The Amstrad CPC version of Ariolasoft‘s Bride of Frankenstein could be the best version of this game available for 8-bit home computers (although that’s really not saying much). It looks slightly better than the C64 and Spectrum versions, and it’s also got fairly responsive controls, so is somewhat playable.
Bride of Frankenstein, ZX Spectrum
I’m not sure if the Commodore 64 version of this obscure 8-bit game was the target platform, or if it was the Spectrum version, but all versions of Bride of Frankenstein that I’ve played so far have been pretty awful.
Bride of Frankenstein, Commodore 64
Bride of Frankenstein is a cartoon action adventure game, based on Mary’s Shelley‘s classic Frankenstein story, written by Paul Smith and Steve Howard of Timedata Ltd. and published by Ariolasoft in 1987. And it is absolute rubbish. Yes: Bride of Frankenstein is a malformed, badly-designed abomination that is barely worth a mention here.
Frankenstein 2000, ZX Spectrum
Icon Software‘s 1985 release – Frankenstein 2000 – has the barest of premises when it comes to links to the Mary Shelley novel, but it does count as a ‘Frankenstein‘ game in my opinion. And it’s actually not a bad game either, which might come as a shock to some people.
Frank N Stein, Amstrad CPC
Frank N Stein on the Amstrad CPC is more or less the same as the ZX Spectrum original, except that the colours are different in this, and the Amstrad version has a really good high score table (which the original doesn’t). It was first published by PSS and Amsoft in 1985.
Frank N Stein, ZX Spectrum
Frank N Stein is a simple Manic Miner-style platform game based on Mary Shelley‘s classic horror story, Frankenstein. It was written by Colin Stewart and published for the ZX Spectrum by PSS Software in 1984.
Dr. Franky and the Monster, ZX Spectrum
Dr. Franky and the Monster is a 1984 platform game written by Martin Wheeler (who created the original Sorcery) and published by Virgin Games for the ZX Spectrum. It’s a cartoony, satirical take on the Frankenstein story, and – to be honest – it isn’t very good.
Frankenstein’s Monster, Atari 2600
Frankenstein’s Monster is a relatively obscure game for the Atari 2600 and was developed and published by Data Age, Inc. in 1983. It is one of the earliest video games to use the famous Mary Shelley novel as the basis for its story and gameplay.
Forgotten Worlds, Arcade
Forgotten Worlds is a classic Capcom arcade shooter from 1988, with simultaneous two-player coop, a rotational aiming system, and intense bullet hell action set across a landscape of the desolate Earth in the 29th Century.
Maniac Mansion, NES/Famicom
The NES/Famicom version of Maniac Mansion was developed and published by Jaleco in 1990 and is still worth playing today. It’s a fine port of a great game and translates well enough to Nintendo‘s machine that it arguably plays even better than the C64 original (although many will cry “Sacrilege!” to that).