infrequent enemy encounters that made every fight feel like a last grasp at survival. As emasculating as the boss battles were, the all too frequent fights with the Space Pirates is what stays in my mind.

Imagine slowly walking around a bizarre alien world. You are fighting enemies, trying desperately to keep your distance so you can stave off death for just a little bit longer. Your health is quickly dwindling as are your all important supply of missiles. You haven't saved in almost an hour but know, if you can just make it 10 minutes farther, you can finally save you game. This is where you encounter a gang of evil pirates.

What makes these battles so terrifying is that most of the time you are placed with a severe disadvantage. Finding yourself with little health and no missiles left to finish them off, your only hope is to run. You must jump around, dodge their attacks, while you pelt them with your meager beam, praying they fall before you do. The struggle to stay alive in an alien world that does not take kindly to strangers has never been done better, or scarier, than in Metroid Prime.

Last on my list is Jurrassic Park for the Super Nintendo. While most of the game is buried in the dark recess of 1994 for a reason, this game did excel in first person levels that, to this day, are still the scariest representation of dinosaurs I have ever witnessed in a game. Structured more like a survival horror game than any FPS from that time period, JP made each fight important because they were so infrequent. The game would build up your confidence, throw a few Compognathus at you and let you think you're going to make it through this alive. And then, from out of the dark shadows, a raptor appears. And remember, you aren't a wizard or a professional
fighter or even a bounty hunter. You're just a normal man, with 3 shotgun shells left, and a pack of raptors trying to rip you apart.

- Tom


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