A Human work: Monster Party & Street Cop | NES Works 125

I'm sorry to say that this episode brings us EVEN MORE games by Bandai, a publisher not especially known for their creative integrity and dedication to quality. Ah, but we lucked out: They hired Human Entertainment to develop both games. I wouldn't necessarily rank Human in the upper echelons of NES development, but their involvement always means a given game will at least be interesting. Think of them as a counterpart to Pack-In-Video: Their work may be a bit rough, but it certainly doesn't lean on convention.
Of the two, Monster Party holds up best: A bizarre platform game with yet another character transformation mechanic. It seems like everyone wanted a slice of that Doki Doki Pie-nic! I'm sorry, that was a bad attempt at a joke. But the game is good.
Street Cop, on the other hand, doesn't fare quite as well, and not just because who in god's name would want to play the role of a Manhattan LEO in this day and age?! Controversial theming aside, Street Cop attempts to use the Power Pad in an interesting and different way, and it doesn't quite work. Points for the effort, though.
Production notes:
Video Works is funded via Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its KZbin debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more!
Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (limitedrungame...! SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I is available NOW, and Metroidvania: The First Decade is due in 2024.
NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled with xRGB Mini Framemeister and RetroTink 4K. "Before the Storm" courtesy of Jacob Le.

[@DeepWeeb]

One of the funniest references in Monster Party seems to have been over the head of the localizers when removing all of the copyrighted material from "Parody World": the tempura shrimp is meant to be a parody of "The Fly" movie by David Cronenberg, as Ls and Rs are interchangeable in Japanese turning it into "The _Fry"_ So now you know, Jeff Goldblum turns himself into a fried shrimp, funniest shit I've ever seen

[@arieljacobsegal]

😅 wow

[@Belgand]

To think we'd have to wait until Machine Girl to see that done justice on film.

[@LUCKO2022]

I have the Japanese rom of Monster Party with all the parody in tact.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

Street Cop is that rare thing, an NES game covered in NES Works that I've LITERALLY never heard of. (I'm not counting Gaiden episodes here, I'd never heard of most of those.)

[@JeremyParish]

I think the Power Pad games tend to be overlooked because they're (1) mostly sports workout games and (2) difficult to emulate with any real authenticity. And also not usually too great. But Bandai commissioned a few weird outliers like these for the peripheral.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah, same here. And I thought I had a pretty exhaustive knowledge of US NES games. This one must have *really* flown under the radar.

[@jeremygreen2883]

This one was new to me as well. I was hoping there'd be a way to emulate it.

[@arieljacobsegal]

Me too…never heard of it

[@beanburritos6393]

I completely missed Street Cop. I read every Nintendo Power repeatedly, so I must have read about it, but I have no memory of any coverage of that game. Thanks for revealing it to us, even if it's not great.

[@rabiroden]

Monster Party was inexplicably a childhood game for me and I love it. A few years ago someone discovered the "sorry I'm dead" monster was based on an actual real Bandai toy/model from a series called "Gegebo Majuu" (ゲゲボ魔獣). For decades, people couldn't agree on what the sprite was actually representing (a spider maybe? which way is the head?), but you interpreted it right, it's essentially a skinny lizard carcass with a bloated belly. 🙃

[@JeremyParish]

Well I just looked this up and that is wild.

[@Caztro72]

We all had that one friend who owned the "odd NES games". For me that was my friend Eric. His mom and his older sister got him obscure, bargain bin NES titles from Home Shopping Network and Comp USA (a software retailer where his sister was a manager). Whenever I went to his house, he'd show me games like Quattro Adventure, Super Glove Ball, Fester's Quest, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. But the strangest game he ever showed me was Monster Party. I distinctly remember thinking, "Wow, I'm fighting a giant, fried onion ring with a baseball bat...it doesn't get any weirder than this."😃

[@BackForwardPunch]

Man I remember you from 2010 era youtube! Still watching nes content I see :)

[@Caztro72]

@@BackForwardPunch Oh yeah! I remember you too! 😊 Good to hear from you, man!😊

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

"HR Geiger Phallus-scape" - Absolutely brilliant, Jeremy!

