''Frankenstein's Monster'' is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

developed for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...

video game console, based on

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus ''. It was released by

Data Age Data Age was a California-based video game company that developed and published titles for the Atari 2600 platform in the mid-1980s. Among their more well-known titles were ''Journey Escape'' (a tie-in with the band Journey) and ''Frankenstein's M ...

in 1983.

Plot

The

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

has to "make his way through the ghoulish castle of

Dr. Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italians, Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy ...

," where he "must prevent him from completing his creation." The player must "gather stones from the dungeon and bring them to the tower where emust build a barricade around ''Frankenstein's monster'' before he has accumulated enough energy to come alive," which he does using the so-called "Power Probe," a device absorbing energy from an electrical storm.

Gameplay

left, The player is near the bottom of the screen; the monster at top center. The player must attempt to stop

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

from coming to life, by building walls around the monster. To do this, the player must retrieve bricks by crossing pits of acid and other obstacles. To fully imprison the monster (and thus, win the game), the player has to make a total of six trips to the lower part of the screen. With each successful trip, more obstacles are placed before the player, making the game more challenging. Contact with spiders and bats deducts points from the player's score. When the timer runs out or the player loses three lives, the monster breaks free and walks towards the screen, becoming larger, eventually taking up the entire screen. In two player mode, the players take turns and each player has their own timer. When one player falls into the acid pit, her timer pauses until it's his or her turn again and the other player's turn begins. This continues until one player loses three lives, at which point the game will be over.

Reception

In a 1983 review, ''

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'' wrote, "Very charming graphics and an interesting game concept," and compared some elements of the game to ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a platform video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a jungle within 20 minutes. The world con ...

''. In 2013 ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' cited the game as one of the highlights of the platform.

References

External links

''Frankenstein's Monster''
at Atari Mania * {{Frankenstein 1983 video games Atari 2600 games Atari 2600-only games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer hotseat games Platform games Video games based on Frankenstein Video games developed in the United States Video games set in castles