Spooks for days.
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: Kemco
DEVELOPER: ICOM Simulations
GENRE: Adventure
RELEASE DATE: June 1991
Uninvited is the final entry in the Kemco adventure trilogy on the NES. It’s not as deep (or frustrating) as Shadowgate nor does it engross like Deja Vu, but for an 8-bit game, it delivers the spookies. Story goes that you crashed outside one “Master Crowley”‘s mansion. Your car explodes shortly after you leave it. Your sister is missing, presumably into the mansion. You see no other choice than to venture into the old place, come what may. And so, your journey begins.
Like the previous two entries, Uninvited is a point-and-click adventure game, full of puzzles to unravel, diaries to read, and death to avoid. There are an overwhelming amount of items to pick up and place on your person, and many of them do nothing at all. This was the case in Shadowgate and Deja Vu as well, but it never bothered me until Uninvited. Still, pick the items up, you must, as they will help you get through the mansion alive (avoid the ruby, though – all it does is kill you). Many of the puzzles involve magic, and thus are usually only solvable via information found in “Diaries” or “Notes” strewn about the mansion. If you haven’t played the other two, the potentially obscure puzzles might frustrate. For those who wanted to tear down Castle Shadowgate with their bare hands, Uninvited‘s puzzles aren’t as brain-wringing. Once again, the atmosphere is first-rate. You really believe you’re exploring a haunted house where anything could happen at any time; the first time you see a chibi demon do a jig across your screen, you won’t know whether to laugh or turn off the game. Kemco’s point-and-click formula was wearing thin by the time Uninvited arrived, but that’s not the game’s fault. Proto survival-horror at its creepiest.
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4 replies on “#698 – Uninvited”
I have fond memories of playing this as a kid but it wasn't in my collection. I remember playing Déjà Vu a lot too. We must have rented these games or a friend owned them. I remember having played tons of NES games in this fashion but we only owned about 40 games. Those were the days.
I love this game. It's got a weird sense of humor and the different ways you can die are great (My favorite being the spider, because it warns you several times that you're going to die!)
I think the main reason I liked both Shadowgate and Deja Vu more was that those games seemed more contained, in that there were fewer rooms at a time to navigate. Also, while Shadowgate had just as many useless items, there was nothing you could pick up that would kill over time, just instant death traps that were tolerable as you could start from where you left off.
I loved Shadowgate and DejaVu was pretty well, but I never got this as a youngin'. I have tried ti since and unfortunately the control scheme just kills me. It really needed a mouse and keyboard.