[@aguilerajohn]

Neat little sushi pinball ad at the end there in NP. Considering its recent rediscovery.

[@JeremyParish]

I'm happy someone caught that!

[@galloe8933]

Monster Party scared me as a child, saw my dad playing it when I was very young, and the legs and fish kind of scared me. Point was, I never knew what this game was, I knew it scared me, and chalked it up to an early childhood memory that had become fuzzy over the years, but one day I saw someone playing it, and it all came back, and the memory had a name for the terrifying Nintendo game from my early years. Monster Party is the scariest game I've ever seen.

[@thenightstar8312]

Well that's ridiculous

[@galloe8933]

Sure is, but looking at it, no game ever scared me as much as thinking about Monster Party did. I was like a baby, and the game scared me.

[@GreatistheWorld]

I mainly knew Monster Party from early internet proto-meme screenshots of its wacky captions. Much to my delight years actually trying it years later, it’s super interesting and genuine fun!

[@julesdouglas2372]

@13:35 “A game where the cop has enthusiasm for assaulting minor criminals with a blunt object through New York” Oh so he’s realistic game about New York cops?

[@JeremyParish]

That’s called “subtext”!

[@2dskillz]

My cousin's living room in which I first played Monster Party had the NES atop a floor model TV, there was also a copy of Orb 3D there. It was such a welcoming and weird experience. Monster Party really hit on so many things that a game could do right for a child. I did not think I could still see a "new to me" NES game, then you arrive with Street Cop. Thank you Jeremy.

[@MiguelPaulettePerez-bj8ml]

Sometimes refreshing your KZbin homepage when you're bored at work pays off.... JP, you never let us down.

[@robertmcginty4146]

I actually got Street Cop along with the PP and got the hang of it. I won it after a couple days. The controls were like playing Twister but tou got used to it. You could also hold the Dpad and use the B button for the baton, and A for whatever consumable item each stage used. After id played through it a few times, for some reason when i got the consumable items, the pad would activate them all immediately and id lose them, like the dog whistle. Ended up selling it to my game shop once id had it for a year or so. It was a lot of fun climbing the sky scraper, and then having the shootout in Don's mansion. He would appear in 1 of the 3 boss rooms that changed every time, so like looking for the Technodrome in the TMNT game. I was able to win monster party once I resigned myself to grinding as many enemies as possible to keep my health up. It got easier if you did that. That game freaked me out with the sinister music and gory backgrounds. I think i had to draw a map for the haunted house.

[@num488]

Ah Monster Party. I remember playing this the first time back in late middle school, had zero idea of what to make of it. Heck even knowing the Japanese prototype still leaves my head scratching somewhat. I'm glad we got it regardless! Street Cop looks intriguing on the surface, but the mention of the Power Pad had me shaking my head.

[@123crashdummie]

We should use the word "gormless" more often.

[@JeremyParish]

I worry that it's too associated with Tucker Carlson now to be useful as a general term, but there's hope for redemption!

[@123crashdummie]

@@JeremyParish I didn't even know that! I'm not american, and even if I were, I'd still avoid Tucker like the plague, as he's a rather gormless fellow himself. I think I first heard it from Vinny Vinesauce!

[@CatFish107]

​@@JeremyParishIf "credulous moron" is still used, I think "gormless" is safe!

[@JeremyParish]

Right-I meant that Carlson embodies "gormless." I doubt he actually knows the word himself.

[@pennsworth996]

A gormful suggestion.

[@MattoMakesLetsPlays]

Monster Party's style and quality reminds me of Suda 51's output in later console generations: strange, fun, crusty in some places but still memorable. Sort of Human's general output post-NES.

[@RadikaRules]

As someone who loves Killer7 and admires Suda's work as a whole, I completely agree

[@EvanCWaters]

And the two even crossed paths!

