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->''"'Let's mix it up!' says Medusa. Well I guess this game's version of mixing it up is making things slightly normal, because this Medusa fish is the most standard thing I've seen so far."''
-->-- '''WebVideo/JonTron'''

''Monster Party'' is a 1989 Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem game that follows the adventures of Mark, who embarks on a journey at the request of the alien/bird/dragon Bert to the Dark World. ''En route,'' the two [[FusionDance fuse together]]; you play as Mark, but can [[HulkingOut shift into Bert's form]] by [[PhlebotinumPills popping pharmaceuticals]]. The game is known for its huge number of [[BossBattle bosses]], many of whom [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere make no goddamned sense whatsoever]].

It was developed by Creator/HumanEntertainment, makers of the ''VideoGame/FireProWrestling'' and ''VideoGame/ClockTower'' series, and, oddly, [[ShortRunInPeru never saw release in its country of origin.]] [[http://tcrf.net/Proto:Monster_Party A prototype of the cancelled Japanese release]] finally found its way into the hands of ROM dumpers in July 2014.

No connection to the [[Film/MonsterParty 2018 horror thriller film]].

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!!Provides examples of:

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Round 2 takes place in the very spacious sewer with multiple floors and all.
* ActionBomb: Dynamite heads in the final level attack by exploding after colliding with Mark.
%%* AffablyEvil: Royce, who politely introduces himself to you before his battle. Also Torigaran, who apologizes for already being dead.
* AllJustADream: After Mark opens Bert's presents and receives his surprise, he wakes up. [[spoiler:And when he leaves for school, [[OrWasItADream he finds Bert waiting for him at the door.]] With a ''bat''.]]
* AlreadyDoneForYou: Torigaran (a creature from an obscure toy line made by Bandai) is dead on arrival. And he [[JapanesePoliteness apologizes]] for it.
* AnthropomorphicFood: Stage 2 has a boss with three phases consisting of shrimp, onion ring and kebab.
* AttackReflector: Mark's baseball bat allows him to bat enemy projectiles back at their direction.
* BackgroundBoss: [[spoiler:The last boss is a giant NightmareFace that makes up the entirety of background, with its weak point being its nose.]]
* BatterUp: Mark uses a baseball bat as his primary weapon [[JustifiedTrope since]] Bert took him right when Mark was returning home from a game of baseball, with a bat in hand. Bert even actually believes it to be a weapon during their first meeting, ignoring Mark's explanation that it was just a baseball bat.
* BigBad: The Dark World Master is the leader of the monsters terrorizing Bert's planet.
* BigBoosHaunt: Round 6 takes place in the giant haunted house, with living furniture and pants as enemies. Doubles as TheMaze.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Royce, the boss of Round 7, is a humongous caterpillar. [[{{Pun}} And he rolls]].
* {{Bowdlerise}}: The US version removes the [[HorrorFilms horror movie]] parodies from the game.
* BreathWeapon: Bert attacks by firing projectiles from his beak.
* CartoonCreature: Just what ''is'' Bert supposed to be? The graphics make it hard to tell.
* CompanyCrossReferences: The "Sorry, I'm dead" boss references Gegebomajuu, a toyline of model kits with gross-out features Bandai made a year before developing this game, specifically being based off the Torigaran toy.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The box art features a bunch of archetypal movie monsters, but the only one of them who actually shows up in the game is Medusa.
* CrapsaccharineWorld:
** Round 1 is set in a pleasant (albeit creepy) location where the tiles are full of happy faces even in nighttime -- then, once you pass through a certain point, all of the formerly happy faces on the tiles melt into horrifying skeletal faces, and the normally featureless mountains form into creepy faces. Tellingly, Mark and Bert will face more horrifying monsters along the way.
** Round 8's setting resembles heaven with fantasy-looking medieval castles and {{Cute Witch}}es as one of the enemies, however, the interior possess hints of unsettling designs with floors, walls, and ceilings resembling empty eye sockets (which become more noticeable when you enter boss rooms, with one of the bosses being a scarily designed Sphinx). [[spoiler:Then, once you enter the final castle, you will be greeted with a nightmarish BackgroundBoss, with the earlier mentioned walls, floors, and ceilings now have eyes ''staring at Mark and Bert''.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: Bert looks frightening, but is actually a good guy. [[spoiler:The ending may reveal him as a subversion, as his final present horribly kills Mark. And he's waiting outside Mark's dream to make him do the deadly quest ''all over again.'']]
* DarkWorld: Bert's homeworld is already a creepy alien planet where monsters (including those with nightmarish appearance) reside there, however Round 1 takes this even further. It starts out in an area full of smiley faces, then, once you pass through a Haniwa statue, it transforms into something morbid.
