Monster Party

Monster Party is a video game for the NES, released in North America in 1989 by Bandai. It was and remains a relatively obscure platform game for the console, having a small following among some players. The game both pays homage to and parodies horror pop culture, alternately featuring enemies and locations based on classic horror icons, and parodic reinterpretations. In the 2000s the game became infamous in online gaming circles when prototype screenshots of a Japanese Famicom version known as began circulating showing different bosses and parodies. No version of the game was ever released in Japan. On May 26, 2011, a prototype of the canceled Japanese release was listed on Yahoo! Japan auctions, closing at a very high price of ¥483000 (approximately $6000 in American dollars). On July 3, 2014, the unreleased Japanese Famicom version was leaked online. Story The story centers on a child named Mark (originally known as Hiroshi (ひろし) in the unreleased Japanese prototype) who, on his way home from a baseball game, is approached by a winged, griffin-like alien named Bert (originally known as Value (バリュー) in the unreleased Japanese prototype) who seeks assistance in ridding "evil monsters" from his realm, "Dark World". Being the first person he encounters, Bert tries to enlist Mark as his aid in battle. Mark is reluctant to help, but Bert explains that anyone will do, and that Mark's baseball bat will be as good a weapon as any. Bert quickly whisks him away, and on the way to Dark World magically fuses himself to Mark so that they are one being (with Mark able to transform into Bert for a limited time).