[@darktetsuya]

I never got around to monster party... but this actually sounds interesting! making a note to watch for that 'third boss key' thing though, ouch. never got around to street cop my only power pad game was the pack-in. (a bit jealous of japan, who even got family trainer games based on takeshi's castle!) 16:12 interesting that page has both rollerball AND super sushi pinball! heard about that one last december when the prototype materialized thanks to hidden palace!!

[@ocpmovie]

An uncensored proto of this is available and I also did a ROMhack called Elvira's Monster Party, which is also uncensored. It's not a perfect game but it's worth a look.

[@Dark.Shingo]

5:36 And I just figured out it is a dead lizard thanks to you, I never noticed the head, it just seemed an amorphous mass to me back then!

[@Mansini77]

That was quite the intro, Jeremy

[@CalaveraCandy]

Doin’ the “Monster Party” with ya on this beautiful Valentine’s Day!

[@Belgand]

It's kind of a romantic game. All the monsters dancing, enjoying each other's company...keeping their evil in check!

[@brandonb6005]

Monster Party has some fond memories due to a friend owning it back in the day. It is one of those not-classics which still holds enough interest to be played occasionally when the opportunity arises simply because it isn’t like much else on the platform in this country. Closest thing I can really compare it to would be the Splatterhouse game by Namco which was also a horror parody. It ends up becoming one of those cult classics to a degree because it has some good elements to it while also not being the most accessible, nor clearly not one of the classics released at that time. Street cop? Rented it at the time and agree with you. There may be a playable game under that but certainly not with the power pad as the controller.

[@antant6217]

Knowing that Monster Party is a bunch of edits of licensed monsters and imagery really hurts the strange appeal of the game. I wish I never learned that fact so many years ago.

[@thenightstar8312]

I felt the opposite. I was legitimately disappointed that the Xenomorth, the Planet Of The Apes reference, and the Gremlins references were all removed, as well as the red title screen.

[@JonLeung1]

5:36 - huh, I guess it IS a dead lizard. For some reason, the green spot didn't register to me as an eye, and so I thought the head was just the legs of a dead tarantula or something.

[@arieljacobsegal]

So did i

[@ridureyu]

The dead lizard is actually an extremely obscure Bandai toy! Bogleech discovered it.

[@massivepileup]

I can't even imagine the control scheme for Street Cop. Probably not as smooth as DK Jungle Beat, the platformer that involves rapid drumming.

[@JeremyParish]

The instructions for rotating your point of view literally look like dance steps. It's a little much.

[@RndStranger]

I wonder if the timed transformations in these games were drawing inspiration from Ultraman, though obviously by 1988 there were plenty of examples in popular Japanese media to draw from.

[@SovrinnK]

There's certainly a stylistic similarity, which would gel with the en masse copyright infringement that was the leaked Japanese proto.

[@EvanCWaters]

I wonder if it was riffing on the power-up element of Super Mario and trying to one-up that with more elaborate changes (and by this point SMB3 was in Japan so you had Raccoon Mario and Frog Mario and so on.)

[@RadikaRules]

You absolutely gave Monster Party its due, and very well done at that. Y'know, I realized something, had it been more known. I could easily see it become the basis for a creepypasta/ARG a la Ben Drowned Think about it, game with unsettling elements that naturally give a horror feeling... Yeah, that's something Anyway, never heard of Street Cop, but I guess it's to be expected. No big draw for most people in the 00s

[@jonothanthrace1530]

At first I thought the "battle aura delinquent" was a reference to Yuyu Hakusho, but that didn't start until the end of 1990.

[@RadikaRules]

I guess the Banchos here are just so powerful, their intimidating energy became visible

[@DonnieDistortion]

Ohhh Monster Party is one of the absolute hidden gems on the NES.

[@unoclay]

Monster Party is SO GOOD. Its approachable and funny and fun. And it mentions my brother's rarely used name, Royce!

[@robbyrobot3303]

Better framing on the new shot of you talking, looks good. And the research/insight is great as always

[@BB-te8tc]

"Phallus-scapes" I laughed so hard that all I can say is "SORRY. I'M DEAD"

[@SovrinnK]

Best Parish-ism I've heard in a while.