* TheDeadCanDance: The first boss of Round 5 is a group of dancing zombies. Before the fight, they even say "WATCH MY DANCE."
* DeadlyDroplets: In Round 2, blood drops from the ceiling. Becoming into contact with blood hurts the player.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: Enemies die with multiple small explosions.
* DemBones: In Round 3, skeletons appear as the enemies.
* DirectionallySolidPlatforms: First and seventh stage have the most platforms that are solid from above.
* DirtyCoward: One of the bosses in the first level politely asks you not to pick on him, just before he starts attacking you.
* DoppelgangerSpin: Chameleon Man is a bloody face hiding in a room wallpapered in bloody faces along with three decoy bloody faces. Bloody faces.
* DreadfulMusician: The {{punk rock}} torso who attacks with, and quoted straight from the manual, "bad-playing guitar."
* DubNameChange: From the Japanese prototype: Hiroshi to Mark, and Baryuu to Bert. Also, the game's full title in Japan is ''Parody World: Monster Party''.
* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The final boss, a face who seems to be watching you with many many eyes, strewn throughout Round 8.]] Many of the bosses also count, from a [[HumanoidAbomination semi-humanoid cyclopic monstrosity with far too many hands]] to a giant mass of grotesque, bleeding faces whose 'true' face is constantly moving and hiding.
* EldritchLocation: Technically, the whole game as you are on an alien planet. The levels progress with no rhyme or reason to them. The scenery often changes radically from happy to grotesque, not only the first level but several of the boss rooms are more macabre in nature than the levels.
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Absolutely ''everything'', being set on an alien planet teeming with hostiles about. This includes, one of the bosses which resemble a tempura (a deep-fried coated shrimp) and onion rings that are dead-set on killing you.
* ExactWords: When you enter the Boss Room with the dancing zombies, they say "Watch us dance!" That's all you have to do to win.
* FlashOfPain: Bosses briefly turn white when hit. As for the regular enemies, it depends on the enemy type to determine which color it turns into when hit.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: One boss still says "Oh boy! Mark soup!", even if you are currently playing as Bert.
* GiantSpider: Two of the bosses are giant spiders who threaten to suck out all your blood. In the Japanese prototype, they are replaced with the monstrous head based on ''Film/TheThing1982''.
* TheGrimReaper: In the Round 7, one of the bosses is a giant grim reaper who, after greeting him with "[[WelcomeToHell WELCOME! ENTRANCE TO HELL.]]", attacks Mark by firing souls at him. He was originally a [[Film/{{Alien}} Xenomorph]] as seen in the Japanese prototype.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: Mark, despite being a simple baseball player, can effectively utilize his baseball bat as a self-defense weapon to whack enemies with (to which Bert mistakes it for a genuine weapon).
%%* {{Irony}}: This game has several Japanese ghosts (one of them being the [[ShownTheirWork Bancho Sarayashiki legend]]) in it, yet it never got a release in Japan.
* {{Karakasa}}: One of the enemies in Round 3 is an umbrella monster disguised as a bat.
* KidHero: Mark is a young boy who helps Bert fight the evil monsters.
* LadyNotAppearingInThisGame: None of the monsters on the cover art are actually in the game as mooks or bosses except Medusa.
* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The unreleased Japanese prototype had several enemies and bosses based on famous fictional characters, many of which were modified to avoid lawsuits in the game's limited American release. Examples of the bosses include [[Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors a singing potted plant that uses musical notes as projectiles]],[[note]]Changed to a pitcher plant that shoots bubbles in the American release[[/note]] [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968 an ape-man on horseback who fights with a ruined Statue of Liberty appearing in the background]],[[note]]The American release changed it to a pumpkin-headed ghost boss and removed the ruined Statue of Liberty seen in the background[[/note]] [[Film/TheThing1982 a grotesque head on spider legs]],[[note]]Changed to a GiantSpider in the American release[[/note]] [[Film/{{Gremlins}} a Mogwai that turns into a Gremlin as the boss fight starts]],[[note]]Changed into a cute cat that turns into a feline monstrosity in the American release[[/note]] and [[Franchise/{{Alien}} a (robotic) Xenomorph]].[[note]]Changed to TheGrimReaper in the American release[[/note]]
* LevelInTheClouds: The final level takes place in the FluffyCloudHeaven, with the ground being made of solid clouds.
* LightIsNotGood: The final level resembles (or ''is'') heaven, but is home to an EldritchAbomination.
* LivingClothes: Round 6 features wandering pants as an enemy.
* LostInTranslation: The US version removes the references to [[HorrorFilms horror movies]], making it unclear that this is supposed to be a parody game.
* MadeOfExplodium: Every regular enemy explodes upon being defeated. Oddly, this doesn't apply to the bosses, who just disappear after being defeated.
