Chapter IX: Voodoo Nightmare

While I was growing up, still in elementary school, I was known through my neighbourhood and school as “Computer”. Yes, that was my nickname, just “Computer”. It all started in first grade as I was the smartest kid in my class, but as we say here “In the land of the blind, who has an eye is king”. By second or third grade this nickname was getting more settled because I had an Amiga 500, which no other kid in school had.

Almost everyone wanted to play with my computer and I made lots friends. I was the Amiga, the Amiga was me. Our identities were intertwined and there was no way that I was going to escape my place in (elementary school) society. By the time fourth grade arrived more kids started to have Amiga’s, but I was seen as the elder statesmen of our “cult”. I had more games than everybody else so I was the one to speak to when you needed games.

One Saturday morning some kids ringed on my house bell. My mom said I was going right there in a second. When I stood in front of the guests, I realized these were kids that I never ever talked to. I knew who they were. They were kids from a nearby shady neighbourhood who were kind of bullies. They were definitely the kind of kids that I usually didn’t dealt with if I had the choice. They said they heard about me and my games and asked if I could lend them some games. Obviously, even though I was young, I was not that stupid, and knew that those games were never to be seen again by these eyes.

This forest is just a stone raft in the middle of the ocean. Magic realism at its finest

My first excuse was to say that I only had strategy games, because those were the only kind of games that I liked. They didn’t know what was this “strategy” word, so I had to explain. I did it in a way to make it sound the least appealing thing ever, and I thought it wouldn’t be hard, but I was wrong. They insisted, they wouldn’t mind even a strategy game, if that was all I got. I needed someone brave, someone to sacrifice for myself and my safety. That one was Voodoo Nightmare.

Sorry Voodoo Nightmare for letting you go like that and never even making the minimum effort to see you again. We parted ways the in worst possible manner, but I made it through. I didn’t need my mother’s help and I stood there like a man, even if I had to shove you in front of me.

I used to think that "Voodoo" was the name of the protagonist. True story

Revisiting this game after so many years it’s quite a curious endeavour, as I remembered more of this story I just told than the game itself. I do remember it being an isometric adventure, which means that I’m quite eager to play it, since it’s a genre that has been lost in time but I’m quite fond of.

After loading the game memories started pouring in. The loading screen, the music and general atmosphere. Everything reminded me so much of my youth, my bedroom, and my Transformers action figures sitting next to the computer.

First impressions are good, even when trying to disconnect from all the nostalgia associated with it. While the game has a garish colour palette than was quite common in the early days of the Amiga, and usually meant an Atari ST conversion, it’s still pleasant enough. The music is catchy in a very menacing way, and sets the mood perfectly.

Problem is, when the game starts everything falls apart due to the insane control system. The game uses a positional control system which means that directions are dependant of where the main character is facing. Eventually I got used to it, but even then once in a while it felt like I was playing drunk. Maybe it’s intentional and it’s a way to reflect some kind of vertigo our character is experiencing due to a voodoo curse. Even so, a better control system wouldn’t make this game a classic, since there are many other problems.

This spider chipped off my limbs

Voodoo Nightmare plays a lot like other classic isometric action adventures as Head Over Heels and Cadaver, except that in this case there’s a much bigger emphasis on the “Action” part. That would be ok, if it wasn’t for the aforementioned problems of the controls that make jumping on the enemies heads harder than it should. Also, the “Adventure” part lacks the ingeniousness of the classics. The puzzles usually revolve around searching for movable pillars and rocks to find secret passages or transporters. If it sounds tedious that’s because it is. The feeling of satisfaction that is present when solving good puzzles would be replaced by a sense of relief if it wasn’t for the boredom that we know will come next.

After being stuck on the first temple, I searched the game manual and online walkthroughs for clues. So it seemed that I already got all the gems that are required to finish the first pyramid, but still I didn’t know what to do next. According to the game manual I should offer the gems to the temple god, but that hint is as good as nothing. After passing through the same rooms over and over again I gave up. It was never my intention to play through the games I write about, and if these play sessions prove me anything, is that I was right in giving this game away. I can only imagine the frustration on those kids trying to play this thing.

The Spider God isn't interested in my gem offering. The precious stones were already inside his temple anyway

It wouldn’t be fair to not mention the game’s manual. It’s full of good looking and humorous illustrations detailing the background story of the game and explaining the game mechanics. Apparently, the game character, called “Boots”, was travelling through Africa on a balloon with his wife and best friend when he was thrown away by the so called friend. The rest involves waking up with a big mask on that he can’t remove and an evil witch doctor. Well, I guess it serves him right for taking his “best” friend instead of having a romantic trip alone with his wife.