Developer: Sculptured Software Publisher: HAL Release: 06/92 Genre: Action
The latter years of the NES were an embarrassment of riches. With some developers closing in on almost a decade of experience with the hardware some of the all-time best games in its history saw release in its final years. But it also meant there were many titles that tried to squeak by as all attention was on the 16-bit console war. Day Dreamin’ Davey is one such title. On paper it sounds great. A kid with an over active imagination puts pictures himself in goofy situations. It practically writes itself. But somewhere between idea and reality it went horribly wrong. This is an awful game.
Ugh, I remember actually looking forward to Day Dreamin’ Davey. Nintendo Power were pushing the game heavily in their magazine and the concept was sound. But thanks to their incomprehensible rating system I did not know what to make of the game and never bothered seeking it out. That was a blessing in disguise as I would have absolutely hated this game if I would have wasted even rental money on it.
Day Dreamin’ Davey is a top down action game like Zelda with a similar inventory of items but that is as far as the comparison goes. In each stage you are tasked with finding an object, sometimes immediately ending the level or leading to a boss fight when brought to the appropriate location. In addition two of the eras are a giant maze with NPCs who will not move or help until you return with the requisite item. The Wild West is a bit unique as you are cast as the sheriff of a small town and receive missions by mail. Here the game feels like an action RPG with shops, currency, and townsfolk who help in your quest.
The premise of each level is simple. Over the course of a school day Davey finds himself in various compromising positions. Be it an encounter with the school bully, a teacher asking him a question, or even a trip to the principal’s office, each time he nods off and imagines himself somewhere only tangentially related to the situation. There are three eras in history you will revisit multiple times; the medieval period, the Wild West, and ancient Greece. In each stage there is a specific goal although the game does not explicitly tell you right off the bat. How does it all tie together? It does not.
I will give the game credit, it makes the most of each period. Each era has specific items, weapons, and armor which is pretty cool. You will receive assistance from the Greek Gods and fight monsters from Greek myth like Medusa and the Cyclops. In the Dark ages you get to wield Excalibur as you fight knights and dragons. Busting up gangs of bandits in the old west is always cool no matter the game or its issues. It is these things that will make you want to find some reason to soldier on. But the problems with the game are immediately apparent.
The hit detection is atrocious. I cannot believe the number of critical flaws. Your attacks are straightforward yet it feels random whether they will register. Every exchange is a clumsy dance of badly animated sprites bashing in to each other to see who falls first. Hits do not feel solid and there are no invincibility frames or knockback. You do not realize how critical these elements are until they are this bad. The level design is awful. Both the Dark Ages and Greece have confusing layouts and identical corridors that desperately need maps too. You will contend with enemies walking through walls and invisible pot holes sapping your life. Any direction given does not help as nothing is labeled. Only the Wild West avoids these pitfalls. The town is small and every building is named enabling easy navigation. More of this would have made the game better.
The game is both frustrating and challenging as a result. NPCs are indistinguishable from enemies and there is no talk button. You must approach them from a specific angle to enable conversation. But do it wrong and they either become hostile or die accidentally. If they had a critical item congratulations, you are screwed. You can carry healing items however you cannot use them individually. You either use them all simultaneously or enough to heal to full health. With the terrible hit detection you are better off avoiding combat unless necessary. With all these flaws the boss battles are a nightmare. Honestly I question why I bothered to finish the game as it was apparent it was no good from the start. Yet I gave it a fair shot and it never got better.
In Closing
I hate Day Dreamin’ Davey. Within the first few minutes I knew that it had serious problems. Despite that I still soldiered on. I tried, so hard to find something, anything to justify the time I spent playing it. But I wasted my time. Outside of its premise there is nothing to see here.
