Nerdicus NES Review #159: Day Dreamin' Davey

Title : Day Dreamin' Davey

Publisher : HAL Laboratory

Developer : Sculpted Software

Genre : Action

Players :  1 Player

Release Date : 1992

Estimated Value (as of today's date): $5-$10

If there was one video game character I could relate to when thinking back to my childhood, it would have to be Day Dreamin' Davey. I mean the kid spent his entire school day locked in his own mysterious worlds because he didn't give a rats arse about what his vile teacher was trying to pump into his brain.

He was obviously too bright for his own good, just like I was when I was a kid. Seriously, I'm all for the fact that if you're a bit ahead of the material that is being taught in the classroom, you are just going to end up being bored, and not paying attention. Hell, all I did in class was draw in my textbooks, or fill up the brown paper bag covers with artwork series. I remember, there was this one girl I really liked that I used to draw textbook cover murals for and would give them to her all the time. She even hung them up in her locker...oy..wonder where she is now....DOES SHE STILL HAVE MY PICTURES!?

Not like I care, I'm married now. Eh? Oh yeah, video games.

So here we are with Day Dreamin Davey, a game that I once again spent way too much money on renting, but didn't even end up buying for some reason. It was a perfect excuse to mock school, and create a multi-level action adventure game based on this kids bizarre thought process. From Knights in medieval times, to the old west, this game has got it all. 

But just how well does it pull it off? I mean, HAL is known for some pretty spectacular games, including my all time favorite, EARTHBOUND, so there's gotta be some sort of semblance of epic-ness for Day Dreamin' Davey. The concept is pretty damn unique, and well, the box art makes it look like every kids perfect video game. 

Usually, that means bad news. Let's find out.

Yeah, I know Davey looks a bit creepy. Well, that's because he is a tad creepy. It's a floating head! Day dreaming? More like NIGHTMARES. Trust me, the other images of the people in this game are even worse. The character design is some of the worst I have ever seen. It's like they created them in MS Paint using vector line art. Ugh...I've got chills.

Here's how Davey works. It's a typical day at school, but for Davey he doesn't want to be bothered with it. Instead, he loses himself in his own little worlds based on the events that are happening at school. His pencil gets stolen by a bully? Well, he gets transported into a medieval world where his pencil is actually a magical lance. He falls asleep in art class talking about the wild west? Well, he goes to the wild west. I think it's time for Davey to get a psych evaluation.

The game reminds me a bit of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure where you end up travelling to different worlds, except this one tries to be a bit more educational. Educational to the point where it's feeding you all the wrong info. It missed out on a great opportunity, much like B&T where they could have at least thrown in some material to help kids learn in these games, but nope, it's just mindless action. And pretty poor action at that.

Most of the game takes place in a sort of mix of overhead / side-scrolling action across whatever landscape you happen to be day dreaming about. The goal of each world is to uncover the item in question. These items are directly connected to whatever is going on in the real world, much like he tries to recover his lance which is a pencil, or a holy grail which is actually a school trophy.

Yeah, like I'd really compare a school trophy to the HOLY GRAIL.

You'll even collect and use weapons appropriate to each world. Swords for medieval times. Guns for the wild west..and...sticks for ancient greece...I'm kidding about the last one. You'll run around each map , destroying your foes, and killing bosses in a very standard rinse and repeat fashion. Sometimes the game does try to change it up a bit in modes where you can actually use the NES Zapper to blast weapons out of an enemies hand in a weird, 1st person view.

Don't even get me started on that part of the game. It's practically unplayable.

The developers certainly didn't waste any time pumping this game out. You can tell by the amount of time they spent on designing the games visuals, which are probably some of the worst I have ever seen for a game on the NES, especially for one to come out in 1992. Each world consists of a basically two texture patterns, and two enemies. The one thing the game had going for it were the hilarious cutscenes, and they were primarily funny because they looked so bad.

At least they made some sort of effort with the audio, even throwing in some vocals for Davey, like, "HEY!" or "BUMMER" or "DIE!". The music wasn't that bad either at some points, and it was oddly reminiscent of Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Some of the audio tracks even fit the world Davey was transported too, but only to a limited extent. Still, it was better than the graphics.

As for the gameplay? Well, it was boring and poorly designed. There was no sense of challenge, besides the irritating "shoot the gun out of the guys hands" stages, which I felt were broken.

So what did I take out of this game, besides it's horrible gameplay, despicable controls, sub-par graphics, and irritating character design? That Davey has mental issues, and sure enough will one day grow up to be an absolute menace to society. This is what you get for not studying. Stay in school kids. And get checked out by your Doctor if you find yourself passing out in the middle of class and pretending you are somebody else.

Seek help, Davey...

Final Score (out of 5) :

Until Next time - Keep on Gaming!