Home Alone was a defining movie for me being an 80s kid who was growing up in the 90s. It didn’t matter that it was a Christmas film; I wanted to watch it year round, and that’s exactly what I did. I still recall going over to friends’ houses and fast forwarding the VHS tape to ‘the trap scenes.’ For a kid everything else leading up to that was mere padding. Just watching the film wasn’t enough; we all wanted to be Kevin Mcallister. We got out wish (or so I thought) with the release of Home Alone on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I rented it a few times, and recall being very frustrated. I decided to take another look at it. Home Alone is just as frustrating now as it ever was.
There’s not much story here, but because it’s based on a film I’ll just give you that synopsis. You’re Kevin Mcallister, a young kid played by Macauley Caulkin, who was left behind while the rest of his family went on holiday out of the country. It’s Christmas time, and a pair of petty thieves that call themselves the ‘wet bandits’ are infiltrating his home to steal everything that’s not already nailed down.
The game itself does away with the fluff, and fast forwards to the trap scenes just like I did as a kid. Home Alone is a 2D action game, but there’s little action and more running away from everything. There are only two enemies here; Harry and Marv. That doesn’t mean you’ll have any breathing time however because they are relentless. You can walk left/right, and go up/down stairs and ladders. The house is multi-tiered so you’ll need to do so in order to explore the environment. You can’t jump, but this isn’t a platformer by any means.
Your only goal in Home Alone is to survive for twenty minutes. Easy, right? Not exactly. Home Alone is hard as nails, and incredibly unforgiving. Harry and Marv search for Kevin endlessly, and they don’t exactly run in circles. They seem to know exactly where you are at all times. What’s more is that they move faster than you so simply running away isn’t really an option. Kevin is severely lacking in offensive moves, and can only passively set traps. These are found throughout the house and can be picked up with the B button, and then placed on the ground. When Harry or Marv touch these they are stunned for a few seconds thus allowing you to escape.
Winning is easier said than done. Traps are plentiful, but their effect is fleeting to the point that if you don’t set multiple, right next to each other, then you’re basically done for. What’s more is that you can only hold one at a time, and so if you’re being chased you better darn well have more available right in front of your character or else it’s game over. You have a few other options though; Kevin can hide behind some background elements such as the Christmas tree or bed, but if Harry and Marv pass by them too often they’ll find you. You can also knock down chandeliers on them, but that only works if they’re a floor below and in just the right position.
If you can’t already tell Home Alone is hard. It’s unforgiving, and will chew you up and spit you out. When I rented the title I was instantly frustrated, but even as an adult I had a really hard time with this game. Home Alone is downright unfair. I’m always up for a challenge, but what I found here was a severe mismatch. You simply aren’t given enough abilities to defend yourself in Home Alone. It’s less based on skill and instead relies more on luck.
That’s the big problem with Home Alone. It’s frustrating to no end. This is also the game’s strong point. It is one of the few licensed games of this era that actually fits the theme of the film on which it’s based. There’s nothing quite like Home Alone, and that’s because it manages to capture the spirit we loved so much about the movie. It’s amazing that Bethesda managed to do so with such limited hardware. You can explore iconic areas of the film like the treehouse and the basement, and it really captures the atmosphere of exactly that. The entire time based aspect of it makes you really feel the suspense of the action sequences of the movie. This is a Home Alone game through and through, and great care was made with coming up with the concept.
Unfortunately the graphics are pretty bad. You could show me a screenshot and I wouldn’t be able to tell it’s a game based on the Home Alone film. The main character clearly doesn’t look like Kevin Mcallister. I’m not putting high hopes on the NES hardware in this regard, but he never wore that outfit in the movie for example. Marv and Harry look very generic as well. The traps themselves are blocks with rudimentary graphics to indicate what they are (they are all functionally similar so it doesn’t even matter). More work surely could have gone into it. The soundtrack has just a few jingles, and only changes when you go to new areas of the house. It’s okay, but nothing amazing.