[@Belgand]

I appreciate that we got such purely Japanese references as a boss based on Okiku's well from Bancho Sarayashiki making the trip intact. I also have to wonder if that's why there are yankii wandering around. A pun on "bancho" seems like it would be perfectly in line with Monster Party's sense of humor.

[@thecunninlynguist]

Monster Party is very nostalgic for me. One of the games i had growing up. That change in level 1 is burned into my memory. Always wished they did more of that in the game. It was also cool finding out years later what the Japanese prototype was, before all the changes. I would've absolutely loved that version as a kid more than this version, since i love horror.

[@JGreen-le8xx]

The part on "Japanese teen delinquents" has me p!ssing my pants laughing. Not gonna lie..

[@CatFish107]

Mmmmm, that's some top notch not-a-video-essay!

[@RottenPopReviews]

Oh man I've been waiting for this one.

[@demonpugo]

Super sushi pinball sneaking in a secret cameo. Is nes works going to cover unreleased titles soon?

[@JeremyParish]

No

[@jennid8123]

You nailed it with Monster Party. I always thought that dead boss in the first level was a tarantula tho. Too bad there is no dpad patch for street cop. I really am curious about the police brutality simulator.

[@subtlewhatssubtle]

I honestly appreciate the absurdity of Monster Party. I mean yes, it looks horrific with the gore backgrounds and such, but really it's more like Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness, where the horror is undercut by comedy. I believe they call it "splatstick."

[@WhoIsSirChasm]

Sending my crush a Valentine that just reads "WATCH OUT, BABY. HERE I COME."

[@SovrinnK]

The Bert transformation powerup, which the manual obliquely calls a "capsule," has some eyebrow-raising implications. William S. Sessions' arcade game splash screens would be so disappointed.

[@RadikaRules]

Winners don't do drugs" Meanwhile most pro athletes: _Takes as many PEDs as possible_

[@Belgand]

Good for health. Bad for education. Just try not to transform into a monstrosity too much.

[@TeruteruBozusama]

Monster party is a game I've heard people mentioning, but never actually seen, but it looks like a lot of fun! The other...

[@EvanCWaters]

I wonder if the plant saying "Hello Baby!" isn't an obtuse Little Shop allusion, since the musical version is full of doo-wop and rock and roll with the baritone Levi Stubbs voicing Audrey II. Or I'm reading too much into it.

[@Belgand]

It absolutely is.

[@Teknoman]

Shadowing other comments, I have legitimately never heard of Street Cop. Monster Party sure and played through it a few years ago...but I suppose theres still hidden games out there.

[@JetstreamGW]

I loved the hell out of Monster Party, but I suuuuuucked at it... never owned a copy, either. I rented it a few times...

[@beanburritos6393]

I gave Monster Party a few rentals as a lad. Very fun game!

[@kaapusan]

i wonder if the glowing aura delinquents are actually a reference to Nerawareta Gakuen, the 70s sci-fi novel about high school espers known under different english titles like Psychic School Wars and School in the Crosshairs. The live-action film of it came out in '81, directed by House director Nobuhiko Obayashi

[@itslikewhatever]

I always thought the "Japanese teen delinquents" were "Misfits-era Glenn Danzig"

[@jamessnedeker4799]

I was on team dead spider to the point i had to cross check your dead lizard thing. Apparently a Torigaran which makes me a little dirty looking at it but it fits to a T. The superearly lper Deceased Crab misinterpreted it too to some success.

[@fenikso]

A cousin had Street Cop... All I can say is that that game is a workout and a half. I'm tired just thinking about it.

[@OldNick999-real1]

Monster Party is a game I regret missing out on.

[@Yungbeck]

Sorry. I'm dead.

[@absolutezeronow7928]

Nice mix of Ferengi and SoTN Dracula in the beginning. Human Entertainment is definitely an interesting developer, and Monster Party has the right atmosphere for Japanese horror to make it fit. Almost done with Power Pad games so we may not see "Pleasedont" ever again.

[@jamesmoss3424]

Monster Party is brilliant and it's great to play on Halloween 🎃. 😀👍🎮

[@VideoWorkbench]

"Oh hi Mark" ;) Great video as usual!

