Little Nemo: The Dream Master
NES
Capcom
1990
One glance at a Little Nemo: The Dream Master NES cart and it's obvious that this is yet another "mascot platformer." But for what? Well, the game is based on the film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, which itself is based on the Winsor McCay comic strip (which began in 1905! -- the same time as Garfield I think). The Nemo film was a joint Japanese/American production, and the game confusingly arrived in America two years before the movie. I wonder how many assumed "Nemo" was a Capcom character created for Western audiences.
Yup, Capcom. They made this around the same time they were deep into the Disney scene. And it has all the attributes you'd expect to see in a Capcom NES title: it's bright, bold, and technically proficient (the box boasts "STATE-OF-THE ART HIGH RESOLUTION"). The stages are a pleasure to look at, and the "dream world" element gave the developers an excuse to bust out all kinds of strange locales: a forest with giant mushrooms, a sprawling flower garden, an ocean scene, the obligatory "nightmare" landscape, even Nemo's own mf'ing house (fire this architect now). As hinted at, the plot involves a boy who enters "Slumberland" whenever he goes to bed. He meets all sorts of zany characters and discovers he must rescue Morpheus, king of dreams. There are some great cut scenes (though the pacing is glacial) -- I like how Nemo is so concerned about spending time with a GIRL. Very relatable! And while the soundtrack isn't exactly a top-tier NES OST it fits the game well and has that signature Capcom vibe.
Stages have irregular shapes, with both vertical and horizontal scrolling. There are hidden passages here and there, so it's important to check ostensible dead ends. Nemo controls simply. The A button jumps and B lobs candy in a short arc. Against most enemies candy does jack shit. But bribe the loitering animals with enough sweets and they let Nemo ride them (though he instead goes "inside" of some critters -- what??). It's the animals that grant Nemo special abilities: wall-climbing, block-smashing, flying, etc. An animal can be ditched by hitting the select button. One must be careful though. Nemo doesn't simply hop off (as Mario does to Yoshi); the animal will instead disappear outright. I boned myself a couple times by dismounting too early and had to backtrack. Thankfully, the animals respawn. It's a clever idea, but the illusion of choice is a bummer. There's no room for the player to experiment with animals or choose a favorite. Despite the sprawling stages, the game is super linear with intended paths plus intended animals. If a level's, say, six minutes in length you'll be the lizard for two, the monkey for two, then, uh, the other lizard for two more. Maybe it's a frog. Obvious roadblocks appear, where it's clear Nemo must switch from one beast to the next.
Time spent in each stage is prolonged by the fact that Nemo needs keys to exit. This isn't too bad, save for the one stage where it is. The game's a bit inconsistent with this element: there's an autoscrolling stage where all the keys are simply dumped at the end (seems fair, they'd be missable otherwise), and the final stage ditches the idea altogether. Nemo doesn't have too many offensive capabilities, on animal or off, which impacts the flow of the game significantly. Much time is spent simply avoiding things. That is, until the final stage where he's given a wand. This bastard only fires once charged (ie: hold the B button) and shoots upwards at a 45 degree angle. What were they thinking?! As such, all three bosses are crammed into the final stage as well. The first of the trio, the "King Penguin" I guess, makes for an enjoyable skirmish, but the final two are a pain in the ass. This is a tough ass game, unsuspectingly so.
I went into this hoping to like it more than I did. It's just a bit too regimented and difficult in a way that sometimes feels illegitimate. Still, it's Capcom on NES, so what are you gonna do, skip it? I don't think so.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewed: 08/18/25