* TheMaze: Round 6 takes place in a haunted house with lots of doors and isolated rooms, with each door being connected to the other door, creating a huge confusing labyrinth of interconnected doors. Without an online guide, the player would most likely get stuck for hours on this level.
* MichaelJacksonsThrillerParody: One boss fight features a pair of dancing zombies who can be defeated only by waiting until the music stops.
* MixAndMatchCritters: Mad Javelin Man is a combination of a ''haniwa'' statue and a Franchise/{{Gundam}}. In the Japanese prototype, he's based on titular character from the Daimajin trilogy.
* MonsterMash: The game is about a boy teaming up with a gargoyle to fight all sorts of monsters, including ghosts, dancing zombies, a minotaur, a gorgon, and a GiantSpider.
* OrWasItADream: Mark wakes up to find the entire adventure was a dream. [[spoiler:Then Bert knocks on the door holding a baseball bat.]]
* OurMonstersAreWeird: Most of the game's entertainment value comes from the sheer lunacy of the enemies it throws at you. Burning Japanese schoolboys! Angelic sticks of dynamite! [[Film/TheElephantMan Joseph Merrick]], for crap's sake!
* {{Pun}}: The Giant Bull Man boss says: "Mooove it!" You know, because... bull. Also, a rolling, Giant Caterpillar is named "Royce" as a Rolls-Royce pun.
* RecurringBoss: The Giant Spider appears both in Round 4 and Round 7.
* SceneryGorn: The later half of Round 1 is a blood-filled world. Also, the title and game over screens and several of the boss rooms have pools of blood.
* SegmentedSerpent: One of the Round 8 bosses is a long, segmented dragon.
* SelfDeprecation: The samurai boss admits he's a slowpoke.
%%* SequelHook: ...[[MindScrew Maybe]].
%%-->Bert was there, and he whispered to Mark: "Let's go again!"
* SheatheYourSword: Just let the zombies finish their dance in peace. If you attack them, you'll just prolong their unlives.
* ShoutOut: Let's list them out.
** Round 1 has ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' and ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968''.
** Round 2 has ''[[Film/TheFly1958 The]] [[StealthPun Fry]]''.
** Round 3 has ''Film/TheMummy1932'' and ''Film/TheThing1982''.
** Round 4 has ''Film/{{Gremlins}}''.
** Round 5 has ''Film/{{Daimajin}}''.
** Round 7 has ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
* SkippableBoss: If you beat two bosses in the Round 7, you can ignore the third boss and just go straight to the exit, and you'd better; if you beat the third boss of Round 7, [[GameBreakingBug you'll lose the key that lets you leave]].
* SoundtrackDissonance: Happy music plays during the game over screen, with skeletons in a pool of blood. In the Japanese version, the energetic Round 1 music still plays even after the landscape became nightmarish.
* SpikesOfDoom: Deadly spikes make the first appearance first in Round 1. Their appearance changes halfway throughout the game.
* StalactiteSpite: Round 3 has falling stalactites appear as obstacles.
* TempleOfDoom: Round 4 is set in an [[UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}} Egyptian]] tomb, complete with scorpions, sculptures of Anubis, hieroglyphs, etc. What it ''doesn't'' have are the game's two Egyptian-themed bosses, who appear in other levels.
* TennisBoss: Most bosses shoot projectiles that you can knock back with Mark's bat. You do NOT want to face them as Bert.
* UnbuiltTrope: The change in Round 1 from relatively normal, lighthearted retro Nintendo game to a dark, twisted version of itself is oddly prescient of ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}'', right down to [[spoiler:happy face blocks turning into nightmarish ones]].
* UncommonTime: Round 4's theme is in a 10/4 time signature.
* UndergroundLevel: Round 2 is set inside an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer, and Round 3 is set in the huge underground cave.
* TheUnfought: A variation, the intro for both the EN and JP versions feature a Baphomet as one of the monster line-ups. While it is encountered in Round 3 as one of the bosses, the one Mark/Bert faces is not a Baphomet, but a minotaur with green-fur, wears a different outfit (an armor instead of a short-sleeved robe), and doesn't salivate from the mouth.
* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Killing 2 bosses in Round 7 gives you a key, but killing the final one takes the key away, forcing you to restart the game. The Japanese prototype only has 2 bosses, making this seem like a case of lazy programming.
* {{Ventriloquism}}: The serpent dragon's speech bubble is pointing toward the right side of the screen, but it's on the left.
* VisualPun: The Shrimp Attack boss is a pair of telepods that throws tempura and onion rings at you. In other words, it's ''[[Film/TheFly1986 "The Fry"]]''
* WelcomeToHell: TheGrimReaper boss greets Mark with the phrase "WELCOME! ENTRANCE TO HELL."
* ZeroEffortBoss:
** One of the bosses on level one says, "SORRY, I'M DEAD." He does nothing at all and you can leave with the prize just a second later.
** Another boss has two zombies requesting for you to watch them dance. If they finish their dance, you get the prize. If you hit them while they dance, they'll fall apart and then regenerate to start the dance again.
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