[@dientimuri3956]

I had Monster Party as a kid, and the oddball humor juxtaposed with horror imagery has always stuck with me. It's a genuinely good game, too. It has it's flaws, but the good parts of the game overshadow the issues.

[@Eleven34]

Monster Party would make a nice Gintendo episode.

[@robertlauncher]

Weird that I referenced Irate Gamer’s “I sent the Predator to sabotage the show” back on the Predator review, and we’re already at the game whose review provided that bizzare moment. His is a bizarre video for a bizarre game. I oddly recommend if you like “So bad it’s good” content

[@jacobhawk9311]

Both these games were great. I was lucky enough to own a power pad

[@goranisacson2502]

Man, I wish _I_ had been kidnapped and taken to a distant star to fight / transform into a monster. Knew I should've played Baseball when I was young... Anyway- yet another one here who knows Monster Party but never even heard of Street Cop. Small wonder since I'm from Europe and while I do recall ads for the Power Pad, we apparently never got this game over here... and I don't see a game like this being something with wide appeal, even to retro-enthusiasts. But hey, now I know a game where every step you take is another step towards a brutality-charge exists!

[@mark6302]

ah the video game I starred in

[@SoUtHMeMpHis]

Fishmen or Creature from the Black Lagoon on the box cover❓️

[@neurath2638]

Power pad is bad? Let's look forward for the power glove!

[@SynopsisGrim]

13:59 "...exercises in frustration..." quite literally!

[@chickenheelnakano]

gonna pretend that the episode title is an Eva reference

[@JeremyParish]

(It is)

[@DragonUltraMaster]

Street cop - ohboy, the controls. My god the controls!! There is none........

[@zubizuva]

3:32 oh god, more eggplants!

[@Kirkklan]

I'm still confused at the fact that there was no Japanese release for Monster Party when the whole game screams that there should be one and there was one, but it got canceled. And if a Famicom release was ultimately canned, why did it end up getting localized and brought over here?

[@BearsinGamesNeo-qt5ww]

Is the guitarist boss playing the beast mode tune from Altered Beast??

[@TheBottomTier]

based NGE episode 7 enjoyer

[@tempanon8672]

Was that a Windows noise at 3:45?

[@JeremyParish]

Yeah the guys who uploaded the emulator footage I found for this didn't trim the system sounds.

[@Saturnome]

Came for Monster Party, stayed for Street Cop. What was THAT ?

[@littleterr0r]

How much to see the behind the scenes footage of you using the Power Pad?

[@JeremyParish]

One million American dollars. Thx

[@littleterr0r]

@@JeremyParish Sold! I'll bring it to PRGE this year.

[@konstantinkoverchenko9587]

The nes power pad and the xbox 360 kinect unfortunately never got to see their full potential. 😢

[@Riz2336]

Street Cop looks like a mess, never attempted to play it myself

[@bebegasmask3047]

Move over "Metroidvania"...Parish's real contribution to the English language is now "phalluscape"😂

[@ArcaneAzmadi]

I don't know if you're just really bad at the game, but it seems like Monster Party is an incredibly unfair game where you get forced to take a LOT of completely unavoidable damage, from fireballs that come flying at you from out of nowhere at extremely short range, to bosses that just walk right into you and cannot be avoided. Athough given that you described it as being an easy game, you apparently have more than enough life (and get enough refills) to simply brute force your way through the damage anyway.

[@mikeberg6407]

Alright bro I have to ask cause after watching tons of your content its throwing me off. Did.you get a new girlfriend that told you to get rid of the cap? I cant get used to it 😭

[@JeremyParish]

My brother in Christ, I have been married to the same person for nearly 13 years.

[@lilwyvern4]

Monster Party's one of those games begging for a remake. There's a lot of ways you could make it. Do you go whole hog on parodying the classics? Update the jokes for more modern properties? Maybe double down on the horror aspects and make every world do that Eversion-like eldritch world change. They're fertile fields sown with weird leg plants and suspect pharmaceuticals.