Growing up in the 80s my little brother and I spent our days and nights playing video games and reading comic books. The games I preferred playing were RPG's (role playing games) like Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda. I liked the idea of going on a quest and receiving clues to allow the pieces of the puzzle to eventually coagulate together. Those were MY kind of video games.
When I came across the following three video games, they scared the crap out of me. To this day I'm scarred by these games and I would rather not have anything to do with these games ever again.
CAUTION: The following games may scare you to pieces if you choose to play them by yourself.
Friday The 13th for the NES
This video game based on the famous film franchise of the same name was actually one of the most difficult video games ever played. I only know of a few people who defeated Jason successfully, but I never could. Jason would dart across the room back-and-forth and slice you with his machete so quickly, that you didn't know what hit you before you had to hit the directional button on your NES controller.
Here is what scared me the most about this video game -- In the middle of a level while you're walking through the woods or going through the came, all of the sudden out of nowhere without warning Jason moves horizontally across the screen in an instant projectile movement that you don't know what hit you. The music in the background that quickly cues you that Jason is near doesn't quite help either. What sucks is just when you think you've defeated Jason he runs away and then he becomes even stronger! I swear my heart skips a beat every time it happens.
Fastforward to 1:15 to see Jason appear in the corner of the screen.
Resident Evil for Playstation
Jason is pretty tame compared to this cult classic zombie game of the 90s. I don't know too many people who were not creeped out by this game. When this Resident Evil came out on Sony Playstation, in my neighborhood EVERYBODY had to get their hands on this game. This zombie classic was so successful that is spawned six sequels!
Here is what scared me most about this game -- The opening scene! Remember the scene when the zombie is chewing on the dead body and then the frame zooms into a close-up of the zombie and he turns around and looks and back? It's almost like he's looking back at you! Then the frame freezes? Scurry! I always wanted to hurry up past that damn intro...stop scaring me and let me play the freakin game!
House of the Dead for Sega
This was a first person shooter video game. I remember playing the arcade version of this game where you would have a fake plastic gun tied to the end of the machine and use it as your weapon to do your target shooting. This was my first zombie game. It's the perfect opportunity to get yourself acclimated to shooting zombies. If a zombie apocalypse ever takes place, you better had put in some major hours of House of Dead so you can be fully prepared.
SN: I felt incredibly guilty when I killed an innocent civilian with a stray bullet. My bad.
What scared me the most about this game -- The three-dimensional effect. These bad guys and zombies came out of nowhere to attack you. Then if any of them got the best of you, they would come close to the screen and eat you alive and you would see it up close and personal. Scary!
