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In the early 1990s, there was a popular board game called Atmosfear, or in certain regions, NightMare. It was unique in the way that it required a VHS tape that would guide players while also doubling as a countdown, as one of the rules was that you had to complete the game within 60 minutes. A few years after the release of the original video board game, Beam Software, the company behind Shadowrun, Radical Rex, and multiple other Mega Drive titles, pitched an idea for a video game adaptation of Atmosfear. The concept was approved, and development began in 1993, with a handful of old gaming magazine articles announcing its existence. It never received a full release, since the game was cancelled sometime during the development cycle, and was quickly lost to time. At least, until the notable prototype collector Drx found a beta copy of Atmosfear for the Super Nintendo. Gameplay footage was shown by Drx's website, Hidden Palace, which gives us a twenty minute glimpse into a game that once could have been.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Beam Software, isn't that the company that made that bad wayne's world game on snes/mega drive?

 

[Reploid]

Looks atmosfearic.

 

[wurstpistole]

Beam Software, isn't that the company that made that bad wayne's world game on snes/mega drive?

They made Shadowrun, a game ahead of its time imo

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

They made Shadowrun, a game ahead of its time imo

Are all Cyber Punk related content considered "Ahead of its time?"

 

[AmandaRose]

Wasn't the boardgame based on the UK TV programme Knightmare that ran from 1987 to 2004. I know that that show had a spinoff board game that came with a video.

 

[kumikochan]

Sad that it didn't get released since this game does seem to have proper hit detection, something that was severely lacking in games those days, also the music is great. Sure this would have been a great title to play when i was a kid

 

[Darth Meteos]

damn, i thought it would be a video game version of the board game, not just a random platformer

 

[gameboy]

no wonder they scraped it, it looks like Michael Jordan's shameful Zombie Game or Michael Jackson's pedophile game where he steals a bunch of children.

 

[x65943]

Forget RajNX and ReiNX, let's create a new fork and call it Atmosfear

 

[Deleted User]

Oh, that old game? I remember playing that with my folks on family night.

Good times.

Cool that the prototype of a game version of it is finally available. Maybe some clever clogs will take it apart and finish it up into a 100% complete game.

 

[Mythical]

Beam Software, isn't that the company that made that bad wayne's world game on snes/mega drive?

The only game I have for that console. Absolute trash, but worth it . doodlidoodlidoo

 

[Rune]

So when are they leaking the rom? June 15th?

 

[KiiWii]

Kind of disappointed it’s a platformer. Kind of hoped it would be a party game.

 

[Risteing]

We can get the ROM dump on June 15th. Just bear with it.

 

[DAZA]

i wouldnt mind giving this a play though. i loved the original board game and had 2 extension packs.. shame they dont remaster it.

i know they did the dvd release of it but i never got to play that, the original had such an impact back in the day of board games

 

[Kurt91]

I've got a version of the game that uses a DVD, to help randomize the events that come up during the game. It's pretty fun.

Anyways, I kind of like the idea for the game, although I can see where it needs polished up a bit. I'm going to assume that the timer at the top of the screen works like the original, and the Gatekeeper interferes at certain intervals, because I can't see any other warning for when he shows up. I think that if it were me, I'd add a bit more of a warning system, like having different colors for the clock to show you how likely he is to interfere soon, and have it so that doing things like killing enemies will draw his attention faster while getting hurt or hiding quietly will convince him that the monsters are doing a decent job on their own on beating you and he doesn't need to get his own hands dirty.

The game seems surprisingly generous as far as the health system goes. For a while, I thought that the prototype just didn't actually deplete any HP on the player's part, so the player was just face-tanking everything accordingly. Usually for these kinds of games, everything does equal damage, so seeing that minor enemies like spiders and rats do an appropriately small bit of damage on contact was pretty neat.

The environment graphics are decent, although I'm not a fan of the character graphics for the player and the enemies, and the enemies and their attacks seem to take up an awful lot of screen space. Although to be fair, the player was charging ahead and ignoring damage, a more careful and methodical approach would probably make the game look more fair towards the player.

I am curious how the player is expected to get through that room in the Egyptian themed level, and it seems kind of hard to tell which way you're supposed to go, with the Gatekeeper just randomly turning the player around at points, I was guessing that was a "you're going out of bounds" thing?

 

[The Real Jdbye]

Ooh, I bet James Rolfe would like to play this.
The only reason I even know about Nightmare is thanks to Board James.

 

[Vhestal]

I wonder who thought of such a majestic name.

 

[Glyptofane]

I remember playing a VHS Star Trek board game with my buddy @godreborn as a lad. It was pretty funny and a cool idea. This could have been something.