NIGHTMARE NED

Ahh, Nightmare Ned; the Disney cartoon no one remembers. If you'll stumbled upon the badly-recorded VHS rips on YouTube - which only recently saw the last episode found to complete the series - you'll know it's a hidden gem of the Mouse House's late 90s line up. Sadly, its obscurity can be solely blamed on Disney themselves. Nightmare Ned has never seen a re-run since its prematurely cancelled first season in 1997, and its one of the many tragedies engineered by the entertainment behemoth. So, it's a little weird that later the same year a rather big budgeted and inventive PC game was given the go ahead.

 

Ned Nedelmeyer is a timid 10-year old with an overactive imagination. Every night, when he goes to bed, he suffers from night terrors so strange and out there, they could be featured on an episode of The Twilight Zone. Basically, this kid has issues. You're aim is to help him overcome them by guiding him through his surreal and terrifying dreams. That's what happens when you scoff a load of junk food the night before. 

 

The game plays like a deliberate cinematic platformer with an emphasis on puzzle solving over quick reflexes. You begin on your bed, shrunken to the size of a mouse and before you stand five mole-mounds with strange symbols on them represent the entrance to each of five levels: a spooky cemetery (the gravestone symbol), an imposing school called Alcatraz Academy (the apple symbol), the stinky pipes of a bathroom nightmare (the toilet symbol), a fearful trip to dentist (the needle symbol) and the cobweb-filled attic (the spider symbol). At any time you can press 'Q' to get back to the bed, but you will lose an hour each time. Run out of hours, and you wake up. Your neurosis unsolved. Game Over.

 

To combat this, each stage also has a number of hidden passages that link them. These have the symbols stenciled somewhere nearby so you know what they are, but in my experience it's best to solve each level completely before heading on to the next. 

You solve each stage by revealing the true form of the shadow ghosts that haunt them. He'll appear to you with a new limb or arm every time you witness an event or test yourself. Climb back up from a grave using zombie arms as ladder rungs - you get some tartan trousers for that. Sit through the performance of a lounge-singing larynx - get a torso for your troubles. Eventually, the formless figure will turn into something more harmless and recognisable - like grandpa. Or a toilet.

Very few of these obscure but never obtuse objectives require attacking enemies. You can still hit things, though. Your ever-present  yo-yo can dispel ghosts, school bullies or zombie girl scouts into a puff of smoke, but it's not like there are many enemies scattered around the place. In fact, those that are there are deliberately placed and designed for you to approach them in a certain manner. The yo-yo will auto-aim up or down if needed, but will miss its target if you're but an inch away. Its main use is to solve puzzles by interacting with the environment.

If you do get attacked, there's no real need to worry. You'll just get a nice animation of Ned spinning in his place or a spider biting off his head. These hits do stack up, and if you have taken enough, you'll head back to the bed and lose another hour, but that's the worst that can happen. 

 

From the expressionist backgrounds of the graveyard, to the impressionist obstacle course of a maths book and the extremely high quality soundtrack (check out the many comedic songs hidden within - thank me later), Nightmare Ned embodies the hard work and passion of its creators and designers. Like a Lynchian nightmare - but you know... for kids. 

 

To download the game, follow the link below. This exclusive installer uses PCem running Windows '98. Press Ctrl-Alt-PgDown to toggle fullscreen. Press Ctrl-End or middle mouse button to release the mouse. Tested on Windows 10.

IMPORTANT - Remember to shut down the emulated version of Windows before exiting PCem. This could potentially result in errors, lost saves and corrupt data. Close the program only when it is safe to do so.

File Size: 796 Mb.  Install Size: 1.11 Gb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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Nightmare Ned is © Disney Interactive
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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